Someone said over the weekend how lovely fruitful
Elgin is and commented that when most of us were growing up we drove straight
through, never knowing how beautiful the valley and the hills are. You do need
to go and explore this marvellous place. At the moment the trees are full of
ripening apples and pears. In spring it will be full of blossom. And at harvest
time, the vines will be laden.
The weather is slowly changing from autumn to winter
and in Elgin this weekend we had both kinds of weather. The liquid amber trees
are putting out the most beautiful show of reds, oranges and maroon shades.
We
started at Hannay wines where they were having a vertical tasting of their sauvignons
and some of their winemaker Catherine Marshall’s Pinot Noirs. A lovely tasting
held inside the working wine cellar that was very well attended. You had the
option of staying on for a simple buffet lunch costing R80 and if you bought a
case of any of the wines, you had lunch on them. We loved their 2012 Sauvignon
Blanc which has a little Semillon added and all of the Pinot’s were impressive.
Cathy makes very, very good pinot in the fruit driven style that we like. Her
piece de resistance was the 2005
We gather in the
winery for the tasting
The red wines ready for pouring
We began with the three Hannay sauvignon blancs
Tracy van Maaren markets both these
wines to the trade
What we tasted and could buy on the
day. Plus the buffet menu
Owner Malcolm Dicey tells us how he came to
buy and name the farm.
Hannay is his Scottish grandmother's maiden name
Hannay winemaker & cellar manager Kosie van der
Merwe
Winemaker Catherine Marshall, who
makes the wines for Hannay, tells us about them
We learn more about the farm and the
wines
Some interested imbibers
Some people make notes, others just
enjoy the tasting
Three superb Catherine Marshall Pinot
Noirs
Cathy tells us about the climate and
the terroir and how she enjoys making Pinot Noir
What we tasted
The Buffet is open for lunch
Lynne and Cathy catching up
Sitting in the sun waiting for lunch
You could taste all the wines at the
tasting table if you didn’t book for the vertical
Lots of enthusiastic tasters
and people enjoying lunch in the
cellar
A
warm farewell from the staff. It was very good boerewors
