Once
a year, we are invited by The Vineyard Hotel management to join them and prune
the vines in the small vineyard on the side of the Liesbeek river in the
gardens of the hotel. They have kindly made us custodians of one vine
This
year, we were also invited to Waterford wine estate for a tasting of the last
four years of the wines that have been made. Waterford, who are one of the four
wine farms which sponsor a row of vines, vinified the 2015 vintage. We were to
taste the wines and have lunch together
Warmly dressed on a chilly late winter day, we received
a warm welcome from Kerry Sutherland and a glass of Waterford's Brut MCC
The beautiful entrance arch. The building is clad
entirely from local stone found on the farm; they wanted it to blend into the
landscape effortlessly and it does
Waterford Winemaker Mark le Roux
Invited guests and Waterford staff
Roy Davies, General Manager of The Vineyard Hotel tells us the
history of vines at The Vineyard. Vines were first planted on the hotel grounds
when the original property was owned by Lady Anne Barnard. In 2008 winemaker
Mike Ratcliffe of Warwick Estate suggested replanting a vineyard. Warwick,
Klein Constantia, Meerlust, Waterford and Simonsig came on board and the
vineyard of Semillon and Sauvignon was planted. The first vintage was vinified in
2013
There were about 120 bottles this year and we all
had a hand in filling one or two bottles
David Wibberley does the
first bottle
Another vintage is in bottle
And the bottles get loaded onto the corking
machine
Everyone waiting their turn
Kevin Arnold chatting to Lex Petousis
Winemaker Mark le Roux and Kerry Sutherland packing the wine crate
Laying down the bottles for storage
The table laid out for lunch in the beautiful
courtyard
Naeema, one of the experienced staff from The
Vineyard, uncorking the four vintages of The Vineyard wine
The day was cloudy but not cold. It is a beautiful
venue
Mark le Roux bottling a special Waterford Chardonnay
fermented in an egg. Everyone attending got a bottle. We labelled our own
bottles with a gold Koki pen. There were some artistic attempts
Filling from the egg is rather complicated, you
don't want to spill wine
Lynne and journalist Neil Pendock take their
places for the tasting
Klein Constantia winemaker Matthew Day with the long line of tasting glasses
GM of The Vineyard Hotel, Roy gives us some
background to where wine was originally grown in the Cape near the Vineyard
Hotel. It was planted on the banks of the Liesbeek river as early as 1658 or 9.
Jan van Riebeeck recorded in his journal, “The Commander consequently intends to plant a large part of the
Bosheuvel with young vine shoots during the waning moon which is the correct
time.”
Bosheuvel
was bordered by the banks of the Liesbeek
Enjoying the history lesson are Mark le Roux and Joachim Sa of Amorim
Cork
Small portions to taste as the wine is in very
short supply. L to R 2013 Blue & Black and 2014 the first grapes were picked
on the 12th February 2013. Matthew Day of Klein Constantia made this wine. There
were two pressings as the grapes did not fill the press. Blue has some good
acidity on the palate, some elegance but is a little one note. Black was the
rest of the grapes, too little for the press, so foot stomped and known
informally as the toe jam wine. It is perfumed and grapey!
Winemaker Chris Williams of Meerlust tasting the wine
Roy then took us through the 2014 which was the
biggest harvest yet, 240 kg which was vinified on Marklew. It's still a little
miffy on the nose, but has consistent acidity, grapey with bruised apple. A
wine still waiting to come true. The 2015 was made by Chris Williams on
Meerlust and was judged by the guests to be the best yet. Perfumed on the nose
with crisp acidity and good elegance, it's the good white blend that Semillon
and Sauvignon Blanc make. We did taste the 2016 wine we had bottled that day,
but it is too young and needs to develop a character in the bottle
Lunch is served ...
... and we began with a lovely platter to share of
charcuterie, smoked salmon, cheese, fruit, chutneys, tapenade and good bread
Chefs in the kitchen preparing the main course.
This was the quinoa tabbouleh
Chef with the braaied steaks
The beetroot
The mixed vegetables
Lots of positive discussion about the wines
Main course of fire seared fillet steak with
quinoa tabbouleh, spring vegetables and glazed beetroot with a red wine jus. We
enjoyed some wines from the farms involved with lunch. We particularly liked
the Waterford Chardonnay.
The three 'wine makers': Kevin Arnold, the
innovator Roy Davies and Mark le Roux
A platter of wicked pastries for dessert
The transport arranged took us back to the
Vineyard Hotel where we enjoyed a beer on the terrace in the sun
It's obviously a great meeting place
The trees beginning to burst into spring leaf
It looks like blossom with
the sunlight highlighting the pale greenness
© John & Lynne
Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016