Do you have a favourite wine, do you prefer one varietal to another, or are you catholic in your choices?
Or do you only drink one white varietal or red?
It is so difficult to have favourites if you do what we do,
but there are certainly leanings to very good producers who consistently make stonkingly good quality wines
For us, wines that go extremely well with food are always top of our list
There are also certain winemakers we have a great deal of respect for;
they have trodden their path consistently and honestly and make excellent award winning wine
One of those is Bruwer Raats. Before setting up Raats Family Wines in 2000,
he had worked at several successful prestigious wine estates in the Banhoek Valley in Stellenbosch
His tasting room is situated in the ward of Polkadraai, Stellenbosch
He has been inviting us to come and taste for a while and we took the opportunity recently
We took two friends who are "swallows" and live between summers in England and in South Africa
They too like his wines and chose one for a serious Birthday this year
They were keen to meet him and taste more of his wines
Just a sample of the many prestigious awards he has received
Marika Donohoe, PA and Office Manager at Raats Family Wines, ably took us through the wines
Sadly, Bruwer had to go to an important meeting, but we did meet him briefly at the gate
“What I was after was purity, freshness and lower alcohol levels
This is precisely what the decomposed dolomite soils of Polkadraai Hills provides
Refined elegance and sophistication. Classical winemaking at its best”, Bruwer Raats
Bruwer is well known for his Cabernet Francs and his passion for Chenin Blanc
We began the tasting with the 2023 Bruwer Raats Old Vine Chenin Blanc with its very attractive classic Chenin nose
It's elegant, not shouty and draws you in
On the palate, it's crisp and full, with a lovely succulent mouthfeel, long layered flavours
with excellent minerality and wood just holding it together - R460
The 2022 Eden High Denisty Single vineyard Chenin Blanc comes from that single block on the property
The theory is that if you plant high density vines, they send their roots deeper at a young age
Initially shy on the nose, but full of complexity, and it opens up in the glass to impress
On the palate, more concentration of flavours, good depth with flavours of melon, lime, apricot; a hint of wood on the end
It spends 10 months in barrel, but gets no new oak. It is built to last - R1050
Bruwer writes, ".. this wine evolves gracefully over the next 8 to 12 years, revealing new dimensions with each passing year"
See the rocks that the vines need to struggle through in the vineyards
Struggling vines tend to produce really good wines with good minerality
Next we tasted the B Vintners Liberté Pinotage
In celebration of their Bruwer family heritage,
cousins Bruwer Raats and Gavin Bruwer Slabbert created Bruwer Vintners in 2014
Their guiding mission is to master heritage varietals, namely Pinotage & Chenin Blanc/Semillon blends
that express their heritage and terroir in a modern way
The 2021 B Vintners Liberté Pinotage shows the Pinot Noir partner of this varietal
(a marriage of Pinot Noir and Cinsault vines by Professor Abraham Izak Perold)
with sweeter red berries showing on the attractive nose
It's showing it has class too. The Pinot fruit flavours follow through on the palate initially
and then you get more savoury notes more characteristic of Cinsault
Good minerality and salt, as the Pinotage vines are grown near Macassar beach
An enjoyable easy drinking Pinotage - R400
We then moved to the Raats Family wines with the 2022 Family Cabernet Franc
It has that attractive perfume that you get with good Cabernet Franc,
dark fruit, tobacco and incense wood draw you in. Lovely red and dark fruit,
savouriness, chalky tannins, minerality and salt enrobe the palate with a superb mouthful of layered wine
It shouts "Feed me" too, so perfect for pairing with great food. Our top scoring wine of the day - R800
The line up of currently available wines for tasting
Then the 2022 Jasper (named for Bruwer's father and brother), a classic Bordeaux Blend
49% Cabernet Franc, 35% Malbec, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3.5% Merlot and 3.5% Petit Verdot
Warm notes of red berry fruits on the nose; a Summer pudding comes to mind - hints of violet and incense wood
Lovely black cherries, dark purple plums, raspberries and blackberries in layers
Lots of supporting wood and chalky tannins to make this one to keep - R325
Next the first vintage, 2022, of Vlag Cabernet Franc
The vines come from the Vlaeberg district
where, historically, flags were flown on the hilltops to let locals know a ship had arrived in the Cape Town harbour
People then put their vegetables and fresh meat in wagons and sped to supply the ships
The wine has a beautiful nose, Raspberries and mulberries, hints of incense wood and quality, it's gentle and delicate
A wonderful mouthful of ripe berry fruit. So lovely, filing the palate with joy
Bing cherries red plums, raspberries delight. Its zingy and satisfying, with hints of dark licorice and salt on the end
More please - R1 600. The 1996 is still available at R 1050. UK Wine writer Greg Sherwood scored this 99 points
The last wine is the 2021 MR de Compostella
"In 2002 Bruwer Raats combined his quest for mastery with winemaker and lifelong friend, Mzokhona Mvemve,
and Mvemve Raats was born. A wine driven neither by style nor variety but its leading component, quality"
The wine is made up of the same blend each year:
35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot, 17% Malbec, and 2% Petit Verdot
All are vinified seperately, then only the best of the 50 to 55 barrels are blended of which only 10 are chosen
If not enough are found, there is no vintage
The wine has a red velvet nose with red berry fruit and incense wood
Richness and complexity on the palate with tight tannins
Put away and enjoy in a few years time, it will reward cellaring
The order sheet
A view of the neighbouring vineyards. There is a small high density vineyard on this property,
but Bruwer rents and manages many vineyards in the area, which is excellent terroir for the wines he produces
We enjoyed the tasting so much we decided to go and have some lunch
and Marika recommended Rust and Vrede, a short drive away
John had been there with tour clients very recently and knew we would enjoy it
We had to get our skates on though, as it wa already midday. They do not take bookings; it's first come, first served
Thankfully, we were shown to a lovely table on the top veranda; the restaurant was pumping
It's holiday season and there are many visitors from the rest of the country and overseas
You can have a tasting of the estate wines, drink a glass or three and/or have lunch
The lunch menu was unexpected. There are only three choices and no options for non-meat eating customers
Luckily, we are all carnivores. R380 Includes a glass of wine matched to the menu choice
You are given a glass of wine with your food and we all chose the same dish, so it was the Rust en Vrede Estate Syrah
The sublimely tender black pepper encrusted fillet comes with a butter (why not a herb butter?),
very, very crisp chips - we suspect that a coating is applied, but are not complaining; they were delicious
and a simple salad, lacking dressing on two of the portions
As the kitchen is putting out three dishes for a large crowd, the wait was rather long but very understandable
It is very relaxing sitting on the veranda chatting and sipping wine
It would have been nice to have been given bread to soak up the wines we had been tasting earlier though
and the rather hefty bill surely could accommodate that small addition?
Service was impecable and friendly. Thank you Xavier
A side view of the restaurant building
Many customers, many tables
They have one of the best collections we have ever seen of Hydrangeas, aka Hortensia & Christmas Roses
(in South Africa), all three names mean the same plant
Grown all along the entrance path, we exclaimed at the variety and beauty as we left
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