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Wednesday, May 07, 2014

A visit to Charles Fox MCC in Elgin

We were at Elgin Cool last weekend and on Sunday morning there was a major storm sweeping in, which was quite impressive. The three of us went to Charles Fox for a cellar tour and to taste some of his excellent MCC bubbly.

A great start to the day: a glass of good Brut Rosé

Charles Fox ushers us and other visitors into the entrance to the cellar

We explore the caverns with Cathy Marshall
They remind us of the way bubblies are stored in caves in Champagne

He has several thousand bottles on the lees

Charles explains the process clearly to visitors

and shows us how the wine lies on the lees until it is disgorged

It is quite a commodious cave

New technology helps in disgorging, as they no longer have to freeze the neck of the bottle. This neat little piece of equipment disgorges, doses and prepares the bottle for corking in a matter of seconds

The very comfortable tasting room

Cathy Marshall, Zelda and Charles Fox discussing growing Pinot Noir in Elgin, while we sip glasses of his delicious crisp Brut

The views are normally wonderful from this cellar, which is perched high on an Elgin hill, but this was while the storm was hitting us full on from the North West.

Another view from the entrance. If you want food, they do simple cheese platters

Charles pouring some of his Brut Rosé

The products on offer, elegantly displayed

He also produces a small quantity of an Elgin Pinot Noir. Furneaux is his mother's maiden name

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Monday, May 05, 2014

The new Wallovale tasting room, Elgin

Liquid Amber trees in all their autumn glory behind the vines

The lake in front of the winery

The new tasting room is in one of the old converted farm cottages

And in other, there was some lunch being cooked. Good hamburgers were spotted

Jovial Paul Wallace with Lynne and Sarah Russell

Nicky Wallace, Boschendal Marketing Director Jacques Roux and Paul Wallace inside the very chic tasting room

Nicky going to make sure that everyone is fine and to see if they need more wine

The Wallace dogs kept everyone in order and happy

Three lovely old chaps, with free reign to jump into the lake whenever they wish. The Black Dog malbec is named for the lovely old boy in front

Nicky with her mother and her friend Rennie from Pretoria at the food stand

The rugby match between the Stormers and the Highlanders was on screen for the fans

Nicky with bottles of their sensational Malbec - Black Dog

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Hannay and Catherine Marshall vertical tasting in Elgin

Someone said over the weekend how lovely fruitful Elgin is and commented that when most of us were growing up we drove straight through, never knowing how beautiful the valley and the hills are. You do need to go and explore this marvellous place. At the moment the trees are full of ripening apples and pears. In spring it will be full of blossom. And at harvest time, the vines will be laden.

The weather is slowly changing from autumn to winter and in Elgin this weekend we had both kinds of weather. The liquid amber trees are putting out the most beautiful show of reds, oranges and maroon shades.

We started at Hannay wines where they were having a vertical tasting of their sauvignons and some of their winemaker Catherine Marshall’s Pinot Noirs. A lovely tasting held inside the working wine cellar that was very well attended. You had the option of staying on for a simple buffet lunch costing R80 and if you bought a case of any of the wines, you had lunch on them. We loved their 2012 Sauvignon Blanc which has a little Semillon added and all of the Pinot’s were impressive. Cathy makes very, very good pinot in the fruit driven style that we like. Her piece de resistance was the 2005

We gather in the winery for the tasting