Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Diemersdal launches SA's first Grüner Veltliner

Why did Diemersdal make a Grüner Veltliner? “Because I like the grape and the wine” said the winemaker Thys Louw. Good answer ! and he has had the patience to plant the grapes and wait the required years for the grapes to mature and now bottled this lovely fresh and lively white wine, which is much more common in Austria than anywhere in the New World. We think this will be a commercial success too.
We met at the long table in the restaurant.  On the table were glasses of the just released 2013 Grüner Veltliner and a tank sample of the 2014, What does it taste like? Crisp, dry, very layered, full of limes and lemons, almost like a sugarless lemonade and it has long flavours. There is no added acid and it is a wonderful food wine and a quaffer. With age, we see it becoming more complex and sophisticated.
Hearing about the grape, the vines and the motivation
Thys has planted 3 hectares and it is the first grown in South Africa
Chef tells us how he has matched the food
The menu
The starter was succulent smoked trout with creamed horseradish and a watercress salad, with squares of beetroot and some foraged herbs and flowers
The wine
Thys discussing the wine with Marlene Truter and his father Tienie Louw, who has handed the keys of the kingdom to Thys
We also had an Austrian Weingut Bründlmayer 2002 Trocken Grüner Veltliner from Alte Reben with which to compare it
Main course of Wiener Schnitzel, potato salad and cranberries. A huge portion but the cranberry sauce was a lovely complement to the dish and to the wine
Another Weingut Bründlmayer 2002 Trocken Grüner Veltliner, this one from Langenlois
Thys also poured us some of his Grenache
The tank sample in a flask
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

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