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.