We were invited by Bruce Jack to the launch of his new four wines under the banner Awaken the Arcade,
held at Culture wine bar in Cape Town and well attended by trade and media
Early on, we could taste the white wine while we waited for people to arrive
Called Wire Frame, it's a clever blend of 50:50 Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling
A very attractive nose which leans more to Riesling than the Sauvignon Blanc
It has a lovely full and velvety mouthfeel with fresh and lively ripe fruit, lime, lemon,
and the merest hint of pine from the Riesling. No terpenes detected. And a good wine to pair with food
Bruce's son, Ben, showing us the wines
John says he looks more like Bruce's father than Bruce There is a long relationship there;
While David Jack was setting up the V&A Waterfront in the late 1980s and early 90s,
John worked with him in a sponsorship role
The crowd begins to arrive
In the end there were not enough seats; the tasting was very well attended and popular
Some canapés to be served with the wines
Forks in case one found the canapés difficult to pick up
Elvina Snell Fortuin and her two friends, Tammy and Ayakha
The four wines in the range
The theme is the computer games revolution in the 1970s and 80s, which some of us lived and embraced
The theme is the computer games revolution in the 1970s and 80s, which some of us lived and embraced
Wire Frame 2024
Tiny biscuits with brie and fig jam
The information on the back of the bottle
Seared venison tataki with a ham hock beignet
Next was the rather controversial Orange Wine called The Marmalade Invader
made from 80% Chenin blanc and 20% Chardonnay and given skin contact
It's a wine you either resonate with or not
The grapes come from Breedekloof and Cape Coast
Bruce is a big fan and his description is, "A skin fermented wine made badly". It's a trend setter
The next wine is called 8 Bit, made in 2023 from Tannat, robust and grown on Bruce's Drift Farm in the Overberg
A French grape grown in the Madrian Pyrenees area for centuries, common in Uruguay, but not used much on its own here
We really enjoyed it. Richness on the nose draws you in with lovely dark plum and blackberry fruit. It's a special nose
It's a riot on the palate with lots of enjoyable rich complex berry flavours, plum and rhubarb
Another for food pairing
The final wine in the Arcade is The Easter Egg 2023, made with 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Stellenbosch
There is soft cassis on the nose; it has elegance and quality with good supporting layers of dark berry fruit
On the palate, grippy tannins with chalk and chew
A dark berry mélange sweet and sour on the palate, with long flavours, and lots of dark oak on the end
Needs time to show its Stellenbosch vision
Bruce telling us all about the wines
Matt Manning, Culture's "Owner, Chef & Wine Drinker", joined Bruce while he told the story of the range of wines
The wines in a gift pack ....
... include a secret Easter Egg which holds a beautiful dragon,
the reward when you reached the end of computer games in those distant days...
All the stories we have produced since 2012
can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right of this page
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