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, but 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 22 January 2012

Almenkerk

The lady at Highlands Road told us that this winery would also be open today, so we went and checked it out. I am so glad she suggested this place as we both just loved it!! The previous two wineries were also nice, but this was on another level of its own.


The building is impresssive, the view is impressive, and then the service is impressive!! We drove through very high walls in to the courtyard area where the parking is. As soon as we got out of the car we saw the awesome view, and the stunning building. We were greeted by the winemaker, he introduced us to friends he had over for some wine. We sat outside to enjoy our tasting. The winemaker was so pleasant, he spent time going through each wine with us and made us feel so welcome.



The wine was really nice!!! We had a beautiful Sauvignon Blanc 2010 to start with. This sells for R90 a bottle. It had beautiful grassy flavours and was very nicely balanced. I really liked this wine. Then we had the Chardonnay 2010 (R120) which we just loved!!! We had to buy some bottles of this. If we had the money we would have bought a case. This Chardonnay took us by surprise!! It had great flavour, was zesty, balanced, just awesome!!! To finish, we tried the red blend: 1/3 Shiraz, 1/3 Merlot, 1/6 Cabernet Franc, 1/6 Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% viognier. This was light, balanced and also very nice!!


He took several of us through his cellar also. It is quite a small cellar, but he explained that he likes the volume he makes. As he said, if he expands, he will then have to expand on everything. As far as I was concerned, his wine was so great, I am happy he has kept his volume of wine low compared to other wineries, because he has great quality and great tasting wine!! So long as there is enough wine for us to stock up on also, we will be happy.


This winery is a must visit!! I can't wait to take some of my friends here. In fact, after we went to Highlands Rd, South Hill and this winery, we were hooked on the wine region and agreed to come back for a weekend to try visit more. Such a great wine region, fantastic wines, lovely scenery and really friendly people!!

I think this has become my new favourite wine region!!
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1 comment:

  1. Natalie26 March 2012 at 07:39

    Thank you so much for this great review. I will share it with Joris (the winemaker) - and we are looking forward to welcoming you here again.

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