Last week, we were invited to
the launch of the new Wild Yeast Syrah in the Survivor range from Overhex
winery in Worcester. It is always appreciated when a wine launch is held in a
good restaurant and this time it was at Giorgio Nava's Carne in Upper Kloof
Street. We knew we were in for a good event
The
restaurant is in a 19th Century house with a small covered stoep. We were
warmly welcomed ...
... with a
glass of Survivor Sauvignon Blanc
The range also includes Chenin Blanc, a Wild
yeast Chardonnay, Pinotage and Cabernet Sauvignon
Giorgio also
has his other restaurants, 95 Keerom Street, Carne in Keerom and Carne at Parks
in Wynberg, which we wrote about last year. Here he chats to Michael Fridjhon
who had come down from Johannesburg for this and a weekend function
We spotted
this interesting line-up of wines on the bar and discovered that these were the
wines we would taste. Ben Snyman, the winemaker responsible for the Survivor
range, said that he wanted to introduce us to the wines that had influenced his
style of wine making and the results
Winnie
Bowman CWM and journalist Mel Minnaar
We
take our seats and the wines are poured. Vicky de Beer is the Food Editor of Rooi Rose magazine
With a screen of Survivor Pinotage, Chef
watches the room. We were served really lovely tempura vegetables as canapés
Caroline van Schalkwyk,
who manages the marketing for Overhex, welcomed us and talked about the history
of Survivor, The cow stops here; it jumped off a truck and landed in the lush
vineyards. It lives there still and so began the brand. (No, the cow wasn't
branded). Harvest has begun in the Overhex valley
Ben Snyman is
passionate about his wine. This was to be an inspirational tasting, 4 Survivors
and 4 foreign wines that have inspired him on his travels through wine. He says
it is all about terroir. Overhex sources the wines from all over the Cape; Bot
River, West Coast, Robertson valley and other places. Five winemakers bring
their experience of old and new world wine to their wine making. These are the
wine areas that have influenced Ben and the Survivor wines are how he expressed
those influences
The
menu for the day
We began the tasting with
Domaine du Tariquet 2016 Sauvignon Blanc from Gascony in France. It was so
interesting to see the name of the grape on the bottle, which is not usual in France.
The French concentrate on terroir. The wine is made and fermented in stainless
steel tanks. Clean on the nose with hints of pyrazines, nice integrated fruit,
very French. Crisp and textured with limes, loquat, lemon; nice and warm as is
the area it is farmed in, very long flavours. Paired with the Survivor
Sauvignon Blanc, which has a similar nose, gentle warm country wine on the
nose, on the palate a slight metallic ping, yellow fruit, more Chenin flavours
than Sauvignon, very drinkable.
After studying,
Ben went to work at Chalk Hill winery in California for 5 months, where he
learned to make Chardonnay. Newton 2015 Unfiltered Chardonnay from the Napa
Valley was next. It was wild yeast fermented. Herbal miffy nose, complex with
lemon, pineapple and stewed apple. A smooth entry with marzipan and wood,
lemons, limes, chalk, a bit overworked. The Survivor Wild Yeast 2017 Chardonnay
was better, with perfume and cooked apple on a pleasant nose. Silky, and the
citrus lemon, lime and grapefruit flavours linger for a long time
The glasses on
the tasting sheet. The Pauillac producer was unnamed. It’s a Private Selection
2010, a Bordeaux blend. Ben learnt that barrel selection, as they do in
Bordeaux, adds value to your wine, as you can select different characteristics
shown in different barrels, like different fruit characteristics, burnt sugar,
nuts, vanilla wood, forest floor, to add to the blend. Their red wine maker
Willie Malan went to France and brought back the experience they need to make
the Survivor Cabernet Sauvignon
The next flight began with a
left bank Pauillac Private Selection 2010, a Bordeaux blend. Very much as
expected, deep dark savoury fruit, with a dive-in nose, Marmite, cassis:
berries and leaves, incense wood. Mouth puckering tannins of youth, chalky with
cassis, blackberries, dark roast, mushrooms and forest floor. Needs a lot of
time
The 2017 Survivor Cabernet
Sauvignon has vanilla oak richness and fullness, more cherry than cassis on the
nose. Dry chalky tannins that stick to the teeth, cassis, balsam, long
flavours, shy fruit and, at the end, sunshine on the palate tells you it is
South African. Ben and Willie also went to Australia to learn about the wines
there. Australia makes twice as much Shiraz as we do, and SA e wanted more big
jammy Shiraz
So, next we tasted a
benchmark Shiraz from Penfolds, 2014 Bin 128 Coonawarra. This is a wine Lynne
cut her teeth on in London in the 1980's when it was so popular. On the nose a
little bloody, with sesame putty, white pepper, initially shy fruit, then
rhubarb and mulberry peeked through. Soft, sweet liquorice and warm fruit, very
familiar and friendly, warm mulberries and raspberries, followed by good umami.
She scored the nose 13 and the palate 17.5! The Survivor Shiraz is from
Botrivier grapes, barrel fermented on wild yeast. A pretty but light nose of
red berries. Chalky tannins, Morello cherry on the palate with a long,
memorable end
Time for lunch
and we could drink any of the Survivor wines we had tasted. We began with
restaurant-made perfect ravioli, filled with finely minced slow baked lamb
shoulder. This superb dish was dressed with crisp fried sage leaves, shaved
parmesan and a really delicious lamb jus and sage butter. It went SO well with
the Shiraz; whoever did the pairing is a genius
A
formaggi plate of 4 local cheeses for each of us came with a cherry or grape
preserve and an orange marmalade
NOT
a survivor
Broadcaster
Guy MacDonald of Magic Music Radio enjoying the day
Comparing
footwear, or is it manicures?
Guy
with Winnie Bowman. It was a great launch
And on our way
home, we saw the MSC Cruise Liner Musica anchored just off the coast. She was
unable to get into port as the South Easter wind was howling and her high sides
make entry to the harbour dangerous
Clifton
beach is sheltered by Lions Head, so it looked calm
and
we went down to the Sea Point beachfront for a closer view of her
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2019
