Sumaridge

This was the third winery on our list for the day. The venue was very nice, we spent some time taking photos at the water, watching the ducks and ducklings swim around, watched children fishing while the family was having a picnic beside the water. It was a lovely setting.

We had booked a table at this place to do a tasting and eat a platter of food. On arrival we were seated at our table, and it did take a little while to be served. Quite a few people had walked in for a tasting and instead of sitting for a tasting, they did it at the tasting bar. I think this had a massive affect on our tasting experience because the staff were too busy to then serve us our wine. We would have been better doing our tasting at the bar and then sitting for the platter. We had hoped to have done both at the same time, but was not a biggy that we couldn't. The staff were very friendly though, and the guy serving wine was very informative.

We tried all the wine. The Sauvignon Blanc 2009 (R70) had really nice flavour and was balanced. The Chardonnay 2009 (R140) had a lovely flavour, but was slightly tart. The Maritimus 2009 (R130) was very nice, it had nice flavour; was a beautiful tropical fruity flavour, and nicely balanced. The Pinot Noir 2009 (R180) smelled nice, but it was not a favourite of mine. It seemed that it might be better after a few more years. The Merlot 2007 (R100) was very nice; I really liked the flavour of this wine. The Epitome 2008 (R160) had nice oak, tobacco and spicy tones, it was mature, and a delicious wine.

There is an outdoor decking which seats about 8 people. If you can book this, its makes for a lovely setting for your platter. They also have tables outside under the trees, which on a non-windy day would also be a lovely place to sit for a platter. The platters available are very nice!! There is a selection of 4 different platters, ranging from R45 to R130. The cheapest option is designed for children as it is a smaller platter, whereas the adults ones range from R70 - 130. The lady who served us gave us the option of getting a big platter for the 6 of us, for something like R450. We all thought this was a great option, and it turned out that the portion was a perfect size for us all. It was delicious also!!!

I do recommend one visits this winery as the whole setting is lovely. If you are a big group though, I do recommend booking a table for a platter, but perhaps do your tasting first at the bar if it is busy.

Newton Johnson

The second winery on our list today was Newton Johnson. The location of this winery is very nice, the building is situated on a hill over looking the walker bay valley. In the distance you can see the ocean. It really was a lovely view!!

The building is modern and very welcoming.

The lady in the tasting room was very friendly, we tried almost all of the wines, and at this winery the tasting is free.

We started with the Newton Johnson Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (R75) which was light, fruity and nice. The Newton Johnson Resonance 2010 (R120) is 84% Sauvignon Blanc and 16% semillon. It was nice and had a lot of flavour!! The Felicite Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (R52) is easy drinking, fruity and light. The Felicite no oak Chardonnay (R52) was light and crisp. The Felicite dry rosé (R52) was 74% Shiraz and 26% Sauvignon blanc. This was light, nice and I liked it. The Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Pinot Noir (R220) had nice flavour, was light, and had a nice aftertaste. I also liked this wine. The Newton Johnson Pinot Noir 2010 (R185) had nice earthy flavour to it, had a slightly dry aftertaste. This one had more character to it than the previous Pinot Noir. The Newton Johnson Full Stop Rock 2008 (R100) was 94% Syrah, 3% Mouvedre, and 3% Grenache. This had lots of plum and berry tastes to it, then a licorice aftertaste, I loved it!! We ended up buying a bottle of this one as it really stood out as a unique and fantastic wine.

After our tasting, we sat out on the decking and enjoyed a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. The view from the decking is lovely. Its really relaxing here. The service was also very good.

While sitting there I had a look at the menu, the food does sound nice, and I liked the look of the breakfast menu!!! We were all pretty keen to go back here again for a meal.

I definitely recommend visiting this winery when out this way.

On the 21st of January, we visited this winery again as my friend wanted to show it to her friends who hadn't been there before. We didn't get the same service this time round. We were the only ones there at first, so we received our first tasting. Three people then arrived and after that we were almost ignored. So it will depend on who is serving you as to what experience you get at this winery. Due to the fact we were not being served (unless we waived our hand for attention) we left after trying three. Bit disappointing considering how great our first experience was. I still recommend visiting this place though.

Bouchard Finlayson

We unfortunately had a bad experience here, so I do apologise if this review is a bit negative. I will endeavour to go back to this winery again, to see if it was just bad timing, bad service or a bad year for their wine....

The winery itself is very nice. The drive up is nice, the bulding is nice, the garden is nice.

When we walked in, it took a few minutes to be greeted, we were asked how many were in our group and we said 6. She then informed us that if there are 6 or more people you must pay R40 per person for a tasting and you can only try wines 1 - 7 from the list. We then asked if we could sit in two groups of three (as a joke) so we didn't have to pay, but it was not taken so well.

I had read in the 2010 platters guide that the tasting would be R20 per person for groups of 6 or more, which I thought was pretty reasonable. But R40 I thought was a bit steep and I thought it was weird that you can't try all the wines, even though you are now paying!!

One of the people in our group decided not to taste the wines, so we sat down as a group of 5 and no longer had to pay, AND, we could try all the wines available for tasting, which was wines 1 - 9 on the list.

Then, it seemed that the lady who greeted us was not impressed with our group, it appeared that we were not worthy of her time and expertise in wine, and therefore we were served by another lady who didn't know anything about the wine, and only after the 4th wine actually decided to tell us something, and she had to use tasting notes to do so. But on the first 4 wines, she didn't tell us what we were tasting, what year it was, nothing!! She literally just poured the wine.

What made things worse, is that out of all five of us, we didn't enjoy any of the wines. A lot of them had a sour taste to them, and just didn't appeal to our palate. Having said that, the Blanc de Mer 2011 (R75) was ok, it was light and zesty.  Here are the notes I made about the other wines: The Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (R84) was sharp, sour, and fruity. The Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2010 (R114) was smooth and zesty. The Chardonnay Sans Barrique 2010 (R108) was in my opinion not balanced and was sharp and sour. The Chardonnay Crocodiles Lair Limited Edition 2010 (R151) was 50% wooded. (I guess this is when we finally got told information on the wine). This wine was smooth, smelled nice, and tasted of apricots. The Chardonnay Crocodiles Lair 2010 (R114) had a nice smell, was smooth, yet had a sour/zesty taste. The Chardonnay Missionvale 2010 (R142) was light, sour and zesty. The Hannibal 2008 (R184) was a blend of Sangiovese, Pinot Noir, and Nebbiolo. This wine was ok/nice. Last of all the Pinot Noir Galpin Peak 2010 (R245) was nice but had a sour aftertaste.

As you can see, the wine is rather pricey. Dispite the high prices and poor service, there was just nothing that appealed to any of us, and therefore none of us bought a bottle of the wine.

When we left, I thought, I wonder if the girl who originally served us thought, yeah, see, they didn't buy wine anyway, complete waste of time and money.

So that was our experience, it was disappointing. None of us had heard of this winery before, and as it was one of 5 wineries we still had on our list to visit along this road, we were all looking forward to our visit.

If you are a group of 6 or more and you also don't want to pay R40 per person, I suggest walking in in groups of 5 or less and pretending you don't know each other. I do think you get better service if you do the tasting standing at the bar, as the lady who was serving there, really seemed to know her wine. I overheard her talking and she sounded passionate about the wine and knowledgable.

In the tasting room there is a cellar room you can have a look around, which is very nice.

Christmas Blind Wine Tasting Event - MCC & Dessert wine - 12th December

On Monday the 12th of December, I held my fifth blind wine tasting event at Trinity in Cape Town. This month 52 people attended, which is the highest attendance I have had so far.

At this months event, we tried 7 MCC's and 8 Dessert Wines. The MCC was from Van Loveren, Morena, Buitenverwachting, Muratie, Laborie, Deetlefs and De Grendel. The Dessert Wine was from Van Loveren, Fleur du Cap, Boekenhoutskloof, Daschbosch, Asara, Altydgedacht, Buitenverwachting, and Deetlefs. As you can see, it was an awesome line up!!

The most popular MCC on the night was Laborie, followed closely by Van Loveren and De Grendel. The most popular Dessert wine was Buitenverwachting, followed very closely by Deetlefs.

The event was a fun, interactive and Christmas themed night. Some people dressed up really well for this event.

Everyone enjoyed the Steal the Christmas present game, all walking home with a present each.

This month, Ferdi from Deetlefs was kind enough to join my wine event and explain to everyone how MCC and dessert wine is made. It was great being able to understand how much work and effort is put in to the process, allowing everyone to appreciate what they were drinking even more :-)

My next blind wine tasting event will be held in February. We will be trying a white varietal, however, I haven't decided which one it will be yet. Be sure to go to my facebook page 'western cape wineries' and go 'like' my page. Alternatively, email me on westerncapewineries@gmail.com and ask that you be added to my database so that you will be notified of future wine tasting events.

Thank you to all the wineries and wine club members who have supported my blind wine tasting events this year, I look forward to holding many more next year.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Kind regards,
Chrissy

Haskell/Dombeya

After a tasting at Hidden Valley I took my group to Haskell/Dombeya. I brought them here because Werner (the tasting room manager) is fantastic at his job. He really knows his wine, he goes through them at a nice pace and explains everything along the way. My friends thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed this tasting, because he does not use technical words, so it doesn’t matter at what level you understand wine, anyone can understand.

What I also like about this winery is that they offer South African, Australian and NZ wine to try. There are not many wineries in the Western Cape that do this.

Werner started us off with three Chardonnays. We tried the New Zealand Craggy Range Kidnappers Chardonnay 2010 (R245) which was light, refreshing, fruity, soft, however, it does taste a little watered down. This was a very easy wine to drink. The Dombeya Chardonnay 2010 had a buttery and toast smell, it tasted nice and smooth. The Haskell Chardonnay 2010 (R290) smells buttery and syrupy, tastes nice, but I didn’t feel it had a lot of flavour and it was very easy drinking.

I then requested we try a Sauvignon Blanc, as he had no NZ Sauvignon Blanc left, he suggested I try the Dombeya Sauvignon Blanc. This was beautiful, had lovely flavour, and was very nice.

Next he introduced us to two Shiraz’s and one Syrah. We got to try the Dombeya Bolder Red Shiraz 2008, this was nice and smooth. Next we tried the Haskell Aeon Syrah 2008 (R290), this I found a little harsh but full of flavour. Last of all we tried the Pirathon Shiraz 2006 (R245) from the Barossa Valley in Australia, this had a lot of flavour and was a very nice wine.

After the tasting we enjoyed a lovely lunch outside. The service is always great here, you are given bread and butter to eat while waiting for your meal. The other thing I like about eating here is that the wine (other than a few) are exactly the same price to enjoy at the winery as they are if you bought it from the cellar. I was very keen to have a bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc, so for a very reasonable R160 we drank a bottle of the NZ Lawsons Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc. It was really good, I was very happy with the recommendation Werner had made. Be sure to try this wine, or buy a bottle if you eat here!! Awesome flavour!!!

Be sure to visit this winery, you need to make a booking with Werner, he gets a lot of bookings on the weekends, and its worth having his full attention when you come here for a tasting.

Hidden Valley

On Saturday I took a group of 9 people around some wineries in Heldeberg. My friend told me she had some  friends from the Netherlands who were interested in doing a wine tasting, and asked if I could show them around. I was given full responsibility for where I took them, and seeing as my favourite wine region is the Helderberg wine region, that is where we went.

We started at Hidden Valley Winery. I chose this place because of the view you can enjoy while having a wine tasting and because of the architecture of the building. It is such a stunnig building they have, great location and just lovely views.

 

We were able to sit outside for the tasting which was very nice. It was the perfect weather to do a wine tasting outside.

We tried all 6 wines for tasting, this costs R30 per person which is waived if you buy two bottles of wine or more.

We started with the Hidden Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (R75), this was tropical fruit flavoured, soft, had a great smell and taste. The aftertaste was a little dry. Next we tried the Land’s End Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (R75) which was grassy, little zingy/mineral tasting, light and refreshing. It had a strong zesty lingering aftertaste. The Hidden Valley Pinotage 2009 had a beautiful smell and taste, it had hints of chocolate and coffee, it was smooth, and had a slightly dry/dark chocolate aftertaste. I was not a fan of the Land’s End Syrah 2008 (R175) and the Hidden Secret 2008 (R135). The latter I especially didn’t like because it had a chalky/dry aftertaste. The Hidden Gem 2008 (R135) was quite nice though. Sadly we had to rush the end of this tasting as we had to get to our booking at Dombeya/Haskell.

I would definitely recommend visiting this winery if you want a place with a nice view, good service and a nice range of wines.

There is a restaurant on the premises, which I believe would be a very nice place to eat. This winery also has chocolate platters for R55 and includes a wine tasting, cheese platters (R230) for two people and includes a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc or Pinotage or a wine tasting for two. They have picnic baskets available for two people at R295 and includes a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc or Pinotage.

High Constantia

I went to High Constantia on Thursday by myself for a wine tasting, as I was out that way to pick up wine from Buitenverwachting for my upcoming wine event.

I had an hour to kill so I thought I would see if they were open, I had tried to do a tasting two other times at this winery, but both times they were closed.

As I walked down the driveway a lady welcomed me on to the estate and showed me through to the tasting room.

The tasting is done outside on the porch where you have a beautiful view of the mountains, an old builing and a pond.

The place is so tranquil you could sit here for hours enjoying the view.

First I got to try the Clos Andre 2008 MCC (R227), which is 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir. This is a very pleasant MCC to drink, it's fruity, not dry and nice to drink. Next I tried the Sauvignon Blanc 2010 (R86.67). This has a beautiful smell, is full of flavour, smooth, and balanced. For me, it tasted a bit grassy, and also tasted of lime. There was a prominent flavour to this wine which I just couldn't recognise, but it was zesty and vibrant.

The rest of the wine available to try were red varietals and to be honest, I wasn't a fan of them. The flavours were all fine, but it was just the chalky and dry aftertaste that I didn't enjoy.

A tasting costs R40 here, if you buy wine the fee is waived.

Be sure to come here, as the service is great, the scenery is beautiful and the wine is interesting. It's a small place which I like because you get to have a wonderful wine tasting experience here.

Hillcrest

It was a beautiful sunny day, and I had half an hour to kill, so I thought I would finally do a wine tasting at Hillcrest.

The lady in the tasting room was energectic, knew her wine and clearly had a passion for wine. It was nice to be served by her. A tasting costs R10 here, but if you buy a bottle of wine the fee is waived.

I started with the Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (R70) it had amazing flavour, which was very much tropical fruit flavours. The Sauvignon Blanc 2010 (R60) had a nice aroma, hints of graasy & apple taste, it was zippy, had a fig aftertaste and had a slight bitter aftertaste.

The Cabernet Sauvignon Rose 2010 (R45) is very similar to the NZ Martinborough wine region Rose. It was crisp, dry, fruit driven and complex. I am more a fan of the easy drinking, Rose.

The Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot 2007 (R60) was interesting. It was smokey, fruit driven, had berry notes and a slightly dry aftertaste.

The Metamorphic Range Quarry 2008 (R150) was sharp, had very nice flavours and an intense feeling on the palate. The Metamorphic Range Hornfels 2008 (R250) was again full of flavour, slightly dry, and had white pepper/spicy tones.

Overall the wines here are very nice, I especially liked the Sauvignon Blancs. This winery has a nice restaurant, lovely views and good service. It is worth the visit if you are visiting the Durbanville wine region.

Durbanville's new signature dish

On Wednesday, 23rd of November I was invited to a media lunch at Diemersdal for the launch of the new Durbanville signature dish.

On arrival, all the Sauvigon Blancs and Shiraz's from the Durbanville wine region were available to try. I thoroughly enjoyed D'Aria's Sauvignon Blanc, it was very nice!!

There were approximately 20 people invited to this event, all from the food and wine industry. There were a few freelance writers, magazine writers, bloggers, and a few of the Durbanville winemakers also attended. It was really nice meeting other people from the food and wine industry.

After we all had the chance to meet each other and try some of the wine, we sat down for the signature regional dish. It was explained to us that this dish had a lot of effort, thought and time put into it, as they wanted this dish to represent the area and to bring out the history of the Durbanville wine region.

The dish was made of lamb sosaties with risotto-style pumpkin 'stampkoring' (pearled wheat), cumin sauce and pumpkin pickle. The regional dish includes pumpkin in three ways: mashed pumpkin with a hint of cinnamon to add creaminess to the risotto-style stampkoring; diced oven-roasted butternut for texture and intense flavour and a sweet-sour home-made pumpkin pickle with tumeric and mustard seeds.

It was delicious!! The dish was full of flavour; and complemented each other very nicely!! The dish was designed to match Sauvignon blanc and Shiraz from the Durbanville wine region and sure enough, they matched just beautifully.

The pumpkin pickle was very nice, it was my first time trying it, and I loved it. It really complemented the lamb sosaties!! We were given a jar to take home, and it was used up so quickly. Be sure to get your hands on some of this pumpkin pickle!!

To finish off the meal we were given Simonsberg cheese with gingerbread cookies. The cheese was divine and the Altydgedacht and Meerendal dessert wine accompanying the cheese was just lovely!! Be sure to try these dessert wines when you visit their winery!!

This signature dish will be served in all restaurants in the Durbanville wine region as of the 1st of December 2011. The main will cost R120 and for a smaller portion it is R65. I highly recommend trying this dish, it really is delicious. If you have friends or family visiting cape town, you can now take them for a nice wine tour in Durbanville and they can try a local dish at the same time, it's perfect!!

Wine on the Water

This was a favourite event of mine. I wanted to go to this event, but I had dragged my boyfriend to so many wine events this year, that I didn't suggest this event. Just by chance, we actually ended up here because we were taking an Australian friend out for lunch and this place was close to where he was staying.

For only R50 we could try the wine and enjoy the beautiful views this place has to offer. After trying a little bit of wine we went and enjoyed lunch at one of the restaurants. It was extremely hot that day!!

We tried some more wine after lunch. We only had an hour and the time went very quickly. Unfortunately we didn’t get to try all the wine there.

We did try Wildekrans wine. My favourites were the Wildekrans Shiraz 2008 (R50) and the Wildkrans Lunch Ladies Rose 2011 (R50).

We also tried Cranefields Wines. I liked he Cranefields Shiraz 2007 which was very smooth, light, and had a slightly peppery aftertaste. It was very nice and only R48 a bottle. I also liked the Cranefields Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (R48).

One other winery I have record of visiting is the Bushmanspad. The wine I liked the most at this winery was the Red Gold Shiraz 2006 at R55 a bottle. It was very soft, delicate, balanced and delicious!! I loved this wine.

If they hold this event again in 2012 I am very keen to go. The venue is lovely, the amount of wineries present was great and the price of the ticket you can't beat!! 

Joostenberg

Joostenberg is a nice place to visit.

We went to have a look at the plants at the nursery and ended up looking through the deli, around the garden and restauarnt.

It looks like an ideal place to have a lunch with friends who have children, as there is a big grass playing area, a playground, and horse riding for the kids.

You can do a free wine tasting in the deli. They have some very nice wines there.

In the deli there is a large selection of meat to buy. There is also a nice bakery selection, cheese section and many other products worth checking out.

Joostenburg is on the R304. If you are coming from Cape Town on the N1, you take the R304 turn off, at the T-juction turn right on to the R304 and then about 3-5 mins down the road Joostenburg will be on your left.

You can find out more information on http://www.joostenberg.co.za/

Here is some info on their bistro:

The bistro’s seasonal menu features hearty, country dishes made from scratch, using fresh local produce, in particular their own farm reared pork.  Examples are: traditional French charcuterie plate; cep mushroom and herb omelette; salad of grilled vegetables and marinated goat's cheese; pork braised with tomato and haricot beans; tart Tatin and vanilla pod ice cream. The atmosphere is relaxed and family friendly. Enjoy their huge cosy fireplace in winter and vine shaded stoep and endless gardens in summer.

Breakfasts are served from 8h00-11h30
Lunches are served from 12h00-15h00

Reservations are recommended, especially over weekends, public holidays and during holidays.

We are open daily from 8h00-17h00

Waterkloof

A follower of my blog suggested that I visit this winery, and I finally did in November. I am so grateful for the recommendation, as it sure was a stunning winery to visit.

Waterkloof is a must see winery. The view is just stunning from this place!!

The whole place is just wow; the drive up to the winery, the building where they have the wine tastings and restaurant, and the view!! Its all grand and fantastic!!

The place where you do your tasting is quite stylish and the service is very good. Sadly we did not have a lot of time, so had to race through the wines. I found that I either really liked the wine or found it just ok.

My favourites of the wine we tried were Circumstance Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (R90), I found it soft, gentle, had a lingering aftertaste and very nice to drink. I also liked the Circumstance Chenin Blanc, this was very soft, had beautiful flavour, 14 months oaked, it was very nice!! This also sells for R90 a bottle. The Circumstance Cape Coral 2010 Mouvedre sells for R85 a bottle, it was gentle, smoth, balanced, light and easy drinking. The Circumstance Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (R155) was very nice, but had a slightly dry aftertaste. In total we tried 12 wines, there is a fee for trying the wines, I think we paid R25 each.

The restaurant looks lovely, and the food looked very nice also. I imagine a meal here with the view they have, will be a treat and a half!! You can view the menu on http://www.waterkloofwines.co.za/pages/279651693/Restaurant-and-functions/menu.asp. They also have a 6 course degustation menu for R385/R490 wine pairing included. From what I saw, this would be very nice I am sure!!

I definitely recommend one visits this winery, and if you have the time and money, be sure to come and enjoy a meal here also. I am very keen to go back for the degustation!!

Kaapzicht

After visiting Groenland, I decided to visit Kaapzicht also. They are right beside each other so it was very convenient.

On ariving at the tasting room, I thought it was a "dag" (as we say in NZ) to be greeted by a sign on the door saying please press the door once (once being stressed) and wait for assistance. It took a while before someone came to open the tasting room door, but I dared not press the bell again, hehe. The lady who served me said they misplaced the key which is why they took longer than normal to get to the tasting room. But the signs and waiting for someone to come I thought actually added to the charm and cuteness of this place.

The lady who served me was very friendly though didn't seem to know too much about the wine. She had come from the office, so perhaps she doesn't normally do the tastings...

I tried all the white wines and sadly didn't find anything I particulary liked, which was a shame considering they currently have a massive sale on their wine!! Only R20 for their SB 2009 (unlabelled), Chenin Blanc 2009, and Natural Sweet Wine 2007. The Sauv/chenin Blanc 2008 (unlabelled) is selling for only R15 and the so is the Shiraz Rose 2008 (unlabelled). The Cab Sauv 2005 is selling for R35 and the Bin 3 (merlot/cab sav/pin) 2007 is selling for R49.

 I did however love the Merlot 2008 (R90). This was so smooth, moist and delicate. I really liked this wine, so I walked out with a bottle. The Hanepoot Jerepigo 2008 (R60) had great flavour, was sweet but not syrupy and was a nice dessert wine.

The overall tasting experience was nice here. If you are a big group, I am sure there will be a wine for everyone's liking, as there are 18 wines on the tasting list!!

I think if I am correct they charge R10 for a tasting, but if you by a bottle of wine the fee is waived.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on me when I visited this wine, so have had to use photos from their website. Be sure to check out their website on http://www.kaapzicht.co.za.