Thursday, October 27, 2022

Caroline's White and Sparkling Wine Review

This year's Caroline's White Wine Review was held at The View venue next to the V&A Waterfront
Visitors had a chance to taste Caroline Rillema's selection of the best South African white wines
and to qualify they all have to have won awards

It' s a large and spacious venue and the event was well attended
We wished we'd had the time to taste more of these impressive wines,
but attendance at the Charles Fox tasting before it kept our arrival a bit late
and John's camera focus was playing up, which resulted in a new lens shortly after this
We apologise for the poor quality of these photographs

A good place to start is always with a Cap Classique
and we loved the packaging as well on the L'Ormarins Private Cuvée 2014 from Anthony Rupert Wines
It is a very well made wine 66% Chardonnay and 34% Pinot Noir, pale onion skin in colour
and has spent 6 to 7 years on the lees
Lovely lemon citrus and stone fruit and surprising freshness on the palate, it was outstanding, top marks from us
Made by winemaker Zanie Viljoen

The bottle is as near to a good decanter as you could find and perhaps worth keeping
It was designed by internationally acclaimed designer and artist, Mark Eisen

Lynne tasted one of the best Semillons ever from Johann Fourie of Benguela Cove;
herbal, green, full and forthright, with green peas and asparagus and sunshine
So concentrated and true to the grape, it was utterly delicious

and another that impressed was Morne Vrey's White Reserve from Delaire Graff
a barrel fermented blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, green, waxy, steely and slightly tropical

Diemersdal The Journal was a classic rendition from the master of Durbanville Sauvignon blancs, Thys Louw
with 50% tank and 50% barrel maturation
Complex and layered with great fruit and good seamless support from the wood

The DeWetshof Bateleur, made by Peter de Wet, never fails to entrance and delight us
The farm's top of the range Chardonnay is always classic and impressive;
it is the way good Chardonnay should always be made

Donoval Rall with his very popular White blend of mainly Chenin Blanc and Verdelho
with, as he puts it, a 2% sniff of viognier to round out the palate
Matured in old oak
Layered and rounded on the palate. Very exciting

Black Elephant Vintners and CO in Franschhoek showed their Cap Classique Blanc de Blanc 

The winemaker Jacques Wentzel

The Jacques Bruère Brut Reserve 2013 has won many awards

Boschendal was showcasing the Jean de Long Brut 2009, made by Danielle Coetsee

and something different from Bruwer Vintners, a Méthode Ancestrale 2022, still slightly cloudy
but that is normal in a Pet Nat, as this lively wine is still undergoing fermentation in the bottle, hence the crown cork
Made from Pinotage grapes, it is lively, yeasty and zesty with good fruit
"A Pet Nat (short for the French 'pétillant naturel' meaning 'natural sparkling')
is a wine made according to the ancestral method
Developed in the 16th century, this is the oldest way of making sparkling wine,
and is the result of a single, continuous fermentation"

Elbe Nortje showed us Cuvée Clive, the top brand Cap Classique from Graham Beck
It has long been one of our favourites
Clean and crisp, it shows how classy, elegant and dry a good Cap Classique can be

Klein Constantia had their 2021 Sauvignon Blanc,
so true to the Constantia style of crisp, green and invigorating Sauvignon Blancs, with layers of flavour and freshness
Here presented by their Vineyard Manager Craig Harris

with his wife, Jacqueline, the estate's Sales and Marketing Manager

All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

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