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.



Thursday, 4 July 2013

Cabernet Sauvignon wine tasting - Du Toitskloof

Today I held a winemaker's evening at Five flies. Shawn Thompson from Du Toitskloof was the guest winemaker for the evening.



He introduced us to four of his Cabernet wines. We tried the following in the first half of the evening:


Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2012 R32.50 a bottle
I felt this was light with berry and cherry flavours. It was pleasant and easy drinking. Was smooth and a little sweet. It is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Shiraz and a bit of Malbec. It had touches of tobacco and cherry. Little nutty and spicy. I liked it.

Cabernet Sauvignon R36.50 a bottle
I felt it smelled heavier and fuller bodied compared to the last wine with stronger fruit flavours and spicy tones. It was yum but a bit more serious than the last wine. Again I liked this wine.

Dimension Blend R75 a bottle
This  is a blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot and 30% Shiraz. This wine has a beautiful fruity nose with a bit of coffee and vanilla. It had slight powdery tannins. It was a more serious wine compared to the previous two.

Story Book - Chapter 1
This wine is Shawn Thompson Garagiste wine. I found it had powdery tannins and that overall it needed more time. I therefore recommend one puts this wine away for a few years after purchasing.



In the second half of the evening we tasted 7 Cabernet Sauvignons from the Western Cape. We tasted the wines blind to avoid bias and prejudice. We voted on each wine after tasting all 7 wines and then I revealed where each wine was from and how much it was. The results were as follows:

1st Mount Vernon R150 a bottle
2nd Deetlefs R65 a bottle
3rd Waverley Hills R67 a bottle
4th equal Ormonde R95 a bottle and Zevenwacht R70 a bottle
6th Delheim R98 a bottle
7th L'Avenir R85 a bottle

It was yet another interesting result and a fun evening.



If you would like to join my wine club please email me on westerncapewineries@gmail.com.

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