Tuesday dawned damp and grey, so we were pleased that we had
invitations to wine farms to fill our day
First to Rickety Bridge, where you
can stay at the Manor House,
visit the winery to taste the wines and eat in their
restaurant, Paulina’s,
which is currently open on Saturdays, Sundays and public
holidays from 09h00 - 17h00
Breakfast is served from 09h00 - 17h00 and lunch
from 11h00 - 17h00
Or order a picnic to
have on the lawn or in the restaurant, if the weather is not good
The entrance to the tasting room
There to greet us was MD Jan van Huyssteen
We met winemaker Donovan Ackermann who took time out of his
wine making to give us a very good tour of the cellar and a great barrel and
tanking for which we are very thankful. He showed us these Cinsault grapes that
had just come in and we tasted them. They were deliciously sweet and had characteristic
flavours of the grape. And a sweet late-harvested Colombard grape, which is
headed for a straw wine
Tanks are full from all the white wines picked this year. They
were waiting for the approaching storm to pass over before picking more red
grapes. Many of the winemakers we spoke to said that they had no option; the reds
are not yet ready for picking. We saw the Rickety Bridge stok-by-paaltjie
Shiraz grapes at the entrance and they look magnificent. Echalas, also known as
‘staked vines’ or ‘stok-by-paaltjie’, is mostly used in the wine producing
regions of Côte-Rôtie in France, Priorat in Spain and Mösel in Germany
We had a tank tasting of fermenting wines from their
concrete tanks, Chenin and Pinotage
which are both rich and complex, and the
good fruit is showing great possibilities
A special treat to taste a barrel sample of the pink
Semillon Gris, It is a mutation of the green Semillon Blanc. It seems that it
mutated here in the Cape, and was first seen and identified in the 1800's. It
reminded Lynne of Austrian wines she has had
The barrel. We hope we do get to taste it when it has been
bottled; it normally produces really good wine
A fermenting cap of Pinotage in small plastic tanks
It is a very busy time in the cellar. These grapes are
fermenting in the white tanks
You might be interested to know that Rickety Bridge sells a
Wine tasting kit
- it could be great if you have an interest in blending wine
or have a wine club
The barrel cellar with large oval Foudres at the end. These
hold very large volumes of wine and were much used in the past, but they are
reappearing in wine cellars because of the positive effect they have on wine. A
foudre gives a greater ratio of volume to surface area so that any impact of
oak on the wine is gentler even when barrels are new
Donovan gave us a tasting of a very good 2021 Chenin Blanc
with a smooth and silky texture, lovely layered fruit
We cannot wait to see
this in bottle
There is also an old vine 2021 Semillon in a foudre
We thanked Donovan very much for a super cellar tour and
tasting
It was now time to go to the tasting room with tasting room manager
Dylan van Dyk,
who had also been with us in the cellar
A fire was lit and it
was a great comfortable place for a tasting on a rainy day
Two Paulina's Reserve wines to begin the tasting. A
Sauvignon Blanc 2019 from Elim, which was matured in a foudre, making a Blanc
Fume in style, slight smoke on the typical Sauvignon blanc nose. A good
texture, good fruit and acidity in balance; a definite food wine which we
scored highly. As did others. The 2018 Chenin Blanc had 50% new oak. It has a
dive-in nose; the fruit is there, but just peripheral, with rich layered fruit;
and completely different on the palate. Expecting rich fruit with some
sweetness, it was lean and crisp with lots of sophistication and class, hints
of a Semillon, with a slightly oily texture, flavours of English gooseberries, granadilla
and then the 2017 Paulina's Reserve Semillon; the grapes are
from the renowned old Landau de Val vines where the oldest vineyard was planted near the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The classic grey nose of Semillon with smoke and cooked apple in the background. On the palate, it is clean,
textured, dry white peach, greengage with good wood supporting on the end. A
wine to drink now, but also to cellar. Then three from the Printers Devil
range. The 2018 white, The Gremlin is made of 50/50 Sauvignon Blanc and
Semillon. Figgy leaves, salted caramel, good texture and sweetness mid-palate,
long crisp flavours. A food wine
The Printers Devil Rosé 2018, named Titivillus from Grenache
Noir grapes which come from Bot River. Earthy with pomegranate mulberry and a
little smoke. Crisp and zingy, with tangy pomegranate and citrus flavours; also
a food wine. The Printers Devil Red 2017 Belphegor (all are named for phantoms)
is 90% Cinsault and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. A portion is made in a concrete
tank and the Cabernet in new French oak. Cassis, cola, red currant and incense
wood on the nose; silky, soft lovely tannins and red berry fruit, then a zing
of acid wakes it up. It has the legs to last
It was now about 1 pm; we had tasted quite a lot of wine and
we were very, very grateful for this platter of cheese and charcuterie, olives,
figs and pickles that they conjured up for us. It was quickly hoovered up
Then a very special wine indeed. The Pilgrimage Reserve 2017
Old Vine Semillon, from Block 905 on Landau de Val farm. Limited to 1600
bottles, each numbered. Classic style Semillon grey nose, a little shy, but
then, on the palate, it is a blockbuster wine, not shy at all. It has the
classic oily mouthfeel one expects, orange, citrus, warm alcohol with citrus
zest on the end, and is well supported by wood. It scores very high points in
international and local competitions and tastings. We loved it
The Paulina’s Reserve Old Vine Cinsault 2020. This was a
Rickety Bridge collaboration with their wine club, made by Donovan and Dylan. It
has that classic dusty Cinsault nose, with cherries and red berries, showing
almost Pinot Noir like character on the nose with wood ash on the end. On the
palate, an explosion of sweet cherry and prune plums, nice chalky tannins and
dark licorice wood. Yummy
The Rickety Bridge Flagship is The Bridge Cabernet Sauvignon
2017 from vineyards on the farm. A classic Cabernet cassis nose, with incense, French
oak and enticing richness. It is a full-on Cabernet; lots of everything, fruit,
wood, grippy tannins and long flavours of dark cassis and black berry fruit;
lots of quality and class and lasting ability
The final wine was The Sleeper Shiraz 2017
Good wood, black
berries and very full of enticement on the nose
Sweet black fruit, spicy with
black pepper, cumin and turmeric notes
gentle supporting wood and it demands
food immediately you taste it
We liked all of the wines, even loved a few, and this is not
usual
We conclude that Donovan is a very talented winemaker
Go and taste and
see for yourself. Thank you so much all at Rickety Bridge
It was good to see people in the tasting room on a very,
very chilly and wet Tuesday morning
As we left, we could see the rain falling in the mountains and
over the vineyards
