A Visit to Niel Joubert Wine Estate in Paarl

Charles Withington has had a respectable career in wine. He owns the Darling Wine Shop and has become a friend. During his tenure as General Manager at nearby Backsberg, he got to know the Jouberts very well and has looked after their export marketing since the mid 90s. Recently, he suggested that we should all go and have a tasting and lunch with them. We met him there last Wednesday and a wonderful day was had by all

The farm is on the Simondium Road in Klapmuts, near Paarl and, on going through these imposing gates, you drive far up the road into the wooded countryside

until you come to these gates guarded by the two handsome Belgian Shepherd dogs who greet you effusively

The manor house, where they have their offices

The vines are behind and all around this leafy farm and creep up the Simonsberg

Lovely garden designs. It must be pretty when the creeper is in full colour

Into the tasting room to meet daughter Mari. Should you wish to visit they are open by appointment. http://www.nieljoubert.co.za/ It's a family farm, bought in 1898, and is now run by third and fourth generation Jouberts

Mari Joubert is in charge of PR and Marketing

Winemaker Ernst Leicht came in and told us about his wines

We tasted these wines in the cellar and photographed them at the same time. We began with the 2009 Christine-Marié MCC which is made from 100% unwooded chardonnay. It has lovely vanilla, perfume and aged lees on the nose and melon, limes and cooked pear on the palate, with good mousse and good length

We went on to taste the 2015 Chenin blanc, full of tropical fruits but crisp, dry and refreshing

Then the Pinotage Rosé Blanc de Noir, with pretty, floral fruity notes

The 2013, just bottled, Pinotage which smells of expensive wood, but has only been dusted. It tastes of red plums, with good tannins and licorice, banana, chocolate and coffee at the end. Something most Pinotage lovers will like, especially at the price, which is R52 from the farm

The 2013 Cabernet is excellent, with pretty cassis berries and leaves and vanilla on the nose. Its full of soft, sweet clean fruit, richness, elegance, some green tannins with licorice on the end. It is a good food wine and a snip at R63. It is punching well above its station and we think will also lay down well for future drinking

Their 2012 Shiraz, which is their biggest seller here and overseas, has incense wood and Chanel perfume, it is spicy, woody, herbaceous, with clove, cinnamon and pepper notes and some capsicum in with the fruit. Lots of wood on the end

This 2008 Christine Marié Chardonnay shows how well South African whites can age, which is why we bought a case. It spent 18 months in new French barrels. It is an elegant, classic Chardonnay, not over-wooded, but full of fresh golden fruit

Charles Withington

Viticulturalist Daan Joubert with winemaker Niel Joubert jr

Niel Joubert has accumulated a collection of classic American cars, mainly convertibles, from the 50s and 60s

Most of them are General Motors brands, but he also has a Packard

We then left the tasting room and headed for lunch at Daan Joubert's home across the road. It is very old and has been sympathetically and beautifully restored by the family. Daan is a stickler for detail and doing things the right way, says his wife, Eleanor

The family's elderly golden retriever

Lunch was set up for us in the dining room and we started with cups of a lovely seafood soup accompanied by the 2014 Herr Leicht, a great match. This is an unusual blend of 69% Sauvignon Blanc, 22% Nouvelle and 14% Chenin Blanc. It is made for the Namibian market

The main course was served with the 2006 Christine Marié Shiraz which is very refined, spicy on the nose and yet full on fruit and nicely matured on the palate. It was served with a corn, radish, cucumber, rocket and chevre salad and...

... beautifully cooked oxtail on the bone with onions. We were converted immediately. It is not a dish we have enjoyed before, but all the sinew and fat had been cooked away, leaving only the meat on the bone in its rich juices. It was also served with rice. The shiraz was the perfect match

We had lots of good conversation over lunch and then it was time for dessert. A wonderful soft cake filled with sweet cream and walnuts and 'iced' with fresh cream

Served here by Daan's wife, Eleanor

We enjoyed this with homemade limoncello. It was, deceptively, served in a Herr Leicht bottle

A beautiful handle on a piece of antique furniture

The vineyards have very interesting drainage ditches every four rows

RETURN TO MENU
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

Boplaas launches the new vintages of Portuguese styled table wine and older Cape Vintage Reserve Ports at Dear Me

We were invited to taste four Boplaas wines made with Port varieties and four of their ports last Thursday. The tasting was held in Tjing Tjing on the ground floor and then we went upstairs to the Dear Me restaurant to lunch, paired with more of the wines and Port

Higgo Jacobs with Margaux Nel, PRO Emile Joubert and pouring bubbly is Carel Nel

Carel Nel greeting journalists Graham Howe and Jeanri-Tine van Zyl

Tasting tables laid out and ready to start

The line up for tasting. The most interesting wine was the Touriga Naçional Unfiltered 2003 still full of rich red berries and vanilla oak; it had a long sour cherry finish. The Woolworths Boplaas Connection 2013, made from Touriga and Cabernet Sauvignon, had sweet and sour cherries and blackberries with good depth and might be a good food wine. The 2013 Ring of Rocks Tinta Barocca /Touriga Franseca is only available in restaurants and from the farm. It tastes of cherries with their stones. It's elegant with chalky tannins and needs time. The flagship 2012 Gamka (Lion in Khoisan), 72% Touriga 28% Shiraz, has an intriguing nose of violets and incense. It, too, has dry tannins, sour sweet cherries and is built to last

Then we moved on to the Ports: Boplaas Tinta Barocca Vintage Port 1986, bottled way back then with a screw cap, has bruléed fruit cake and whiffs of smoke and vanilla. It's very sweet, with layers and layers of Christmas cake fruit, sugar and alcohol with a long finish. Can go years more. It was elegant, had some herbaceous notes, and was fresh and full of cherries. The 1999 Vintage Reserve Port, made from Touriga and Tinta Barocca, is dark brown and showing its age a bit, but still has Christmas fruit. The 2003 Cape Vintage Port Touriga and Tinta was most peoples’ favourite in the tasting. Sweet plums and raisins, with ginger and vanilla. A lovely soft port with good lasting flavours and lots of warm alcohol. The Boplaas Cape Winemakers Guild 2006 Cape Vintage Reserve, a blend of Touriga, Tinta and Souzao, has a shy dusty nose but on the palate is delicious. Sweet black cherries and blackberries warm off the brambles. Warm, with good chalky tannins and well integrated. We think this will last for years. Lynne scored this 18. If you have any, lucky you. The Cape Tawny Bin 1880 was a revelation. Pale amber glistening in the glass, it had balsam, herbs, wood and Oxford orange marmalade on the nose. It was lighter in weight than expected, but those refreshing orange notes with spices made the flavours almost Moroccan. Exceptional

The tasting begins

Carel leads us through the tasting

and Margaux adds information on the wines

Serious tasting and Michael Fridjhon on his laptop making notes

We moved up to the restaurant, which used to be completely white. We think the blue makes the room look bigger and more interesting

Some Boplaas brandy for later

The wines with lunch

The menu with the wine pairings

The starter of pickled hake with pineapple on squid ink toast. If you enjoy pickled fish, it went well with the 2014 Cape Portuguese white blend of Verdelho/Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc. It's full of citrus and pineapple flavours, so the pineapple was a good addition. The bread was strange. Slightly fishy, but very soggy

Next course was ribbons of char-grilled courgettes with toasted pine nuts and lightly whipped goats' cheese, topped with fresh mint, basil and chives. We liked it. Something to serve vegetarian friends. We might add a dressing. Good with the Bobbejaanberg crisp, green and aromatic Sauvignon Blanc, which is grown in the Outeniqua ward of Upper Langkloof. It was awarded a double gold at Michelangelo and the Vitis Vinifera awards

The main course was a four meats tasting plate: We liked the sticky soy pork belly, and the fynbos smoked pulled quail bun very much. The tartare was not cut correctly, but it was made with good meat. The lamb and buchu stew could have been a big serving. Matching them with the four different Boplaas wines was fun and each had its own perfect match

Then three elements on the first dessert to pair with the unctuously sweet Boplaas CWG Ouma Cloete Straw wine and the Boplaas Cape Tawny Reserve port: Caciotta panna cotta (unsweetened cheese) with honey glazed grapes and a wine (not brandy) snap; pecan tart (delicious, we all wanted more) and molasses ice cream, which went so well with the wines

The Nel family lines up after a very good tasting and lunch. L to R. Daughter Rozanne, Mother Jeanne, father Carel Nel and daughter Margaux 

RETURN TO MENU
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015