Backsberg

Today I had the day off so I decided to visit Anura to buy some cheese and while out that way I figured it was about time I visited Backsberg. So that is exactly what I did.

On Sundays Backsberg has a buffet lunch and live music. There were quite a few people there for this lunch.

The tasting room is currently being renovated so wine tastings are currently being done in the restaurant.

There were two ladies doing the wine tastings and what I found out during this tasting is that neither of them drank wine before working as tasting room assistants at Backsberg and neither of them know much about wine other than Backsberg wine.

 
Anyway, besides that, I was impressed by the range of wines and the value for money wine. Also, they told me that the 4 barrels at the entrance of the property represents the four generations of family ownership of this estate. This estate has been around since 1916. Back is the family owners Surname.

It costs R15 to taste 5 wines. There is such an extensive list so I decided to pay R30 to try 10 wines. I am glad I did this as there truly is some great wine there.

To be honest, I am not sure I would recommend you go out of your way to visit this estate on the experience, but I would recommend you visit this estate for the value for money wine!! If you are in this area be sure to visit Vrede en Lust, Plasir de Merle, La Motte, Babylonstoren, Glen Carlou and Anura (for the cheese). Simondium Rd truly is a road of many great wine estates!! You can spend the whole day on this road.

Wine notes:
Sparkling Brut MCC 2008 is 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir. R114 a bottle. It was pleasant, easy drinking, off dry, a little savoury, with a nice finish. I liked it.

Sauvignon Blanc 2013 R46 a bottle. Lovely tropical fruity aromas and taste, very fruity, nice, smooth, a little acidic/hits the chest a bit, very fresh, tones of lime.

Pinot Noir 2010 at R102 a bottle. The grapes come from Grabouw, Belgium and Durbanville. Spent 12 months in barrels. Lovely spicy & blackcurrent aromas. Smooth, not dry. Very pleasant. Nice round mouth feel. Nice.

Pinotage 2012 at R57 a bottle. 50% of the wine was matured for 12 months in barrels and 50% in stainless steel tanks. It was a little savoury on the nose, was very nice on the palate, smooth, light, off dry, with lovely berry/fruity flavours.

Merlot 2011 at R67 a bottle. 12 months in barrels. Medium bodied wine, nice fruity flavour, smooth, feels high in alcohol on the palate, has some "oomph"/guts to it. I liked this wine.

Barberra 2009 at R68 a bottle. Spent 12 months in 2nd and 3rd fill barrels. It was dark in colour, had a strong aroma, smelled a bit like toast, cassis and cedar. It was yum. Very nice fruity wine. Smooth with an interesting dark berry aftertaste. I liked it.

Elbar 2007 at R72 a bottle, spent 6 months in barrels, was blended and then spent another 6 months in barrels. It is a blend of 38% Malbec, 32% Mouvedre, 12% Sangiovese, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Shiraz, 2% Zinfandel and 1% Viognier. This was light on the nose and palate. Soft and pleasant. It was ok.

Klein Babylonstoren 2007 is their flagship wine at R107 a bottle. It has 15 years aging potential. A blend of 50% Cabernet and 50% Merlot. 24 months new barrel. More serious red. Typical cabernet flavours coming through. Soft tannins yet still has structure. Very nice food wine. Heavier/serious red.

Special Late Harvest 2012 is a Viognier at R48 a bottle. It is 11.5% alcohol. It has lovely sweet fruity aroma, tones of honey and peaches, very smooth, soft, not too sweet or syrupy, quite light for a dessert wine. I liked it.

Pinneau 2010 at R83 a bottle (375ml) is made from Chenin Blanc grapes. It i s a fortified wine with brandy. I found the smell put me off because it smelled like brandy. It is 18% alcohol. It had an interesting taste on the palate. Unique flavours. I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. I think I was leaning towards not liking it because of the brandy.

Blaauwklippen - Wine Club

Every Tuesday a group of the valley tasting room managers and assistants meet together to taste each others wine and see what each place has to offer. It is a great way for us to learn more about wine, get to know our neighbours in the industry and also to experience wine estates nearby so we can refer people to other estates based on our own experience.

Today it was Blaauwklippens turn to host the tasting. They decided to do a Zinfandel tasting seeing as that is what they are well known for.

Blaauwklippen has a nice outdoor area where you can enjoy a tasting and they have a lawn with a childrens playground within sight of where you sit for your tasting. It is therefore child friendly. They also have plenty of seating inside and a fireplace for those chilly days. On Sundays they have a market on which I have heard is very popular and a lot of fun.

To do a wine tasting here costs R25 for 5 wines, R15 for 3 wines, R10 for dessert wine, R15 for 10yr Brandy, R10 for 8yr Brandy and R75 for a chocolate and wine tasting.

The person who did the tasting with us was very informative, dressed professionally, she really knows the wine and has a great understanding on wine in general. She is truly an asset to the estate.

Tasting notes:
We started with the White Zinfandel 2011 at R92 a bottle. This had tones of peach and apricot on the nose. It was smooth, fruity and very pleasant. It was a slight pink/salmon colour. It was recommended that one serves this with sushi or fish, and that it is a nice food wine.

Zinfandel (red) 2007 at R92 bottle was a little dry, had a little white pepper, medium body, fruity, a slightly dry finish, slight acidity, the tannins could use a few years to soften up. I would recommend aging this wine further. This wine was recommended with cheese.

Next we were very lucky to taste the Reserve Zinfandel at R310 a bottle which is not available for tasting. It had a gorgeous fruity nose, was smooth, and had lovely flavour. Don't worry about not being able to taste the wine just buy a bottle. You wont be disappointed.

The fourth wine we tried was the Zinfandel Noble Late Harvest 2011 at R203 a bottle. This had raisin, prunes and dried fruit aromas. It was sweet without being syrupy. It reminded me of stewed fruit. It is smooth and rounded; it has a great round-mouth feel. It is yum!!! I loved this wine.

We finished the tasting with the Before & After Apertif N/V at R220 a bottle. The bottle alone is awesome enough to warrant buying a bottle. It is very stylish!! This wine was prety nice, it was smooth with a nice finish. It is 80% potstill brandy and 20% Zinfandel Noble Late Harvest. It is an interesting mix and I am not sure if I like it but it was interesting. I just don't think I like it enough to buy a bottle.

We had a very nice wine tasting experience here and I would recommend one visits this estate when in the area.

Second visit - 19/08/2013:
I visited Blaauwklippen on the 19th of August in the afternoon. Marlin was serving me. He has grasped a good understanding of the wine within a short time of working there. I tasted the Sauvignon Blanc 2013 at R61 a bottle. This was acidic, fresh, had nice sugar levels, tropical fruit flavours with a bit of green capsicum (pepper). The Viognier at R61 a bottle was a nice light wine. The Chenin Blanc 2013 was light, crisp and has hints of apple. I also found it a bit gassy, like CO2 had been put in the bottle before closing it. The 2012 is nicer and better balanced. It was very fruity on the nose.

The Rose 2012 at R40 a bottle really stood out for me. It is a Shiraz Zinfandel. It is very nice, light and fruity. Nicely balanced. I bought a few bottles of this wine.

The Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 (R66 a bottle) was ok, it has good potential but I highly recommend putting it away for a few years before drinking.

I tried the Shiraz and the Merlot but didn't like either of these due to body, texture and taste. The Malbec 2010 was smooth and a little dry, it was ok.

I tried the Viognier NLH 2012 which was lovely, smooth, fruity, full mouth feel, sweet but not syrupy. I liked this wine. I also liked the Malbec NLH 2010; it was heavier than the Viognier, with a nice round mouth feel and was sweet and smooth.

Bilton - Wine Club

Today our valley wine club met at Bilton for a wine tasting. The Bilton building is a great size for big groups. They have plenty of parking to accommodate big groups also. The views on the drive up to Bilton are always stunning no matter if it is rain or shine. They have a lovely fireplace in the tasting room and plenty of heaters to warm the place up in winter. There is seating outside, so if you want to enjoy your tasting outside you can. This wine estate has a childrens playground and lawn area for children to play outside on, making it child friendly.

Moira was the host for the evening, she has a great understanding of wine and was able to host a well presented wine tasting with the Bilton wine. There were several stories that came with the wine at Bilton making for an interesting wine tasting.
 

Tonight we got to do a chocolate and wine tasting. I was looking forward to this as it was over two years ago since I last visited Bilton and also did a chocolate and wine tasting. You can see my last visit review on http://westerncapewineries.blogspot.com/2011/05/bilton-wines-helderberg-stellenbosch.html. It is funny to read my tasting notes then and compare them to what I have written now two years later.

We tasted the Bonnie Anne Sauvignon Blanc 2012 (R59 a bottle). It smelled green, fresh and citrus on the nose and on the palate you taste the same; I could taste lemon, lime and granny smith apple. It also seemed fizzy on the palate, like Co2 had been put in the bottle. I didn't like this wine. This wine was paired with white lime and crispy apple chocolate. I found the chocolate to be salty and didn't feel it matched so well.

The Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (R99 a bottle) was beautiful on the nose; it smelled smooth, spicy and earthy. It was a little dry/rough and fruity on the palate. I found this wine was not balanced. I didn't like this wine either. This wine was served with dark espresso chocolate. The wine tasted more intense in fruitiness and was smoother after the chocolate. I think this wine might be best served with food.

Merlot 2008 (R99 a bottle) had a strong fynbos and spicy aroma. It had great intense fruity and berry taste, it was smooth and very nice. I was very impressed with this wine, to the point that I purchased a case. I loved this wine. I gave a bottle of this wine to a friend and he let me know the other day that it was the best Merlot he had tasted!!This wine was served with Dark Cherry Malt chocolate. I loved the chocolate. It tasted like jelly (like the jelly in rocky road). I didn't like the chocolate with this wine. The chocolate seemed a bit salty.

Shiraz 2008 (R99 a bottle) had a dark berry smell on the nose, it smelled nice and had a slight sweet aroma. Pleasant on the palate, smooth, light and fruity. I liked it.

Pinotage 2009 (R99 a bottle) was very fruity, a little dry, a little rough on the palate. It had a strong smell. I didn't like the smell or taste of this wine.

The Matt Black 2009 at R79 a bottle I didn't like. It had very dark flavours and herby/earthy smell on the nose. It semmed complex, like it had licorice or even marmite tones? It seemed to have tones of mint on the palate also.

The Sir Percy 2008 had a nice cherry, fruity nose, was smooth on the palate, and had intense dark berry flavours. It was balanced and yet a little heavy. This wine was ok.

We got to taste the Viognier 2008 at R199 a bottle this had pungent stone fruit smells like that of peach and apricot. It was flat on the palate. It had a similar taste on the palate as it did on the nose. I didn't like this Viognier.

Sadly it seems I am not a fan of the wine at Bilton, however their Merlot 2008 is fantastic!! The chocolate and wine pairing is interesting and fun. If you go to Bilton then I recommend doing the chocolate and wine pairing. The service here is always good and you are always made to feel welcome. Please don't let my opinion of the wine put you off coming here. If you visit this region then I highly recommend visiting Haskell Vineyards, Rust en Vrede, Bilton, Alto, and Hidden Valley. They make for a great day out!!!