Signal Gun Wine Farm Media Day goes off with a Bang!

We were invited to visit one of the Durbanville farms, Signal Gun, this week. We were not at all familiar with it, so we jumped at the opportunity. They have a small game farm with some very unusual animals; we saw emu on the way in, wildebeest at the top of the hill, and we are invited back to do a game drive, as it was too muddy on the day we were there. They have a new craft brewery, so we tasted two of their new beers, had a wine tasting and ate some pizza from their restaurant Ke-Monate (Sotho for "That’s nice"). But the highlight of the day was the firing of the cannon. And John drew the lucky straw...

The farm is owned by MJ de Wit and his wife Estani. the farm was established in 2008. A panoramic view from the farm or Durbanville ...

... and the far mountains

Resting winter vines, waiting for rain. they have the highest vineyard in Durbanville, at 150 metres above sea level

The entrance

Inside the restaurant

The outside function room has curtain wall for winter

And we are here to watch the cannon being fired

Coffee and muffins welcome us on the chilly morning

Waiting for proceedings to start

Marli Geldenhuys introduces Johan Brand, cannon expert (and the farm's Financial Manager), to us

The cannon was used in the 17th & 18th Centuries by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to signal farms, villages and towns to call the Burgher militia to assemble in the Cape. There was a chain of 50 0f them all over the countryside. This is the cannon with all its loading equipment

Johan explained to us how they worked and then showed us how to clean and then load the cannon

Pouring in the black powder firing charge

John getting instructions on how apply fire to the charge

This is the 6 pound cannon ball. but these are no longer used, just a charge of gunpowder to make a noise and a flame

The fine black powder used to fire the large pack of powder already tamped into the cannon

The crowd awaits the bang

The cannon is primed

John applies the smouldering wick

BANG! And Lynne gets the shot! Motor drives are wonderful things

The smoke clears

Next we went up to the newly established brewing cellar and were shown all the tanks and the methods used to make their two beers

Lots of questions about beer making and they circulated some wort for us to smell and taste. With the added hops it’s very bitter, but the brewing process softens that..

Back inside for the tasting

The two beers they make. The audience was divided almost 50/50 on which they preferred. We will watch with interest how this side of the business develops

The wines we tasted

Waiting for the tasting to begin

The Bontebok Five Crops cream ale was the one we liked the most, it is zesty and refreshing

The Ystervark Hybrid lager we found still too yeasty, it needs a bit more time

A butternut and feta pizza to share on the table

Sea Smoke Sauvignon Blanc has a Bronze from the Old Mutual Trophy

Next came the Rosé made from 100% Merlot

A pizza with chicken

And one with bacon. We found the pizzas quite sweet and, as we do try to Bant (avoid carbohydrates as much as possible), they were a little challenging.

Angela Fourie is now the PRO for the Durbanville Wine valley and, given her background in the industry, we know she will be giving excellent service and advice to the association of 10 wine farms involved

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015
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Tasting Swiss at Morgenhof

Lynne belongs to a group called Women in Wine and, through their Facebook site, we learned of the visit of a group of Oenology students from Changin Haute Ecole de Viticulture et Oenology in Geneva who are here on an exchange visit. They had brought some wines from the different cantons and wine wards in Switzerland and were keen to share them at a tasting with people in the wine industry. Lynne, having skied in Switzerland a few times in the past, is familiar with some of these wines but was very keen, as was John, to see what they are producing now. We took along two bottles of good SA wine for the students to taste, and an evening of exchanging wine culture and fun ensued

Morgenhof had generously donated their event room for the tasting

Some of the wines we tasted. A Petite Arvine from the Valais area, caramel toffee, honey and some spicy sweetness with good balance. SF25. A Merlot from Peissy, Geneva from Domaine de Trois Etoile full of cassis leaves and fruit, with violets, good wood and intense flavours and layers. A biodynamic La Colombe Chasselas which has partial malolactic fermentation. Floral peaches with a tongue tingle as they add CO2 to compensate for lack of acid. SF15. We also tasted some wines that the students helped to make at the college. An interesting Gamaret from Gland (a new grape variety for us) full of wild red berries, with a Gamay palate. SF18. And a Sauvignon Blanc given skin maceration, full of cats pee and granadilla with some caraway on the nose, crisp balanced acidity with capsicum, granadilla and dill - this was made by their lecturers. SF17

The Auvernier Pinot Noir is from Neufchatel and is biodynamic and traditionally made. It was herbaceous, sappy and green with hints of kelp on the nose. and silky light and herbaceous with raspberries salt iodine and cherries on the palate. Approximately SF21. We also tasted a creditable Viognier from Domaine de Trois Etoiles, full of peaches and even some liquorice notes

Some of the students. We were intrigued to learn that Switzerland does not have to export its wine as they can only produce half the quantity required for their population. They currently consume 2.75 million litres a year. The rest is imported from neighbouring countries like France, Italy and Germany

Each student presented one wine, told us about the area it came from, the climate, the grapes and how they make it and described the wine. We also had a slide show and it was very informative

and a lot of fun

It was a good crowd and there was enough wine to go around. This was ably organised by Anne Bullen Alessandri who has been shepherding the students around the local wine world. This is a French student studying at the college

The students line up to do their presentations

We sat around the fire

and met some lovely students, both local and from Switzerland

After the tasting some substantial canapés were provided

and the students made some presentations to the organisers from Stellenbosch University. Anne is on the left

Chatting to Professor Roland Riesen from Changins Haute Ecole who travelled with the students

One of the most interesting wines was presented by a student from Corsica. It was the Clos Culomba 2014 Vermentino by Etienne Suzzoni and smelled of the Corsican maquis, full of herbs with crisp acidity and layers of white grapes with a kick of Muscat. Very refreshing

Discussion over canapés, with wine. It was a super tasting; thank you to all concerned. We know the students are being taken all over the Cape to experience different farms, terroirs, wines and wine making methods. We heard from them that they are loving the experience

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015
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