On our way to the Artichoke Festival at Ayama last Saturday, we made a quick call at Perdeberg Wines in Paarl's Voor Paardeberg area. Scudding clouds and a lovely view of a hillside of vineyards as we drove in. This is a producer we so recommend that you visit. There is a good selection of wines available at affordable prices, friendly people and an area just under an hour from Cape Town, with lovely country views. We took the R302 country road from Durbanville. And there are other good wine farms in the area, like Vondeling, Ayama and Scali, to visit. It is the area where some of our best Chenin Blanc grapes are grown
The wine cellar
And friendly masked faces in the tasting room. We tasted several of their excellent Chenin Blancs,
they really do have a great selection of some of the different styles of this versatile grape
Our favourite Perdeberg Chenins have always been the Dry Land Collection, unwooded Braveheart and Courageous, the wooded Chenin
which, this year, does need to settle a while; the wood is quite prominent. But funds are tight so we did not buy it this time
Their tasting sheet goes from the most expensive down to the more affordable wines, so there is something for every purse
All are good
And as we tasted, we did downscale a little to fit the budget, so good are the less expensive choices
We tasted the Grenache Blanc from Piekenierskloof, a grape that brings back lots of good travel memories, and loved it
It is full of intense fruit flavours, dry and crisp and so suited to summer food. So we bought a case
We also tasted their Malbec; perfumed with roses and blue plums, soft fruit , chalky grippy tannins, lots of cherries and dark coffee wood
A wine to put away and watch
They had a bottle of the Endura Single Vineyard Chenin open so we were able to taste a wine that is not usually available to sample
It is very beautiful - Sommeliers take note
It has lots of quality and is full of layers of stone and citrus fruit flavours, good minerality and buttery French oak wood
We predict awards for this one in future. Made in tank, amphora and barrel (no new wood)
All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
