Wednesday, August 09, 2023

Caroline's Red Wine Review 2023

Caroline Rillema is one of the best wine merchants in Cape Town
She holds two annual wine shows, her Red and White Wine Reviews
This year's Caroline's Red Wine Review was held at The Lookout in the V&A Waterfront
where we could taste many of the top red wines this country produces
Caroline chooses them and we must say she always does a superb job. The quality of the wines this year was excellent

The queue for access at the start time indicated the level of interest

We headed straight for the Pinot Noir section and were rewarded with some very special wines
Chris Albrecht, Bouchard Finlayson winemaker is now making his own impressive style of Galpin Peak Pinot Noir

It has roses and cherry on the nose, and lovely layers of complex cherry berry fruit. It is drinking so well now

Corlea Fourie and Anthony van Schalkwyk, Bosman Cellarmaster and Marketing manager
The wine has a lovely balance of fruit, acidity and wood, made to last

Gottfried Mocke, Boekenhoutskloof winemaker

He produced this lovely wine. Boekenhoutskloof Cap Maritime 2021 Pinot Noir
Perfume and black cherry fruit on the nose with crisp cherries and long flavours lead to a great finish

We were so happy to see Sue Anderson with Cathy Marshall, it has been quite a while

Catherine Marshall Finite Elements 2019 Pinot Noir. The last of the Elgin fruit
Elegant with incense wood and good cherry fruit, lighter in texture than some with full long sweet flavours

Jean Claude and Carolyn Martin, owners of Creation, were showing one of our favourites, The Art of Pinot Noir 2022
JC always produces a wine that reminds one of good Burgundy
Cherry dances on the nose and palate, it's a feast of quality and flavour and it certainly has aging potential

Richard Kershaw always produces something different and exciting
He copies no one and brings forth the full potential of the grapes
Very clear notes of Burgundy's style on the nose. It draws you in
Incense wood, lovely dark cherry fruit with a tingle and then layers of complexity

Mariette and Richard Kershaw

Bevan Newton Johnson had his Family Vineyard 2022 Pinot Nor and it is a revelation
Much talked about in the room, it was lauded as being excellent
Perfumed with raspberry and good French oak, it was like being led to a surprise party on the palate,
full of glorious and serious red berry fruit, some warmth and good tannins,
made to last and our favourite Pinot of the evening

The boys from Oak Valley, winemaker Jacque du Plessis and Fabio Turilli, office & logistics manager,
with their 2018 Tabula Rasa South Ridge PN115
Another excellent example of this seductive grape. French in style, lots of elegance and lots of good fruit 

Paul Cliver Seven Flags 2018 Pinot Noir is a wow on the nose, everything you want a Pinot to be
Plum, cherry and pomegranate fruit on the sophisticated palate

Becoming crowded, but it's a huge venue and the event is very popular

Roger Burton with his last vintage of Tierhoek 2021 Grenache
He will now focus solely on his job as winemaker of Constantia Royale
Its deep and delicious, warm flavours of the South; a food wine

Wilhelm Kritzinger, Bellevue winemaker with their 2021  Bellevue 1953 Pinotage
From the oldest Pinotage producer and vineyard, it's as good as you can expect, it needs time and will reward keeping
Five stars in Platter

Richard Duckitt, Bellingham winemaker

Bellingham 2019 Bush vine Pinotage from the Bernard Series
Rich, juicy dark plum with good oak support. A keeper

Abrie Beeslaar and Danie Theron

with Abrie's 2021 Beeslaar Pinotage; from a vineyard near to Simonsig
It is delicious, with softer fruit than the legendary wines he makes for Kanonkop

Anri Truter, Beyerskloof winemaker presenting Diesel 2021 Pinotage (named after a favourite dog)
Beyerskloof's top end wine, it has rich fruit with a hint of spice and good wood influence
Excellent now, but will reward cellaring for a few years

Shanice du Preez of De Grendel with their 2021 Amandelboord Pinotage
Another rich, full-flavoured Pinotage with red berry fruit and a hint of licorice and chocolate

The Flagstone 2017 Pinotage called Time, Manner, Place

Gerhard Swart, Flagstone head winemaker since 2007

From Groot Phesantekraal in Durbanville, the Berliet 2021 Pinotage, named for the owner's vintage French car

2021 Illimis Pinotage. Lucinda Heyns' light touch endows this with more of the character of its Pinot parent
Subtle fragrance and rich berry flavour

Owner/winemaker Lucinda Heyns with negotiant Dane Raath

Pierre Wahl, Survivor cellarmaster with their 2021 Reserve Pinotage
After a long career making excellent Pinotage at Rijk's in Tulbagh,
he has taken his talent and experience to Overhex near Worcester

Dane Raath and Pierre Wahl

 Dirkie Morkel of Bellevue with his wife

Justin van Wyk and Gus Allen of Constantia Glen were showing the 2020 Five,
always an excellent, enjoyable Bordeaux blend. Who said Constantia can't produce great reds?

The Delaire Graff Botmaskop 2020. Cassis and violets in an excellent red blend

Morné Vrey, cellarmaster at Delaire Graff

Nonqcebo Langa, Delheim winemaker with her colleague Marista 

Danie Keulder, back at Groot Constantia as Cellarmaster from July 23
showing their 2019 Gouverneurs Reserve Bordeaux blend

Sjaak Nelson, Jordan cellarmaster with the 2017 Jordan Sophia which has elegance and good fruit and years to go 

Christopher Keet and his son Grant 

The First Verse 2019
French oak, and good dark fruit on the complex nose, licorice and chocolate with great layers of complexity
An iconic wine and one to cellar, but enjoyable now

Deidre Taylor, Sales & Marketing Manager, Kanonkop Wine Estate with Francois van Zyl, Ladybird cellarmaster

Anthonij Rupert 2017 Cabernet Franc, made by Dawie Botha was impressive
It has a classic varietal nose, good oak and minerality Dark fruit and a lovely silky smooth mouth feel, beautiful dark fruit with long savoury flavours and calls for food

Henrico van Lill, Antonij Rupert sales 

KWV The Mentors red blend was excellent with spice on the rich nose and lots of fruit on the palate

Two very successful winemakers Izele van Blerk (KWV) and Andrea Mullineux (Leeu Passant)

The 2020 Leeu Passant, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Cabernet Franc which really impressed us
It has a dive in nose, floral with intense berry fruit. Silky smooth on the palate, the velvety fruit sparkles on the palate 

Great to see Sommelier and wine maker Joseph Tongai Dhafana

Some other wines of special note were the impressive Uva Mira 2018 Cabernet Franc, The Dance, with savoury salty notes, some violets and good dark fruit in layers with tannin grip, a food wine
The Vergelegen GVB Cabernet Franc Merlot Cassis leaves and berries with good oak, Magic on the palate with salty licorice, cassis and plums, a great sign off from Andre van Rensburg
And the Spier Frans Smit Bordeaux blend which impresses every time we taste it. Soft fruit on the nose, soft tannins, a  big wine in flavour and length, what you expect from the blend, so expressive of the grapes. One to buy and put down
Rall 2020 a fine red blend of Syrah, Grenache, Carignan and Cinsault Dark berries and good wood on the nose, Dark layered fruit with dusty tannins and looooong flavours, a must with good food

Francois Haasbroek

with his Blackwater Sophié Cabernet franc Cinsaut 2021 blend
In earlier days, Cinsaut was usually blended with Cabernet in some of South Africa's best reds
This is a tribute to those wines with the Cinsaut adding a berry lightness to the savoury Cabernet franc

and, finally, the alchemist who put this magic all together, Caroline Rillema

In a show which exhibits so many excellent wines, it is impossible to taste and photograph everything in three hours
We needed and would have enjoyed two sessions

All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

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Posted by MENU at 5:10 pm 0 comments

Ladles of Love Mandela Day activities

Mandela Day, 18th July 2023, dawned wet, cold and windy but we didn't mind
We were wrapped up warmly. We had volunteered to help Ladles of Love for 67 minutes
and headed to The Oranjezicht City Farm Market outside the V&A Waterfront

We had bought our tickets on line and, after checking in, headed to the area where we had pledged to do our 67 minutes

Out in the open, but under good solid marquee roofs, we had volunteered to plant seeds and seedlings

There were many ways of assisting. People were doing crafts 

Painting wooden blocks and inscribing them with one word to assist children in learning and reading

Making piles and piles of Peanut butter and jam sandwiches to be donated to creches, schools and others in need
We have done this before and it is a mighty sticky job but with huge Gees (spirit) in the tent
as teams vie to beat each other and sing along to the band

Founder of Ladles of Love Danny Aiello explaining to visitors what is happening.

You have to get a system going: Lay out the bread slices, spread on the peanut butter then the jam,
close the sandwich and pack it back into the loaf bags

You can see they were all having a great time

These were the tables we were would work; our start time was minutes away

How many layers of polar fleece and waterproof.....?

"Like a bird on a wire ...." To quote Poet songwriter Leonard Cohen:
"Like a bird on the wire,
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free"
Redwing Starlings waiting for a dropped treat

The instruction was to fill a cup or an egg box and to use the supplied coloured pens to mark what seed was planted
and to decorate the container in an attractive way
It was a struggle: To spend time decorating or to get on and plant many vegetable seeds that would feed people?
We chose the latter but did do some decorating

Showing us what to do and where to find the supplies
Sadly, no vegetable seedlings were donated, so in this area we all planted seeds

Busy at work, singing along to the excellent jazz duo, who also donated their time and talent, and having a lot of fun

John planted Copenhagen Cabbage seeds, one to each eggcup shape,
which we filled with compost supplied to us.. Lynne had Detroit Beetroot and she wrote "Planted with Love đŸ’“"
on her boxes and cups in the hope that the seeds would grow well...

And our pile done in 67 minutes grew and grew very satisfyingly

And this was what was done in 67 minutes by our 11 o clock group.  Impressive

The Jazz duo Nick n Dave, who call themselves Brass Keys, was superb, playing all the known standards
so we could sing along: Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Funny Valentine etc
They are very talented and sang as well as played  

The trumpeter played a mean horn. Very talented

They are now local, the keyboard player was originally a Londoner; they can be hired for events. We recommend them

We had a great time
And the good news is that “6003 volunteers did 67 minutes on Mandela Day
and made 150,000 items to nourish, nurture and grow children at ECD Centres in impoverished communities”

All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

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Posted by MENU at 2:28 pm 0 comments

Vintage Day at Simonsig

A wet and chilly day in the winelands saw us arrive at Simonsig for their VIP Vintage Day
An opportunity to taste the best from their Vinoteque under a stormy sky with resting vines

Into the tasting room

Three generations of the Simonsig Malans
Johan Malan, the Director of Winemaking, his son Michael who makes the red wines 
and, behind them, the portrait of Johan's father, Patriarch and estate founder Frans Malan
In the photograph to the right, recently retired viticulturist, Johan's brother Francois

They have such helpful, smiling and efficient staff
and, of course, we began with some of their rich and layered Cuvée Royale 2007 and 2011
Their Kaapse Vonkel was the first South African sparkling wine made with a second fermentation in the bottle
the style known in Champagne as MĂ©thode Champenoise and in South Africa as Cap Classique

Tasted two excellent Chenin Blancs. The 2016, fruity. tropical and leesy, a classic Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc
The 2017 still had some crispness with passion fruit and tropical notes and also some lees character
The Roussanne was so enjoyable, orange and minerality on the nose, and orange, lime and salty minerality
on the complex, layered palate. This shouts for food
We love Johan Malan's Die Kluisenaar; it means The Hermit, a nod to the wine's Hermitage heritage
It carries the signature of The Grapesmith, which he certainly is. A blend of Roussanne & Marsanne, it works extremely well
Complex nose and flavours with blossom perfume, lime and cooked toffee apple with good minerality

Very good attendance, with the vintage wines arranged around the room
and it became busier as the afternoon turned to early evening

We believe that Pinotage needs 10 years and we were able to confirm that the two we tasted had matured very well

The 2009 Is fruity and elegant on the nose, showing little age, 
with good prime fruit and licorice wood, a great mouthful, enjoyable
The 2013 has chocolate notes on the nose and palate from the wood and is still juicy
with full good sweet and sour fruit and some cocoa nib character from the wood


Some canapés to keep us going
and there were copious quantities of fresh oysters served with accompaniments

Those meatballs were delicious with the Pinotage.

Another selection

Great music from this young man 

and fresh water distilled from the atmosphere rather than the dams. A good initiative in a dry country like ours

Lynne catching up with Luvo Ntezo,- Head Sommelier at One&Only Cape Town. It had been a long time since we last met

The Merindol Shiraz was very impressive and has aged so well
It was very popular, along with the Flagship Bordeaux blends
The 1999 Merindol has lovely fruit on the nose, Sweet black fruit on the palate with licorice wood and fresh black pepper
The 2001 has lovely fresh berry fruit with some spice on the end, so enjoyable
Our favourite was the 2002 which had all of the above with salty licorice drop, beautiful length and depth
and a finish of white pepper and incense wood

Old friends enjoying good old wines with Francois Malan

Good seating areas inside and outside for enjoying the wine properly

There were five vintage Cabernet Sauvignons

The Flagship Bordeaux Blend, Tiara, was at the most popular table in the room
The wines are so well made and have lasted so well. A very good investment
The 1999 had incense wood aroma from the good French oak used; dark berry fruit draws you in
On the palate cherry, cassis, red plum and blackberry delight with long deep flavours,
with soft tannins remaining on the lips. Excellent
The 2001 was a bit shy on the nose but the quality shows
Mulberry, cassis, pomegranate, it is still amazingly fresh
Good texture and, definitely, a wine to serve with red meats and game
The 2008 was a revelation. Fresh fruit and incense wood, excellent dark berry fruit showing maturity,
structure and chalky tannins, made to last much longer

Stellenbosch boasts that it produces the country's best Cabernets. These helped to uphold the claim

Those braving the damp and chilly weather enjoyed the wine on the terrace under the awning

It is a great place to sit and taste their good wines and Kaapse Vonkel bubblies

Vinoteque wines were on sale in this room with David Pietersen and Margaret la Grange in attendance

and current vintages were available from Dora Wenn
The Kaapse Vonkel magnums were autographed by Springbok rugby players from older vintages:
Corné Krige, John Smit and Breyten Paulse

Many fans at the Cabernet Sauvignon stand

A very old vineyard, still producing excellent grapes and wines

Freezing fog coming in as we left to head back home before it got dark
Thank you all at Simonsig for a wonderful tasting; it was an honour to be able to taste the older wines

All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive 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

Posted by MENU at 12:57 pm 0 comments
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