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.



Saturday, 1 March 2014

Maison

Some friends and I visited a few wineries in Franschhoek today and this one really impressed me.


We had a look around the place before sitting down for a wine tasting. There is a tasting room and restaurant here.


I was impressed by the length of the long tables outside on the grass and the lovely setting here. The place was quite busy, so it looks like another place which you will be better off booking in advance.


Inside at the tasting room you can enjoy a wine tasting or a wine and food pairing. We all chose to do the latter at R50 pp. The pairing was very nicely done and was truly the best one I have had so far.


We tasted the Maison Chenin Blanc Reserve 2012 at R150 a bottle. This was ok, but it didn't jump out at me. It was a little bit watery, yet fruity. It seemed to lack character that you would get from older vines.


Maison Blanc de Noir at R110 a bottle, was a very pleasant dry wine with lovely fruity flavours and a long finish. It went very nicely with the sweet truffle.

Maison Shiraz 2011 at R140 a bottle, was beautiful on the nose, had stunning spicy and berry flavours, was smooth, light - medium bodied, I liked this wine.


The lady serving us happened to have a bottle of the Shiraz 2010 open and gave us a taste which was very nice of her. This one had heavier berry tones to the 2011, it had more tobacco leaves and leather tones. It was dryer than the 2011.


Maison Viognier 2013 at R180 a bottle isn't usually opened for tastings, but the lady serving us was very kind and gave us a tasting of this wine. It was smooth and silky, had nice soft fruity aromas and taste. It had subtle stone fruit flavours.

Maison Chardonnay 2012 at R120 a bottle, I was not a fan of. It was a little tart, was light in body and again seemed to lack character in comparison to wines from older vines.

Maison Cape Ruby Port at R150 a bottle was stunning. It had very nice fruity flavours. I love the colour of this wine also!

Maison Straw Wine at R180 a bottle was lovely. It was not too syrupy, not too sweet, it was just right. It went nicely with the gorgonzola/blue cheese.

I finished the tasting with a cup of coffee and I have to say it was excellent. If you don't feel like a wine tasting here, then be sure to enjoy a cup of coffee.



I highly recommend visiting this winery. The service was good, the staf were polite, the food and wine pairing was well prepared and the overall experience was very pleasant.

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