Groenberg
Wynstok Talmfees
On Saturday, three of us drove to Wellington for the Groenberg Fest held on Schalk Burger’s
farm Welbedacht. The main event was always going to be music and the crowds
were expected in the late afternoon and evening. When we arrived at 12 the
temperature was already at 38 degrees C and we had a quick rush around the
stalls to see who was there and what was on offer. Then we got invited into the
cool inner sanctum for a guided tasting of wines from the Groenberg area and
that is where we remained for much of a very pleasant afternoon
The festival
was held on the Welbedacht Cricket Oval. Rugby may be the game that the Burgers
are known for, but they are also keen cricketers
We stared with a chat with Tiaan
Burger and Hardus van Heerden, their new winemaker, and a tasting of the
Welbedacht wines
Tiaan introduced us to their new MCC bubbly
named Mon René after his sister. It is 100% chardonnay, and unoaked
There was a talent contest taking
place and these two musicians were performing. There was music all day
Nice to see a winemaker from another region
enjoying the festival. Dawie Botha of Antonij Rupert was there with his wife
Too hot for shoes? Dawie and his
wife were about to go grape stomping
Then on to taste some wines from
Linton Park. There was a lucky draw on entry and Lynne won a case of their 2014
De Slange Rivier Shiraz/Merlot blend, which was a nice surprise. It will go to
the back of our cellar to rest a while
and we met the owners of Jacaranda
farm René and Birgit Reiser. It is very small with only 2.5 hectares of grapes,
but they produce four different wines. New vineyards should come on stream soon
Inside for the start of three guided
tastings. The first was of some of the reds of the area: 2 Merlots, 2 Shirazes
and 2 Bordeaux Blends. We particularly like the Bohemian Shiraz 2010 from
Welbedacht warm and smooth with a kick of spice and very silky sweet fruit,
ending in white pepper and some nice soft chalky tannins. This still has a few
more years. We discovered that they grow all the Boekenhoutskloof shiraz on the
farm and this vineyard is next to that one. The Jacaranda Cab/Merlot also
impressed with violets and dark chocolates on the nose, soft fruit and a violet
crème with cherries on the silky palate
Schalk Burger senior takes us through
the tasting
The second tasting was a food and wine
pairing and these different canapés had been made to each match one of the
wines. The plate was so generous we didn’t need lunch afterwards and some of
the pairings were excellent. The Welbedacht Cricket Pitch flagship wine was
paired with the Osso bucco tart, filled with rich meat and garlic, both
delicious. A surprise was the match between DGB’s RibShack Red and the open wild
boar burger with pesto. Yes we admit prejudice, we were not expecting to like
the wine as much as we did. It’s a nice, juicy, easy drinking wine and we would
order it if we saw it on a menu. It is extremely well priced. On their stand
they offered a rack of ribs and a bottle of RibShack for R80. The chocolate
tart was awesome but really needed a dessert wine to pair with it.
Nice to see Wayne Rademeyer of Buffalo
Ridge Buffala mozzarella, whose farm is across the road. He had a stand at the
festival
Then Schalk took us through the third
tasting which was The Best of the Best in the area. The 2005 Chenin Blanc from
Welbedacht was their first harvest – it has lasted well and the best compliment
we can pay it is that we would happily buy it, its unmistakably a Chenin, rich,
layered and complex
The Springbok and Western Province
rugby culture is very strong at Welbedacht. Schalk senior and Schalk junior are
both proud wearers of the green and gold and the blue and white “streeptrui”.
The tasting had to be over by 3, so that the Stormers vs Chiefs match could be
screened. Schalk jr played, but the Stormers lost
Back out into the very warm afternoon
air. The boys were watching rugby
A novel way to play Noughts and
Crosses, while the boys are watching rugby
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© John &
Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015
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