What do you do the following day when you have
stayed the night in Franschhoek? Well, of course, you visit some of the farms who
have invited you to come and see them. Especially those that you have been meaning
to visit for a long time.
So we began at Stony Brook, which is at the top of
the Valley, turn right at the Monument and wind your way along Green Valley
Road until you see their sign on the left. Owned by the McNaught family, this is
truly a family run farm. Nigel McNaught's wife Joy runs the tasting room and
son Craig is the winemaker. 14 hectares of this 23 hectare farm are under
vines. The focus from the beginning at this boutique winery was on crafting
premium-quality wines that reflected the area and the styles of wine that
excited them
Joy in the Tasting room was
busy dealing with orders when we arrived
She came and sat with us on the
terrace and guided us through their tasting
We began with the 2016 Sauvignon
Blanc made from Elgin fruit; They believe that Franschhoek does not grow good Sauvignon Blancs. This
is perfumed on the nose, leesy, full of greengage plums and tropical notes with
good dry tannins. Very different and enjoyable.
Then the J (on the left below), an interesting
blend of 55% Sauvignon Blanc, 35 % Viognier and 10% barrel fermented and matured
Semillon. The wine was designed to go with spicy food like Thai or Chinese.
Perfumed with peaches, this has a rich textures and flavours, with layered
peaches and other fruits, and is nicely dry on the finish.
The flagship Ghost Gum White wine, 2014 (on the right) is a blend of 2/3 Chardonnay and 1/3 Semillon; lovely citrus and pear flavours with a mouth-filling creamy finish from the Semillon
Plants surviving the drought
Then we
tasted the 2014 SMV a blend of 65% Shiraz, 32% Mourvedre and 3% Viognier. This
wine is in the Rhone style and designed to go with rich meaty dishes. Cherries
and berries on the nose and palate, with soft juicy tannins, a dark toast and licorice end, made to last too. Then 2014 The Max named after the dog with
attitude who roams the tasting area, a friendly ?? 50% Cabernet Sauvignon 40%
Merlot, 10% Malbec this wine has spent 224 months on wood, 40% new and 60 second
fill. The grapes are hand sorted so no greenness gets into the wine. Cassis
perfume, incense wood, minerality on the nose, silky soft on the palate very
intense berries, chewy tannins, long fruit flavours with the wood just
carefully supporting with some chalky tannins on the end. Another 4.5 Platter
wine that impresses
The terrace is nicely sheltered by
the trees and umbrellas
Our final wine was the flagship Ghost Gum 2014 Cabernet
Sauvignon, 100% new French oak for 32 months, this has the classic Cabernet
Cassis nose, Pure cassis on the palate with warmth from the sunny fruit, nice
chalky tannin. The fruit stays pure on the palate. One to invest in. Impressive
and worth more than its 4.5 stars in Platter.
The Flagship Ghost Gum wines are named for this magnificent eucalyptus tree, which is difficult to photograph
Thank you Joy for a really
great tasting, and for the signed copy of your book, we are so grateful for your
time
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2018
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