Goede Hoop

I almost didn't go to this winery as I already had been to two this afternoon, but with it being right beside Fort Simon and I didn't feel like driving up this long driveway again I decided to visit it while there. It was the best decision I made!!

This winery was similar to Bellevue in that it was a traditional, humble wine estate. I was greeted by one of the winemaking assistants and shown through to the tasting room.

Here I was able to try the Domaine White 2012 (Sauvignon Blanc/Chenin Blanc) at R31.50 a bottle. It had a sweet nose, smooth and silky texture, was fresh and fruity. The Sauvignon Blanc 2012 (R49.10) had a very floral aroma, which I found had a lavender and herbacious taste. It was unique!!

The Pinotage 2009 at R66.50 a bottle had an intense aroma, interesting taste, it was a little dry, little tart/sour. The Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (R115.20) was a little dry, fruity, nice, lovely flavour, medium body and mature red. Pinotage 2005 (R66.50) has interesting fynbos and herbacious aroma and taste. It was lighter than the 2009.

Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 (R63.10) was lovely on the nose, a little floral, little sweet hints and dry aftertaste. I really liked it!!

After the tasting I was shown through the cellar, which was when I saw that this winery still uses the old concrete tanks. It was so cool to see. I felt like I was walking through a wine museum. Another thing I noticed is the s-shaped object above the barrels with the MCC in them. First time seeing them and I was absolutely amused.

The lady who took me through the cellar showed me their special collection of old wine. She then went on to tell me that they hold dinners with the winemaker. A four course dinner for R305 which includes the opportunity to taste wine from their collection of wine.

The wine is from various wineries and many are from KWV.  Some of the wine is as old as 1975!!

I was so keen to attend this event, and it just so happened that the next one was on Thursday the 31st, so my boyfriend and I went along.

It was such an awesome experience!! Each couple was asked to choose a wine from the collection. As you can imagine this process took a while as we all thought so hard as to which wine we would pick out of such a collection. The wines selected ranged from 1975 to 2010.

The evening was fantastic, the food was great, the experience was one in a million and the night was one I wont forget.

If you are on Bottelary Road, be sure to pop in to this wine estate as I am sure you will have as memorable an experience as we did. Do yourself a favour and join them for their next winemakers dinner. I can't wait to attend the next one!!

Fort Simon

This was the second winery I visited today on Bottelary Road. I had heard that this wine estate has a castle and a fort, so I decided to finally check it out.

It is quite a cool feeling you feel as you make your way up to the wine estate. Be sure to take your time to stop, take photos, and soak up this unique place.

As I got to the car park and made my way to the tasting room, I felt this feeling that I had stumbled upon something which no one else has found. I found myself feeling warm and child like as if I had stepped in to a mystical place. It was a peculiar feeling but one I liked.

 
It almost had a Disneyland feeling. The plants here are not typical to Cape Town, the water was so blue and pretty, the frangipanis were so pretty!! It felt magical and mystical. I liked it.

Once I got to the tasting room I was greeted by the tasting room manager. I had a very pleasant tasting here. We started with the Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (R70 a bottle) which was soft and fruity. The Pinotage Rose 2011 was my favourite wine here. It was delicious!! It was fruity, soft yet not sweet. I really liked this wine.

The Merlot 2010 is R73 a bottle. It is a little spicy on the nose, smooth, little dry and nice.

Pinotage 2009 at R86 a bottle was light, smooth, fruity and nice. The Shiraz 2009 at R106 a bottle was soft, sweet, fruity and nice. The Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 at R106 a bottle had an interesting/intense smell, lovely flavour, soft, refined and long lasting taste.

Platinum Collection Viognier 2009 at R96 a bottle is sweet, with peach tones, lovely texture, fresh, and has a long finish. It spent 6 months in 2nd fill french oak barrels. It was not too bad, but it still doesn't match up to my favourite Viognier in SA.

Viognier Noble Late Harvest 2010 Platinum Collection. Delicious!!! R109.

The overall experience was very pleasant. The wine was ok. I walked out with a bottle of the Rose and the dessert wine, as I thought these were fantastic. I look forward to sitting down to an entire bottle and making another judgement on these wines.

If you come out this way, be sure to visit this winery, Goode Hoep (right beside Fort Simon) and Bellevue. It really makes for a lovely afternoon!!

Bellevue Wine Estate

Today I woke up and decided I should check out some of the wineries on Bottelary Road.

I started off with Bellevue and was so pleased I did. The wine tasting room is pretty unique and what I like the most about it is it's rustic and traditional style.

In the tasting room you can see the concrete tanks the winemakers used to use on this farm. It is pretty cool to see.  After visiting a few wineries on this road, I realised there are several wineries who have these concrete tanks in this area.
 

I was informed that Bellevue is the name of the estate and Morkel is the name of the family that owns it. You will see with their wine that they use Morkel on some of the labels and some have PK on them. PK is the previous owners name.

We started the tasting with the Premium Collection Morkel Shiraz 2010 at R50 a bottle. It has a nice spicy aroma, is soft and spicy on the palate, elegant with a grippy finish.

Morkel Pinotage 2009 is R95 a bottle. It turns out Bellevue Estate was the first to plant Pinotage grapes in South Africa in 1953 along with Kanonkop. This Pinotage has an interesting aroma, is lovely on the palate, has great body, I really liked it!

At Bellevue they use French made American Oak barrels on several of their wines. What was interesting is that the winemaker has tried various oak barrels and found this one works well on many of his grapes. He said that the wine chooses the barrels rather than the other way around. I liked this.

Morkel Malbec 2010 is R95 a bottle. It has an interesting herbal, spicy, fynbos aroma. It smells delicious and tastes just as good. It has soft tannins and spent its time in French Oak barrels. I just loved this wine.

PK Morkel Petit Verdot 2009 is a single varietal and sells for R145 a bottle. It has an interesting nose, is beautiful on the palate, smooth and just beautiful. The winemaker mentioned that this wine is ideal with fatty/heavy food and I completely see where he is coming from. This wine has a long finish and is very nice!

The last wine to try was the Tumara 2005. It is a bordeaux style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot. It spends 34 months in new French Oak Barrels. It is smooth, tasty, has deep berry and tobacco aroma. This wine sells for R125 a bottle.

As much as I wouldn't recommend the wineries on Bottelary Road as first port of call, especially if you are a tourist to Cape Town and only have one day, I would say that if you are a local and haven't visited the wineries on Bottelary Road, you must check them out!!

They have a lot of history, surprisingly great wine and a charm that I had not expected from them prior to visiting them.

Check out my review on Fort Simon and Goede Hoop also. These three wineries made for a very pleasant afternoon of wine tastings.