An angel with a red handbag and shoes waiting for the show to start
The hall was decked with fairy lights; we anticipated some good wines to taste. And we were not wrong
It is such a good venue for a large tasting as it is spacious enough to take many wine exhibitors and tasters
Terence van der Walt of Siris Vintners showing wines from his clients Ataraxia and Springfield,
both excellent farms producing both varietals
both excellent farms producing both varietals
Springfield in Robertson has always produced two very different Chardonnays,
Methode Ancienne and Wild Yeast Chardonnay
Their crisp and exciting Cap Classique NV Bubbly (50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir), Garuzis
is named for Etosha where their Great Grandmother grew up in Namibia
Kevin Grant has his farm Ataraxia in the Hemel and Aarde valley
and was showing his delicious 1924 Chardonnay and two Pinot Noirs
The 2024 Pinot Noir has smoke and pine needles on the nose
On the palate it is rich and juicy with lots of sophistication!
The Young Blood is made by Kevin's son, whom he allows to take responsibility for making wine,
guided by his father... The wine is young and enticing and will age well
Wines from La Brune in Elgin and Weltevrede in Robertson
Ginny Povall with her beautifully smoky, rich and layered Mary Delany Pinot noir
Chamonix has two excellent Chardonnays, the Greywacke is classic
The Chardonnay Reserve really impressed us again
At this point we decided to do what the French do and concentrate first on the Pinot Noirs
Cirrus is from high in the Ceres mountains, a cool climate wine,
shy at first, then fruity, good grippy tannins and chalk, supported by good fruit with long flavour
This Ginger Cat, aka Dave Nel, was showing the Crystallum Peter Max 2025 Pinot Noir
It has licorice and smoke then shy berries on the nose
Licorice repeats with red berries on the unusual and enjoyable palate
Their wines on show that night
Annemie Adriaanse showed two David Finlayson Pinots from Stellenbosch
The 2024 has a very shy nose, dark berry fruit that is almost balsamic and is very different and enjoyable,
good with Mediterranean food
The Camino Africana Pinot 2025 has cigar box and incense wood, cherries in abundant layers; it calls for food
Pale in colour, almost a rosé
De Grendel Cap Classique 2024 had lots of good prickle
Their Op die Berg 2022 Pinot Noir has an intriguing nose, smoky and shy
Salty minerality then raspberry, pomegranate, then cherries
Fledge Katfis Pinot Noir was impressive, mature fruit nose (grapes from Elgin)
Very Burgundian in style, earthy undertones on nose, minerality almost salty, good berry fruit, almost Hemel and Aarde in style.
Good intentions. We intended to return to Glenelly,
but we ran out of time and, regrettably, this was one of the many Chardonnays we missed
Francis 2023 Pinot Noir is from a block on La Vierge in the Hemel and Aarde. Tasting it was a very good experience
An intriguing nose, deep and enticing, very Hemel on the nose and palate with lovely berry fruit,
silky on the palate with good chalky tannins
Burton Francis was a professional rugby player who played flyhalf for the Bulls and then for Agen in France
While in France he went to Burgundy where he studied wine and took an MBA degree in wine production
Glen Carlou 2026 Pinot Noir has a shy nose, there is some minerality, oak and perfume
Oak follows through on the palate with dark berries on the back palate, with salty minerality
Sadly the block was old and was infected with leaf roll virus, so it's gone!
Hasher Family Wines in the Hemel and Aarde. We tasted their 2025 Family Pinot Noir
Smoke, licorice, cherry on the nose, sweet and sour berry fruit, long flavours but it needs time
The Ernest 2024 Pinot Noir has spent 8 months in 25% new oak, not usually a good idea;
it has hints of good oak on the nose, sweet berry fruit on the palate with lots of dark oak on the end
Idun
Having tasted so many Pinots, we now welcomed a taste of a good Cap Classique to refresh our palates. This one is 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot. A good prickle and a good mousse, with crisp, long flavours
The grapes are sourced and made at Almenkerk in Elgin
Iona 2025 Pinot Noir has incense wood, shy fruit on the nose,
on the palate it's soft, full of fruit, good tannins and dark oak on the end
A food wine to investigate, Sommeliers!
The popular Iona wines
Kara Tara is a Stellenbosch brand that sources Pinot noir from Wellington, Elgin and the Overberg
The 2025 Pinot Noir had a not very attractive nose, perhaps it was the bottle, slight mothball notes!
Sweet berry fruit, gripping tannins, dark wood, 10% is new
A warm welcome at the Yardstick table from Zonnika Louw. A chance for another refreshing 2024 Chardonnay
A Stellenbosch Chardonnay, with an experimental parcel of fruit from the West Coast
which adds some minerality and citrus to the stone fruit crispness on a vanilla oak end
which adds some minerality and citrus to the stone fruit crispness on a vanilla oak end
Julien Schaal wines always impress. He had two Pinot Noirs
The 2024 Influence has a soft nose with incense wood and perfume, lots of dark berry fruit
The 2025 Mountain Vineyards Pinot Noir is fairly classic on the nose,
and, on the palate, minerality, salt, fruit and long juicy flavours. Another food wine
Paul Cluver in Elgin has always produced winning Chardonnays and Pinot Noir
The 2024 Estate Pinot noir is elegant on the classic Pinot Noir nose,
with good wood, great berry fruit in layers with some ripe pomegranate
Long flavours and good wood showing excellence
The Terra Loci 2023 Pinot Noir, made by Johann Fourie of Benguela Cove and Bertus Fourie, famous for his coffee Pinotage
has a very classic nose, almost want to dive in. Sweet and crisp fruit in layers with dark oak, it has quality
It is called Babilon and comes from the Walker Bay area
A good chat with Sarah Revell Marillier, the wine Smous, her husband Mark Black and son Matt Black
Bubbles Hyland was showing the Tesselaarsdal Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
Thamnus 2022 Pinot Noir has incense wood on the nose, shy fruit at first, and good supporting wood
The Sutherland 2023 Pinot Noir blew our socks of, best wine of the evening
Lots of good incense oak support on the classic nose
So silky on the palate, it has a lovely balance of fruit, wood, tannins and chalk. It's juicy and calls for food
Tierhoek from Piekenierskloof was showing their two good Chardonnays
Eddie Lourens from Mont Rochelle in Franschhoek with the three Chardonnays; one is a Cap Classique
The 2025 Chardonnay has a good integrated nose.
Crisp lime and lemon in good layers, the wood softly supporting on the end with a little chalk
A box gift package. The 2025 MIKO Chardonnay has wood and fruit integrated well on the nose
Golden oak repeats with crispness, tannins and chalk on the palate then more fruit
Made to last and worth putting down to mature
Rustenberg had three Chardonnays for tasting Stellenbosch Wild Ferment, unwooded 2026, Stellenbosch 2026 Chardonnay and their top wine, 2025 Five Soldiers Chardonnay
Unfortunately we did not get to taste as the show was closing, but are planning a visit to the farm soon
The Rustenberg labels were designed by Cecile Ormerod, wife of John's godfather
We also had to miss the Salt Rock wines
and the Whalehaven
We did manage a tasting of the Draaiboek, made from grapes from Charles Fox in Elgin
The Kinkel 2024 Chardonnay is shy on the nose, good crisp Chardonnay lime, lemon fruit and some wood support
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
