We wrote about these wines when Baleia Bay Chardonnay
appeared from nowhere to win The Discovery of the Year trophy at the Old Mutual
Trophy awards in May and when they appeared at the good Food & Wine show
later that month, we tasted and bought some, as well as their very creditable,
but young, Pinot Noir. So we were delighted to receive an invitation to the
Grand Opening of the winery in Riversdale. They were very intelligent and
arranged transport from Cape Town and overnight accommodation for media
We were to meet at 5pm at the farm, which is at
Dassiesklip, about 30 Kms south of Riversdale and, following the instructions,
we drove down the good dirt roads but missed the rather shy farm and ended up
in Vermaaklikheid which, literally, translates as “entertainment”! Yes, it was;
certainly a diversion. Turning back, we eventually arrived at the farm ‘gate’,
at the same time as the bus from Cape Town, where the winemaker /viticulturist
Jacques Geldenhuys was waiting for us.
Jacques shows us the layout of the farm
in the late afternoon sunshine
Rows and rows of different vines. They
are the first to plant grapes in this area, but we suspect they wont
be the last. If the area can produce beautiful grapes and not suffer from
summer rainfall and droughts, it will be a success
They also grow wheat, farm Brangus
cattle, olives and Dohne Merino sheep on this large farm of many hectares
The wheat has been harvested, now they
wait for the grapes
We had a tour of the vineyards and
olive groves on the back of the farm trailer pulled by the tractor. And we sat on
sprayed hay bales
One small farm building which is the
old main house, but it is not occupied by the family
Media travelling in a style which
suits them
The vines are in small berry and are
very lush
Lots of birds on the farm dam
Trundling through the olive groves
Another old farm building, sadly in
ruins, with the magnificent mountains behind
Olives in flower and in berry at the
same time
After the tour of the farm, we were
delivered to our bed and breakfast, Oakhurst in Riversdale. We had these small
self catering apartments leading into the garden. A rather nice place if you
need to make a stop on the road down to Cape Town. Not luxurious, but
comfortable and serviceable
A quick change of clothes and we met for a drink before dinner. Thank heavens Jan and Anel had remembered to
bring some wine along
Oakhurst’s main house
Arrival at a function is always so
much nicer if greeted with bubbly and oysters! We do get spoiled
The inside of the winery with the
tasting counter and lots of art and comfortable chairs and sofas. This is a
very green building with convection air control, solar water heating and rain
water saving; it has no chlorine in it or bugs
A view of it from on high. Through the
glass doors on the left you can see the wine tanks
Isak Nieuwoudt, Baleia’s sales manager,
with glasses of their rather good Sauvignon Blanc for us
We could taste several tank samples
of the new wines with winemaker Jacques in the cellar. Memorable was the Spicy
full Shiraz which has 10% of their Tempranillo added. It has a lovely licorice woody end. The Tempranillo is wild mulberries on the palate, but needs time. The
unwooded Chardonnay (the wooded is currently out of stock) is lean clean and in
a very Burgundian style with lots of minerality and citrus. And the Pinot Noir
is soft and perfumed on the nose and palate with rich cherries and a soft wood
background, definitely worth layng down for a while and is very affordable.
Their red blend contains 40% Tempranillo, 40% Shiraz and 20% Pinot Noir. It is
soft and sweet with salty ‘drop’ liquorice on the end. Initially, the wines were
made by Jan Joubert with Newald Marais of Kranskop Winery supervising
Winemaker Jacques takes us through the
tasting
We were entertained by a singer who also played an electric violin
Oysters were popular
Shante Hutton and Jeanri-Tine Van Zyl enjoying a glass of the
Chardonnay
Owners Fanie and Jan-Hendrik Joubert, Lindi Joubert with Jacques Geldenhuys
We then moved next door to dinner in the Deli.
This was the starter: salmon on a layered salad including tomatoes, avo, red
pepper, cucumber and pineapple
Time for introductions by Sales
Manager Isak. He told us that, in future, the wine will just be known as Baleia,
they are to drop the word "Bay"
And then came the speeches
The menu was on the blackboard
A refreshing, tart lemon sorbet came
next
Madam Mayor Emor Nel of the Hessequa/Riversdale
Municipality was present and made a speech about what the area as a whole was
doing to improve it and people’s lives. It sounds like a good place to live
A few words from Fanie
Fanie introduces us to his daughter Lizeth, who is the owner of LaBella Restaurant & Deli
Jan-Hendrik tells us why he decided to grow grapes and make wine on the farm
Then it was time for the main course
of Pork belly on garlic mash, topped with good fresh vegetables, although the
carrots were a little unyielding
Three desserts on one platter. A smidgen
of crème brulée, a dark chocolate brownie and a mini lime cheesecake.
We just had time for a quick tour of
the Deli before retiring to our beds. A long but interesting day
Next morning we had time to stop for
breakfast in Robertson and who wouldn’t be tempted by the offer at Spur. All
this, including the toast and marmalade for R24.95. The bottomless coffee costs
R14.95
or you can have the
scrambled egg variation. We didn't need the chips!
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014
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