We were invited to cover this new festival, held on Plaisir wIne estate, and to invite two friends who love wine
We all had a rather good time
We last visited the farm when it was still owned by Distell and named Plaisir de Merle
https://adamastorbacchus.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-walk-through-plaisir-de-merle-with.html
Distell sold it to banker Michael Jordaan who is developing and preserving its natural heritage
while still making very good wines
Many of the farms are on the slopes of the Simonsberg mountains, some up the Helshoogte Pass
and others around the back of this beautiful mountain between Paarl and Franschhoek,
so there were some well known farms and some new farms with wines to explore
It was very well run on the Saturday when we went
And some of the wines were outstanding. Including two great Merlots in one festival tasting
Have we found our way with this grape again? Not a hint of greenness
The wines to taste were in this huge function venue
First, a generous introductory glass of Plaisier Brut, Rosé or Nectar Cap Classique
We opted for the Brut which is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier,
crispness and fullness from the Chardonnay and a hint of cherry from the Pinot
Inside the impressive hall, the wines on show were arranged on one side in front of the windows
There were seats and tables on the other side and it opened out onto a lawn with more tables and chairs
A warm welcome from the Thelema staff
The wooded Chardonnay has a lovely perfumed and rich nose which is almost wearable!
Crisp, lean and linear with lemon and golden oak supporting
Thelema has vineyards high up on the Simonsberg and this means they produce great Sauvignons Blanc,
full of layers and nuances of the best the grape can produce - very special
The Thelema Shiraz 2020 has spice, red fruit and is good on the nose;
soft and fruity and long flavours of berry fruit, soft tannins and warmth
The 2022 Mint Cabernet Sauvignon is from a new clone
and does have a tiny hint of spearmint on the nose, cassis and good French oak
Round on the palate, so silky and unctuous with superb cassis and dark berry fruit
Tokara showed us the 2022 Director's Reserve, produced by talented winemaker Stuart Botha
It is still a bit young, so a little shy on the nose with golden notes
It rolls spectacularly on the palate with fruit, then layers of golden fruit and golden oak
72% Sauvignon Blanc, 28% Semillon both grown on the farm on 23 year old vines. This will be an epic wine
We also tasted the 2021 Tokara Director's Reserve Red
70% Cabernet sauvignon 14% Petit verdot, 10% Merlot, 4% Cabernet franc and 2% Malbec,
and spends 22 months in French Oak; 35% is new
Herbaceous on the nose, dark berries with incense wood supporting
Dark and seductive on the rich fruit palate, it needs food immediately
Elegance, soft chalky tannins, licorice, cherry mulberry and dark umami oak
We think Sauvignon Semillon blend is the most excellent white wine we produce and we do it so well
It has sophistication, huge quality and great ageing capability and should be representing us,
but still does not get much recognition here or abroad
On the Quoin Rock table, we stopped for a Cap Classique palate freshener
The Festive MCC is an uncomplicated party wine, a pleasant palate pleaser with good acidity balancing a rich sweetness
The Knorhoek Sauvignon blanc has a higher than usual acidity with grapefruit and granadilla fruit. It may soften a little with time
The 2023 Plaisir Chenin Blanc has a good grassy perfumed nose full of Chenin character
Lovely and crisp on the palate, full with layers of good golden fruit
The 2023 Estate White is 100% Chardonnay and spends 11 months in selected barrels
Smoke and golden fruit, very satisfying on the rich palate
with cooked and ripe peach, Cape gooseberry and nectarine fruit
Bea Kluyts is its winemaker
The 2019 Plaisir Cabernet Sauvignon is a red berry invitation to jump into the glass, such lovely cassis fruit
Velvety on the palate, good cassis and dark berries with soft tannins, long flavours, and licorice wood. Yum
We were very impressed by the wines from the Neil Joubert Estate, and confess it's been a while since we tasted here
Neil Joubert Rose Marie Brut Rosé Cap Classique has just a 5% splash of Pinot Noir to the Chardonnay
which adds a hint of rose to the wine, a great prickle and lovely fruit
2024 Sauvignon Blanc has a classic SB nose, Initially light then the flavours develop
We really liked the freshness of this wine
The 2019 Grenache Blanc was really one of the top wines of the day
The nose is a bit foreign and enticing. Richness and fullness on the palate with lovely plum and peach fruit, ripe and cooked
Its fresh as a daisy and a food wine extraordinaire
2022 Cabernet Franc had to be tasted, it is a grape we much admire, and this did not disappoint
Cola on the nose, richness and class. Lighter on the palate than expected but good fruit and a long end
A wine to enjoy with friends.
The 2010 Tempranillo gave hints of Spain and Portugal on the nose; it is diffenent
Vanilla oak perfume and smoke with shy berries just waiting to bloom in the glass
And, finally, another stunner
The Merlot Estate Wine had us saying "Wow what a nose!" It is one of Lynne's "Dive in" noses
Richness, complexity, superb berry fruit. On the palate, soft and satisfying
with good dark cherry, berry fruit with chalky tannins and vanilla oak
The Joubert family, who are trained horticulturists and wine growers, have owned the farm since 1898
and have continued to manage it independently into the fifth generation
Ernest Leicht is the talented winemaker
Time to stop, sit down and enjoy something for lunch. We did eventually find a part of a table to sit at,
even though our gruff 4 "companions" thought they owned the entire table!
The umbrellas offered welcome shade
The cashless society is growing. Biltong looked good....
Comparing notes with architect Rose Jordaan. She and her former husband Michael own Plaisir and Bartinney
Pizzas, we decided "not today, too warm"
They did look good and the staff were enthusiastic and very friendly
A charcuterie platter? Too big for two, but it looked better than most that we see
Just right, spicy Malaysian Mee noodles with steak and two crisp spring rolls ....
.... from Wok and Grill and they were turning food out very quickly
Wagyu Burgers were popular too
Back to taste some more wines
Good to see McFarlane wines here, Alexandra is a talented winemaker
And the table had big queues of young people talking about and anxious to taste her wines
The Capitoline Wolf range is dedicated to the legendary wolf who saved the brothers, Romulus and Remus,
when they were cast into the River Tiber
The White is a Chenin Blanc. Floral on the nose, crisp and full of fruit
this unusual Chenin Blanc has a dash of Semillon which has added structure and sophistication
Long lime flavours remain
The Capitoline Red has soft red fruit on the nose and crispness and deliciousness on the palate
Another good food wine for sure
We then tasted Thursday's Child, a wine we are familiar with and like
It's a Cinsault - a grape that is having a renaissance in the Cape, having been a workhorse for years
It is now cultivated and vinified to show its fruit and versatility, similarity to Pinot Noir and when it does, it is impressive
This has an intriguing nose, almost a hint of coffee wood, then perfume
Young berry fruit on the palate, grippy tannins, long flavours
and another wine calling to be cellared and then paired with food
The Anura 2024 has lots of wood, but is shy on the nose; golden peach hides under the oak
We were keen to taste the 2022 Malbec Resrve, a grape we much admire
This wine has received some good awards and 4.5 stars in Platter
Richness first, then wood, then dark fruit on the nose
Soft tannins, more dark fruit, then tight tannins take over with dark, dark oak
Not a classic Malbec but it has quality
Good to see Muratie at the tasting, We have to confess a bias toward their Laurens Campher white blend
This year's 2023 is floral, crisp and full of fruit
They blend some Semillon with the Chenin and it adds structure and sophistication
Long crisp lime and citrus flavours make this both a quaffer and a serious food wine
The 2019 Martin Melck Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic South African Cabernet with incense French oak and cassis
Black and red berries on the nose and palate
This vintage shows great fruit, length and depth with wood umami on the end
We have not tasted Marianne wines for a very long time, last was at their restaurant when Lynne and Laurel were cooking there before they left for France!
The winemaker is Jos van Wyk
The Marianne Silhouette is a blend of 90% Shiraz, 8% Grenache noir & 2% Viognier
which gives ripe fruit on the nose, salty licorice umami and rhubarb fruit on the palate
The Germinal is an SMG. Dark and deep on the nose with lots of berries and wood
It is powerful on the palate with lots of fruit, lots of wood and lots of tannin
Our top scoring Cabernet of the day and we nearly missed tasting it
Glen Carlou's 2021 Gravel Quarry Cabernet Sauvignon
Incense French oak, lovely classic ripe cassis berry fruit, sophisticated and elegant and that was just the nose...
Silky on the palate, powerful cassis fruit, chalky tannins, long flavours salty licorice and minerality. WOW
Head Winemaker Johnnie Calitz has excelled again
The 2024 Glen Carlou Chardonnay was another top wine of the day
50% second fill barrels, 25% third fill and 25% 4th fill which is as it should be,
so many Chardonnays are being over oaked again, this is how it should be done folks
Shy on the nose initially with perfume, fruit and some smoke, full and rounded on the intense rich palate,
no toothpicks filling the mouth here
So satisfying
Glen Carlou was a pioneer producer of fine Chardonnays in South Africa
They came to our attention at a Chardoinnay masterclass given by David Finalyson in the mid nineties
when he was making wine with his father, Walter, at Glen Carlou
The 2023 Glen Carlou Merlot has a perfume so sophisticated that Lynne would wear it
Superb pure fruit continues from the nose to the palate to impress and delight,
one of the best tasted and a great food wine
It brought back memories of other great merlots here and in France. Another top scoring wine of the day
Queues at the Bartinney stand , the word had got round
Four to taste, we began wth the Bartinney unwooded Chardonnay which had been over chilled, so was initially shy,
then it began to show its crisp lime and lemon flavours, showing class and long redisdual flavours
The wooded Chardonnay had light smoke notes on the nose, golden oak, peach and nectarine fruit
and length on the distinctive Chardonnay palate
The Montegray 2024 Rosé, a 50/50 blend of Cabernet and Shiraz has perfume and burnt sugar on the nose
and is a lovely, fruity and quaffable Rosé
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon has expensive French oak, and the classic Cabernet cassis nose
Chalky tannins, wood, drying tannins and then lots more cassis fruit. A wine with a future
Inside the tasting hall, a good buzz of activity with no spare seats
A gift from the sponsors RMB was a keyring which was the lasered with our initials
A busy job taking details as this was very popular
The beautiful Groot Drakenstein Mountains behind Plaisir
All our stories can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right
If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in your email
