We last met Cellarmaster Johan Delport and Managing
Director Kobus du Toit of Waverley Hills winery at the Green Wine Awards last
year and we have had to keep postponing acceptance of their invitation to visit
the farm. Finally, on a lovely early spring day we got there. The farm is just
behind Wolseley on the road to Ceres. Brenn-O-Kem owns the farm. Run by the du
Toit family, of which our host Kobus is a director, Brenn-O-Kem is in the old
historic Waverley Blankets factory and the wine farm has grown from their
expansion. Brenn-O-Kem recycles wine
production waste: skins, seeds and lees and runs this eco-friendly organically
certified wine farm. It has a lovely site on the side of the mountain looking
down over the valley and they have a really good restaurant, where we had an
extremely good four course lunch following our cellar tour and barrel tasting
The very modern tasting and colourful room. All
their wines are organically grown and made and are low in sulphur. They have a special range called No Sulphites Added for
those with sulphur allergies
We went on a tour of the wine cellars with Johan
and Kobus. This is the soaring barrel cellar
We were delighted to be offered some wines to
taste from the barrels. First a good 2015 Semillon with fynbos herbs, pepper
and buchu with the desired 'mutton fat' mouth, lovely kiwi fruit and maraschino
on the end with good wooding. A silky 2013 SMV with cherries, spice and vanilla.
Then a 2015 blend of Viognier, Semillon and Chardonnay (VSC) which is
beautifully perfumed with peaches with a lovely rich mouthful from the Semillon
and peaches from the Viognier with lemony acidity and good fruit sugars to
balance this dry wine. The 2015 Chardonnay which is a component of the VSC has
the same perfume and tastes of citrus with caramel on the end from the wood. A
nice concentration of gentle flavours. We found all these wines to be open and
generous rather than tight and restrained. The CW 2015 Reserve Shiraz was made
to honour Kobus and Wynand's late father, Chris du Toit. The elegant nose shows
herbs, good wood and had delicate fruit, more a northern style of Shiraz with
nice soft tannins which give it aging ability
Time for a tour of the indigenous garden below the
winery
It has water features, lots of trees and many
birds and insects. And there is a children's play area
Lovely views of the mountains beyond.
Bains Kloof Pass gave access through them from the Cape to Tulbagh and the hinterland in the 19th Century
Spring daisies lifting their faces to the sun
Red king protea (Protea cynaroides Madiba) named
in honour of Nelson Mandela
The winery and restaurant from the gardens.
Beneath the restaurant is a conference venue where weddings can be held. They
have their own chapel too
The flowers were attracting the sunbirds. This is
a
This mountain, part of the Witzenberg Mountain
Range is sometimes covered in snow in winter. It is at the entrance to the pass
to Ceres
Kobus du Toit told us about Brenn-O-Kem. They
produce many things from the by-products of the wine industry such as cream of
tartar. From the grape pomace: grape seed oil, tannins and grape skin
by-products; wine spirits for the distilling industry. They produce
pharmaceuticals: Grape Seed Extract, a powerful antioxidant, Sceletium Extract,
and a range of Nutraceuticals. Even a natural tempura ingredient for Japan and
the cream of tartar is used in bath fizz balls and baking sodas. The pomace
waste is used as fertiliser
We began lunch with a glass of their MCC
Chardonnay Brut 2013 which spent 18
months on the lees. Yeasty, crisp and dry with cooked apples, a hint of fynbos
and a good sparkle
Lunch began with herb crusted salmon trout on a
bed of spinach puree, topped with a poached egg and sprinkled with our local
wild rosemary flowers. This was accompanied by the 2016 Semillon which is
tropical with pears and melon, like a summer fruit salad. Lynne panicked rather
when she heard this was the first of four courses. it was quite a large serving
The next course was empanada like, fold over pies
of chicken and mushroom served with a divine truffle cream
John had some soy chicken with tempura broccoli
instead of the mushroom pie
The main course was good crisp pork belly with
creamy mash, pomegranate sauce and aruls, beans and courgette spaghetti. We
had this course with the 2012 SMV which was spicy and peppery with full on
vanilla ice cream notes then lovely ripe red fruit with a chocolate end. It was
a great match as the wine echoed the fruit flavours of the sauce
And then there was dessert. Malva pudding, light
and fluffy with a rich rooibos ice cream. Luckily it was not redolent of
rooibos, just a nice rich and creamy complement to the pudding. Served with
Waverley Hills stonkingly good Red Muscadel 2013 Dark and fruity with caramel
notes this would also go so well with Christmas pudding
The meal was cooked by chef Francois du Toit who
was previously at the Royal Hotel in Riebeek. We loved meeting him and talking
to him about his good food. We think he will go far. We suggest you make a trip
to the restaurant to try out his excellent menu and the Waverley Hills wines
that are paired with it
Brilliant spring daisies
flowering early on the farm.
After a coffee we left for home and an adventurous
trip over Bains Kloof Pass, where we saw only two other cars on the entire trip
up. Thank you for the kind hospitality, Waverley Hills
© John & Lynne
Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016
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