The visit to this wine farm on Tuesday was a first for
us. It has also been called Rondekop after the round hill in the middle of the
farm. Oldenburg is owned by Adrian van der Spuy, whose family Trust owned the
farm. He is an investment banker who lives in Switzerland who visits regularly.
In 2001 on a regular visit back to the Cape, he tasted Thelema 1998 Cabernet and
was inspired to buy back the farm from the family trust and start planting good
terroir specific grapes. Now, 14 years later, they have a good portfolio of
wines, mostly reds. We started the day with a glass of their lovely rich and
golden Chenin Blanc and went on to taste the others with lunch
The tasting venue set in this most
beautiful valley
A long table had been set up for the tasting
and lunch in the middle of the cool tasting room. It has marvellous views of
the mountains and of Rondekop hill where the grapes are planted 360 degrees
around the hill, behind it.
Nice solid modern design. This is the
tasting room counter
Another view of the tasting room
The stunning view from the Tasting
room of the Drakenstein mountains on the left, Rondekop hill in the centre, and
the Jonkershoek mountains on the right. Even at this height above sea level,
they have lots of mountain springs and a river running through the property
Raymond Noppé, their Regional Manager,
is also a Cape Wine Master. He told us the history of the farm, the vines and the
wine
The tasting room staff, who looked
after us very well indeed: Marietjie
Willemse
Cellar door and Office Manager and Louisa
Adonis, Receptionist / Front of House
Raymond told us that Oldenburg is not
currently an Estate because, while they do grow all their own grapes, they do
not yet have a cellar, so all the grapes are vinified on Glenelly . They will
be building a cellar on Oldenburg in the next few years.
Winemaker Simon Thompson has been with
Oldenburg since 2009. He briefly and generously joined us for lunch as he is
right in the middle of harvest at the moment
Everyone was delighted to discover
that our lunch was being prepared by Chef/caterer Craig Cormack of the Goose
Roasters. We all know his food well.
The first course, served with the 2012
Chardonnay, was seared gnocchi with wild mushrooms, an intense mushroom puree
and a truffle espuma. It was truly wonderful and very inspiring for the home
cook like Lynne
A selection of wines to taste with our
main course: Their interesting 2011 Cabernet Franc really impressed with the
black olives and savoury umami, cassis and ripe brambles nose. It has great
richness and savouriness on top of full on fruit on the palate and finishes
with a nice dark toasted oak flavour.
Definitely a great match for the main
course of tender fillet steak on a carrot puree with a potato gallete and a
rich wine jus.
Raymond takes us through the tasting. At
the head of the table is Ina Basson who is the Sales & Marketing Manager for the farm. And on the right Anel
Grobler and Jan Loubser of Spit or Swallow. We also tasted the 2010 Cabernet, It
is full of fruitcake aromas with violets, cassis and lead pencils and a
complete cassis motherload on the palate. A classic. Then finally Rhodium 2010
which is their flagship wine. A classic Bordeaux blend of 50% Merlot, 40%
Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine needs lots more time but
will take them places when it is ready. The 2011, soon to be released, also has
Petit Verdot and Malbec. We did not taste this.
Dessert was small and superb. A rich
brioche pain perdu, topped with a roasted plum and good rich vanilla ice cream
and surrounded by a crème anglaise.
From the other side. It also has great
views
A classic Cape mountain vista, one
painted many, many times by artists. These are the Drakenstein mountains –
translated it means the Dragon’s Mountain and you can see his smoke rising
above it when the South Easter starts to blow. This famous Cape wind, also
called the Cape Doctor, funnels down from the gap in the middle of the
mountains and has a major cooling affect on the vines of Oldenburg. It blows
down between the rows of vines which are planted specifically in that direction
to get the benefits.
Thank you to Oldenburg and Manley, their
PR company, for organising efficient and good transport (Kenneth at A2B Tours) for
us to get to and from the farm. We had a lovely day
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment