An impressive tasting of Bellevue Wines
We have not visited Bellevue wine estate in Bottelary for a while. John does take wine tours there to taste the superb Pinotages; it was where the original commercial plantings of Professor A I Perold's Pinotage were made in the early 1950s. The first Pinotage, made and bottled by P K Morkel, was grown on Bellevue. The original vineyard, planted in 1954, is still producing quality grapes. Pinotage is a cross of Cinsaut and Pinot Noir and is a truly South African grape. Dirkie Morkel saw our write up of Kaapzicht and invited us to come to the farm to taste some wine. So, as we were in the area after our dinner at Rhebokskloof, we made a date for 11 am the next day
The Morkel farmhouse is dated
1803. It is a national monument
The modern tasting room; a
restaurant will be opened here very shortly
The verandah which will be used for
the restaurant and tasting
A lovely place to relax and
enjoy the sun
Pizzas will be on the restaurant menu
We sat inside as the day was
still very chilly. Cellarmaster Wilhelm Kritzinger guided us through the wines.
Dirkie joined us a little later. We began with the just-bottled 2017 Estate Sauvignon
Blanc, made by winemaker Anneke Potgieter. It has granadilla, guava and fig
leaves on the nose, and is crisp and herbal on the palate with English
gooseberries. It has a round mouth feel, almost as if some Semillon has been
added (none has) and is a nice middle ground Sauvignon with both green and tropical notes.
R60
The impressive line up of wines
we were to taste. We followed with the unwooded Chardonnay, which has had good
lees contact and is a bargain at R45 a bottle. We bought 6, we liked it so much.
It has a nice tingle on the tongue, is bone dry, restrained and elegant in the
French style
Then came the (now rather
fashionable grape) Cinsaut 2015, which Bellevue has been making for several
years. It is dusty on the nose, but shows lovely raspberry and strawberry
flavours and is long and soft, not as harsh and tannic as some we have
experienced. We think this wine has a potential to age too. So we bought six,
at R70 a bottle
Enjoying tasting and talking
about wine with Dirkie Morkel and cellarmaster Wilhelm Kritzinger. We tasted the 2014
Pinotage with its powerful nose; flavours of rhubarb, plums and vanilla from the oak.
Lots of fruit, no metallic tastes, dark licorice on the end and some nice
chalky tannins. Interestingly, they use French-made American oak barrels. They
say they are much better than American made oak barrels
Then the Shiraz, A classic sandalwood
nose with bacon and spice; very attractive, a silky mouth feel, beautiful ripe
fruit. This is food wine and pumps well above its station at only R60 a bottle
We liked the Malbec too with
its wildness (a characteristic of the Bellevue Malbec since we first tasted it about 20 years ago), warm linen, salt, mulberries with a touch of buchu. So fruity on
the palate with those mulberries, cherries, chalky tannins, wild herbal fynbos
and a hint of maraschino on the end. A site specific wine, says Wilhelm. R100
Then the PK Morkel 2010 Pinotage,
their flagship wine. Expensive incense wood on the nose, dark fruit and spice.
On the palate, splendid fruit, fresh berries, then Christmas pudding with some
marzipan, and some malt. Juicy and silky, so satisfying; this is what Pinotage
should be, for us. R225 a bottle. Very good value compared to some others in
the industry
We also tasted the top of the
range PK Morkel 2010 Petite Verdot . Unmistakable with the expected violets on
the nose, they are accompanied by incense wood and pencil shavings. It has
sweet berry fruit, tayberries, boysenberries, lots of violets, and the
expensive wood is supporting this elegant wine, full of minerality and soft
chalky tannins to last, with a hint of licorice drop on the end. R175 a
bottle
So nice to spend time with them
and taste through these really good wines, not a bad one in the bunch. It has
been too long since our last visit
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2017
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