Thursday, August 31, 2023

NT Wines and Ree Marketing trade tasting at the Pepper Club

Nicoleen Traut (NT Wines) and Riana Smit (Ree Marketing)
are independent wine distributors who, between them, represent eleven farms
They are friends who work as two independents and sometimes collaborate with one another
They put on a tasting of their farms' wines at the Pepper Club 

A good venue with ample room to taste

Great to see Hempies du Toit; it has been a long time - he spends much of his time on his Karoo farm
We tasted two of his Annandale wines from Stellenbosch
First, the 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon, which has dark fruit richness and great wood on the nose
It is a classic Cabernet, with lovely soft tannins, great fruit, with length, depth and wood on the end. Built to last
The Annandale Shiraz has incense wood, pepper and red berry fruit with some spice and sweetness

Rudi Schultz was showcasing his impressive Schultz Family wines
North Beach is his 2021 Sauvignon Blanc from Sutherland, Karoo grapes
Elegance with green notes of pepper, fig leaves; a classic
Rounded on the palate, green and full of lovely ripe fruit with salty minerality
Skeleton Bay 2022 Chenin Blanc from an old (1961) vineyard in Paarl, whole bunch pressed
and the juice was allowed to settle overnight
Barrel fermentation completed in old Burgundy barrels has produced a rich Chenin that cries out for food
His Pepper Street Shiraz is produced in as Rhône a style as he can make it
Razzle Dazzle on the nose and palate with chocolate, dark cherry, plum, good chalky tannins and licorice on the end
Boneyards 2019, a blend of 64% Malbec and 36% Petit Verdot has roses, violets, vanilla oak and dark berry fruit
Lighter than expected on the palate, with long fruit flavours

Annalie van Dyk – Winemaker at Hidden Valley, Stellenbosch
The Hidden Valley 2019 Cap Classique Brut, 50/50 Chardonnay Pinot Noir,
spent three and a half years on the lees and it shows well on the nose
Initially Lime/lemon then the pinot fruit appears. It has some salty minerality
The 2022 Sauvignon Blanc has a good green nose and palate which we like,
and some granadilla adding long fruit flavours; a good food wine

Lizelle Gerber, showing the Org de Rac organic wines from the Swartland, had an excellent Cap Classique, La Verne
90% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Noir; biscuity on the nose, it has a lovely crunch of crisp fruit and good mousse

Wines from the Hasher Family Estate in Hemel and Aarde (it was previously called Sumaridge)
The 2022 Fat Lady Sauvignon Blanc is from grapes planted in 1997; the 2022 vintage is the swansong for this wine
Lots of ripe tropical and gooseberry fruit
Marimist is a reference to the cool Atlantic sea mist
which is  blown into the valley every evening and departs early in the morning
70% of this 2022 Chardonnay was fermented in 228L French oak barrels, of which 20% was new wood
so wood is present along with lime, citrus and peach

Bernard le Roux, Zorgvliet winemaker

The Zorgvliet 2022 Sauvignon Blanc has good fruit on the nose and English gooseberries with salty minerality on the palate
Simoné, their white Bordeaux blend of Semillon (58%) and Sauvignon Blanc
has grey Semillon on the nose with citrus and marmalade on the palate,
Semillon creaminess, long flavours melding together, a good food wine

We were impressed with Zorgvliet's 2023 100% Cabernet Franc rosé
Perfumed with jasmine, rose and strawberry. These remain on the crisp palate; it's as charming as it can be

Alvi's Drift wines from Rawsonville, presented by Junel van der Merwe CWM
The 2022 Chenin Blanc has a classic nose, good fruit on the palate, not too tropical with crisp lime notes; quaffable

Klaas Coetzee presented his Kusafiri certified organic wines. The name means 'journey' in Swahili
His Sauvignon Blanc is crisp, fruity and interesting. He not only bottles his wine, but also sells it in cans
His Wellington 2022 Viognier is matured in barrel, so wood is present
It has the correct peach-filled nose and follows through on the palate

We used to sell a lot of Riebeek Cellars' Pieter Kruithof carbonated bubbly at Main Ingredient, our shop
Made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; it is still a popular wine
The Barrel-fermented Chenin Blanc from Paarl has some sweet, ripe golden fruit on the nose and palate with hints of oak
The RAAR 2023 Grenache is interesting. Quite grey on the nose; sweet jubejube fruit, with potential

Luan Aucamp - Sales Manager at Ridgeback Wine.
The 2022 Ridgeback Viognier has a whiff of wood with peaches and nectarines on the nose,
which follow through on the palate with ripe fruit

Annelien Loubser showing the Stettyn wines to Tony Garcia of Liquor City
We really liked their entry level Sauvignon Blanc with its green fig leaves and asparagus on the nose,
refreshing green crispness on the layered and vibrant palate with salty minerality
Their Chenin Blanc was classic, another lovely mouthful of fruit with good crispness and balance

Walking out through the Pepper Hotel reception

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