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 18 September 2011

Meerendal

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day so we decided to go to the Meerendal market. They hold a farmers market once a month, and this was the first one that we had attended. There were quite a few people there and it was a very nice market to go to.


Outside the tasting room is a nice decking where you can enjoy wine, eat some food and soak up the nice views and atmposphere.


There are stalls selling jewellry, clothing, preserves, bread, cured meats etc. What I loved the most about this market is that there were tables set up out the back of the wine tasting room which you could sit at and enjoy a nice bottle of wine, some food and soak up the view.


This is an ideal place to bring your children, as they have horse rides available, a bouncy castle, and there is plenty of space for children to run around.


I did a tasting while here, and really enjoyed it. The wines are really nice here, all of them were very nicely balanced, were smooth, and you could tell that a lot of attention to detail had gone in to their wine. At first it was not an ideal time to do a tasting, but once they had more staff at the tasting section, I was given more attention and had a great tasting. You can try four of the standard wines for R10, but if you want to try the premier wines then you pay R10 per tasting.


I started with the MCC Blanc de Blanc 2007 (R345) this was very nice. It is light, tasty, buttery, and easy drinking. The Sauvignon Blanc 2010 (R69) had a fantastic smell, with very tropical fruit smells. However, what you smell is so different to what you taste. It was smooth, had a cellery, asparagus and slight grassy taste to it. The Sauvignon Blanc Single Vineyard was very yellow in colour, but light, nicely balanced and easy to drink. The 2007 Sauvignon Blanc S/V Bin 242 (R138) is wooded, well balanced, smooth, rounded, and has a very nice lingering aftertaste. The Pinotage Rose (R45) was a favourite of mine. This had very nice flavour, was light and easy drinking. I bought a couple bottles of this wine, had one last night at a party, and have decided I woud like to buy a case, as it was a great wine for at a party/braai. I tried the 2009 Chenin Blanc Natural Sweet (R105) this was very nice, had a lovely taste, was smooth, but compared to other dessert wines I have tried, I did find it was a bit syrupy in comparison.


Overall I think this winery has some fantastic wine, the market is worth a visit, and I am very much looking forward to the next market where I will invite some friends and enjoy some food and a bottle of wine and just soak up the nice relaxing environment. Be sure to put this winery on your list when visiting the Durbanville wineries!!

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