Cederberg Wines
We had wanted to visit Cederberg wine estate for years. It is not the easiest wine farm to visit, but well worth the trip and their wine is really worth going to taste and buy. On an earlier visit to the area, we had been staying with some friends and, on the way home, we realized we were about to pass their road. So we turned in. It is rather a long way to the farm from the N7, along mountain roads, some unpaved and through two mountain passes. Halfway there, we realized that we did not have enough petrol to get there and back and then find a petrol station, which was a long way away! So we turned back
Cederberg wine estate is situated at 1,036 meters above sea level, making it the highest wine farm in the Western Cape. The grapes are grown in a virus free area where phylloxera cannot not take hold. It is 250 kilometres from Cape Town
This time, we were going to be in the area to see Spring flowers at Clanwilliam and wanted to stay for a night in the area. Lynne suddenly remembered that Cederberg winery has very good accommodation on their resort, Sanddrif. We invited two of Lynne's girl friends to come with us, all are gardeners, and we booked a cottage
We travelled on the dirt road up the two passes (Lynne was a bit challenged with her vertigo), which are quite busy with people camping, walking and cycling the stunning mountains
It was a beautiful and sunny day when we arrived and trees were bursting into leaf. This is an outdoor tasting area
The tasting room is very modern and it's all about stand-up tasting. It was very busy
Lolly and Judi admiring the wine cellar full of barrels
We began the tasting with the Cederberg 2023 Chenin Blanc, with some green figs and tropical fruit on the nose
Beautiful fruit flavours of granadilla and stone fruit, lighter in texture with lovely crisp acidity and very quaffable
The 2022 Cederberg Sauvignon Blanc has green fig and leaves and a hint of lees
It follows through with the classic Sauvignon Blanc flavours; clean, complex and delicious
Nick Vlok is the son of Strandveld Vineyards cellarmaster, Conrad Vlok, 2022 Diners Club Winemaker of the Year
Strandveld is in another far-flung place, the Elim area, the far south of Africa, which also produces great wines
Cederberg's Ghost Corner wines are grown in that area, so very different from the high Cederberg mountain vineyards
Nick is working in the tasting room and he ably supervised our tasting, together with marketing manager Pieter du Toit
"The Ghost Corner range is inspired by the extreme coastal area around Cape Agulhas near Elim, known as ‘Spookdraai’,
where many ships have been wrecked
Folklore has it that the ghosts of many sailors who perished through the years can be seen wandering the wild waters"
The Ghost Corner 2023 Sauvignon Blanc is one of the best and most flavoursome Sauvignons Blanc we have tasted
Grown in rocky dryland soil near the Southern tip of Africa, it takes its nature, aroma and flavours from this area
A classic nose of Sauvignon Blanc with asparagus, green pepper and lime
which follows seamlessly on the palate with concentration and minerality. Breathtaking
The 2022 Ghost Corner Wild Ferment Sauvignon Blanc was fermented in oak and is much more leesy and full
Silky on the palate, full and rich, going into firework layers with loquat and stone fruits,
with wood just supporting
The 2022 Ghost Corner Semillon has golden vanilla oak on the nose
Zingy acidity, crispy cream, the expected Semillon fatness stays on the long elegant palate
with gooseberry, elderflower, white peach and nectarine
So delicious that Lynne bought a case for John's next birthday
A long table at the other end of the tasting room for large groups
The top of the range Nieuwoudt Five Generations 2022 Chenin Blanc is perfumed with lovely golden fruit
Elegance, fullness and lovely white stone fruit with long flavours. So impressive
A great smiling greeting and hugs for Lynne and for John from Cellarmaster David Nieuwoudt,
who was very busy, as they had a lot of visitors for the weekend, many staying on the farm,
others just there for the day
Great smile!
We first met David by accident, long ago at the start of our long wine journey
Standing waiting for a wine show to begin we watched him unpack his bakkie in an open parking area on the Foreshore
and carry the wines through to his table
But he was so busy and hurried, he mistakenly left a case on the bonnet of the car and did not return for it
We rescued it and took it through to him and have been friends and admirers of his wines ever since
A small Cedar, also showing the soil and fertilizer coated seeds that are being dropped from drones in the wilderness,
hopefully to reforest the mountains
It was once populated by ancient Cedar forests which were chopped down by early settlers
to build their houses, wagons etc
The grapes for the 2023 Sustainable Rosé come from 20 year old Shiraz vineyards
It's a lovely pale salmon colour, with hints of strawberry and rose petals on the nose,
with full raspberry and red berry flavours on the satisfying and fresh palate.
Sadly, it was noticed after we arrived that the car had a flat tyre - slow puncture -
and John had to be with the car while its puncture was mended
So, unfortunately, he did not get to see or taste any of the red wines or photograph them
Lynne continued to taste and make her notes:
Ghost Corner Pinot Noir 2022, is smoky with lots of good red berry fruit on the nose, some umami and herbs
It follows through with a big palate with lots of richness
and a real mouthful of big beautiful red cherries, ripe plums and pomegranate
Dark oak just supports on the end and grows
The 2021 Ghost Corner Syrah has some spice and is initially shy, with complex red fruit which opens in the glass
So rounded and silky on the incredible palate, with dark fruit, soft tannins and grip, allspice, black pepper
The flavours keep repeating. This is a major food wine
Nieuwoudt Five Generations Cabernet 2020 is the top of the range which showcases the best of the Cederberg
It is BIG and has a fantastic nose of cassis, forest floor, perfume and expensive French oak
Ripe berry fruit appear on the palate: cassis, cherry, raspberry
tempered by green cassis leaves and lime and some chalky tannins; made to last, it's quite magical
Long fruit flavours with the dark oak and some salty minerality, the fruit remains
The Cederberg 2023 Bukettraube has honey and perfume on the nose with ripe peach and muscat grapes
and is so well balanced that the initial sweetness is balanced by refreshing acidity
A happy wine perfect for spicy food and desserts
This very talented lad, Adrie, mended the tyre for us very quickly, for which we are very grateful
John had to unpack the whole car as the spare wheel lives under the floor of the boot
We had not checked in, so all our luggage was in the car
As David says, when you are this far from other places, you need to be versatile and able to do many different things
and solve many problems on the farm
David showing some customers one of his red wines
Ons Huisie, the original Nieuwoudt farmhouse, into which they had booked us
We needed three bedrooms so this was perfect, and very affordable
When we arrived, it was surrounded by a troop of baboons, but they skedaddled before we could take a photograph
They are part of the landscape, but go back into the mountains at night
You just have to be careful to keep windows and doors closed
At no point did they confront us or other guests who were sitting outside their cottages
The comfortable double bedroom for us
And our ensuite bathroom
A bedroom for Judi
And one for Lolly with its small ensuite
with its walk-in shower. There was plenty of hot water
The main room with a binnebraai (open fireplace for cooking on)
It was a sunny but very cold day, still very wintry, so we were glad of the indoor fire, and the underfloor heating,
as temperatures at night fall below freezing at this time of year, because of the high altitude in the mountains
The cottage is very old, so all the timber rafters, beams, doors and window shutters
are made from the beautiful warm cedar
It is fully equipped for 6 people, with a stove, fridge/freezer and other necessary equipment
The crags behind the cottage where we saw the baboons heading for the night
An outdoor braai, but it was too cold and we were concerned about the baboons being attracted by food aromas,
so we used the binnebraai and cooked our supper on it, predictably boerewors and lamb chops for the meat eaters
and coleslaw and a lovely vegetable quiche as a starter and a main for our vegetarian
We had taken superb French croissants, made by a superb Sea Point bakery,
Paris Cape Town, for breakfast
Load shedding at breakfast time meant that we warmed them in a large saucepan over the fire
The stoep, for sitting out enjoying a sundowner in warmer weather
Huge, ancient oaks were still bearing their old leaves and beginning to come into new leaf
The view down the Cederberg Pass, also known as Nieuwoudt's Pass
You do travel into the blue mountains and go very high, passing another Table Mountain on the way
From the ford over a tributary of the Rondegat River
When the Cape had the heavy early winter rains, many areas in the Cederberg were flooded as the rivers overflowed
Repairs are underway and the road to Cederberg is in reasonable condition
The river looks so charming, but do check what the level is before you go over the ford
We had such an enjoyable stay
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