Welcome to the Western Cape Wineries - a kiwi's opinion blog

I originally set up this blog to help foreigners have an enjoyable experience when visiting the western cape wineries in South Africa.

I realised that it is very difficult for a tourist to choose where to go and which wineries to visit, when you have 600+ wine producers to choose from.

When I first moved to SA December 2010, my palate struggled to adjust to SA wine, b
ut after living here for a while and after visiting over 100+ wine estates, I have found many wines which I really like and can highly recommend.

Admittingly, when you come from another country it is hard not to compare the wine in SA to what you are used to back home. However, once you realise they are not the same (they have their own characteristics due to the different soil, climate etc) and appreciate their wines for being SA wines, it will improve your opinion and experience of the wines immediately.

If you are staying in SA for a while, don't dispair, your palate will change, and you will soon find yourself liking SA wine over your home countries wine!!

I hope my blog will help wine lovers have an enjoyable wine experience while in SA.

Please note: I am not a wine connoisseur. The comments I write about the wine is mostly for my own benefit of having them on record.



Sunday 1 May 2011

Haskell/Dombeya - Stellenbosch

Haskell is in the same area as Bilton and Rust en Vrede (within a 5 minute drive), so if you are out this way, you should definitely come to this winery also.




This was the third winery on our list for the day and was very lovely. We booked ahead to do a wine tasting here, and it was a really nice experience. We sat at a big table near the windows which allowed us a great view of outside whilst being indoors. 


The very cool thing about this winery is that they have Australian, New Zealand and South African wine. I was naturally very excited to try the wine here. Some of the wine they stock from NZ is from Craggy Range winery in the Hawkes Bay, which I have visited. This is a stunning winery (you should definitely visit it if in NZ), however, I am not a fan of their wines. In comparison to other NZ wines, this would not be the ideal representation of NZ wines in my opinion. We had a very nice tasting here nonetheless.


The NZ 2009 Wild Rock Sauvignon Blanc (R130) was nice, but it doesn't have the passionfruit flavours which I like in the NZ Sauvignon Blancs.

The Wild Rock Syrah 2006 (R160) was smooth yet a little dry on the palate.

The Australian 2006 Pirathon (by Kalleske - R235) was very nice. It was matured in french oak for two years. It is smooth, a little dry, has a smokey and earthy taste.

The Haskell Pillars Syrah 2008 (R400) was a little dry, but had a very nice taste and aftertaste.

The Haskell Aeon Syrah 2008 (R290) which is 95% Shiraz and 5% Mouvedre was smooth, nice flavoured, more robust and flavoursome than the Pillars Shiraz, with a slightly dry aftertaste. We all liked this one more than the Pillars. Though both were nice.



Out of all the wines, we all loved the Australian Pirathon the most.

The service here was great, the guy who served us was really informative and friendly. We all enjoyed the wine tasting here. I hope that my comments about the wines do not come across as a little harsh, as the wines were actually very nice, and I do believe are worth trying out!! On that note, the guy who does the wine tasting selects different wines for the tasting each week. I would be very keen to go again to try some of the other wines.

We had a lunch here at Haskell also. It was lovely!!! The views were fantastic, and the food was just as great!!


I had the lamb phyllo pastry special and it was awesome!!! Absolutely delicious!!!


Everyone enjoyed their meal and all agreed it was worth the visit for the wine, food and scenery.



Be sure to come here if you have the chance.

2 comments:

  1. Hey Crissy, thanks for coming out and visiting. You're welcome any time, we'll try to let you know when we have some interesting stuff happening. Winemakers Table once a month which is well worth attending ( on a Friday).

    Cheers

    Grant

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  2. I visited the farm for the first time yesterday. I was very impressed with the wines of both the haskell and dombeya range( very good quality at affordable prices) Christine Andrews gave us a good tasting and showed she is really passionate about their wines. Best wine farm of the day!

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