We spent the weekend in the Hemel and Aarde Valley
at a friend's 70th birthday celebrations and much fun was had. As part of the
celebration, they had arranged to have an informal tasting with winemaker Bartho
Eksteen on his property Die Wijnskool. Bartho was in great form. He told us he
prints all his wine labels in Afrikaans only. He says the French, Italians,
Germans and Spanish do it, so why not him. He reassured those who do not speak Afrikaans that, if you want to
know about the wine, his web site and all sales material is in English
The wine that absolutely
blew us away was Bartho's Rosé entitled Blom (flower). We liked this pale blush wine so much that, not
only did we buy a case, but it is also our Wine of the Week. You can read about it in detail
Bartho, who was the winemaker
of the year in 2010, is always good value; he is a great raconteur with many
amusing anecdotes and lots of wine wisdom. He runs a Wine Academy for school
children from Grade 8 to Matric, giving them a great start to a career in the wine
industry when they leave school. We also tasted and enjoyed. Diners Club
sponsored the school until last year; he is actively looking for new sponsors
These were the wines we tasted,
starting with his Sauvignon Blanc called Meester (school master) which has a
tiny dash of Semillon. Fig and green grapes, clean and crisp with long
flavours, in the New Zealand Style. He went there with his Winemaker of the Year
bursary. This is a great food wine for dishes with rich sauces. Ouskool (Old
school) is his Rhône style red and the Wijnskool Sauvignon Blanc, NZ on the
nose with green fig leaves and elder flowers and then in the more tropical
style on the palate with full flavours; and the Wijnskool Tree of Knowledge
Shiraz, meaty and spicy with toast and licorice on the end
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017
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