Thursday, December 16, 2021

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 23. Springfield, Robertson

The last day of our trip. We had a good breakfast at theLAB, packed the car one last time
and headed off to our first appointment of the day, Springfield at 10 am

A view of the farm from the road

A lovely avenue leads you into the farm

They have improved the tasting room over the last few years and will soon enlarge it
Under Covid conditions, you need to sit outside; there is a canopy
Roses grow so well on the Robertson soils; these are really beautiful 

The view over the dam



A look into the Tasting Room area

A large table for smaller tastings

It was a lovely day and we had the tasting at the table next to the dam

Emma Bruwer welcomed us warmly and we spent some time catching up on the family news
and learning about what is happening on the farm

Some lovely olives and melba toasts on the table

We had a very comprehensive tasting of all of their very impressive wines
We think many are worth buying regularly, and we do that

We began with what is probably their best known wine, the 2021 Springfield Life from Stone, which was released on the 1st of July. It is a classic cool country Sauvignon Blanc, grown on incredibly rocky soils. The vines are 18 to 24 years old. It has green capsicum and green fig leaves on the nose; it fills the palate with crisp, juicy green fruit, limes and lots of flinty minerality

Then the sister wine, the 2021 "Special Cuvée" Sauvignon Blanc, sourced from 25 year old vines grown on sandy soils in the estate’s riverine areas. At present, it is shyer on the green nose than Life from Stone, but this can change as it ages. It is more sophisticated and delicate with more richness on the palate with long flavours of green capsicum, passion fruit and lime

Miss Lucy, is a name given to the Red Stumpnose fish by the fishermen of the Southern Cape. Abrie Bruwer is one of them. A unique blend of Pinot Gris, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, with a shy grey nose. So easy to drink with food; it is delicious and quaffable, full of green limes, juicy plums and greengages. It changes with every mouthful

Then the Albariño, which so impressed us; it speaks of the summer to come. Springfield was the first South African producer to grow and market this wine, made from a southern European grape which is found extensively in Spain and Portugal. Full of sunshine, stone fruit and citrus on the nose; full on the palate, with zingy acidity, peaches and plums, a definite food wine. We liked it so much that we bought a case

The 2020 Wild Yeast Chardonnay is unwooded. Fermented in underground cement tanks in a slow, volatile process that can take from 2 to 9 months. It’s risky but has produced a good chardonnay. It’s yeasty, shy, buttery, with long lively flavours of lime and citrus and ripe stone fruits

The 2019 Méthode Ancienne Chardonnay is made in the Burgundian style, barrel fermented using wild yeast and bottled unfiltered and unfined. It is magnificent. Initially shy on the nose, then buttery brioche appears. It has lovely depth of golden stone fruit and citrus, and will age so well. Very French in style, the wood is only just perceivable; its job is to hold the wine together

The cellar door

An appropriate charm on Emma's bracelet
Before returning to the family farm she was winemaker at Cap Classique specialist Le Lude in Franschhoek

The 2018 Pinot Noir is perfumed and has the richness on the nose of brûléed raspberries, with a hint of smoke. It just starts unfolding on the palate, like a trip through the galaxy (OK, Lynne was a bit carried away). Sweet red fruit, soft chalky tannins, with long raspberry, ripe cherry and strawberry flavours, with a good dark wood support on the end. Very well structured. Lynne just had to buy some of this delicious wine, which she scored 19½ out of 20. The three other red wines scored really highly too

2019 Whole Berry Cabernet, made with minimal intervention and whole berry fermentation, unfiltered and unfined. It is a classy Cabernet with lots of cassis, cherry and smoke on the nose, Rich with dark velvety berry fruit, depth and length, good wood. Excellent

The Work of Time 2015 is a Bordeaux blend: 32% Cabernet Franc, 31% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Petit Verdot. Vanilla wood with soft berry fruit, lighter on the palate but still juice, with nice soft chalky tannins on the end. 2 years of barrel maturation unfiltered and unfined and aged for 4 years before release 

Méthode Ancienne 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon from a single vineyard of old vines, fermented in new French oak barrels with wild native yeast. Two years of barrel maturation unfiltered and unfined, aged for four years before release. Violets and pure cassis on the nose, almost Ribena pureness, with sophistication and complexity. Silky soft on the full palate, lots of fruit in layers. Very special 19/20 

Thunderchild, the wine Robertson's wine farmers make for charity, was sold out but the new vintage is now available;
it has been a great success
The current, 2018, vintage is a blend of 34% Cabernet Franc, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Merlot

In 1918, in the wake of the Great Flu Epidemic an orphanage, Die Herberg, was built by the Robertson community for the children left orphaned and destitute. In 2003, a 5 hectare vineyard was planted on the orphanage’s grounds by the same community. All planting material, soil preparation and irrigation were donated. This blend is made free of charge by sympathetic cellars and sold in aid of the children, who today are no longer all orphans but mainly from broken homes. All the grapes for this blend are grown on the orphanage’s grounds and 100% of the profit is donated to the children. Only true audited costs are remunerated, time and effort cannot be recompensed

Then Abrie Bruwer, whom we have known for a very long time, arrived back with all the dogs 

He has a German shorthaired pointer, a Ridgeback and a German Shepherd,
all lovely dogs, which are faithful and loyal and with great energy

and the dogs ride around the farm with him on the front of his motorbike. Here he is loading them on in front of him

and off they go!



Sadly, the German Shepherd is a bit old for the bike. He looks rather sad, but he does enjoy the water


Emma took us on a tour of the spotless wine cellar. They do still use the underground kuipe (concrete tanks)


Gravity fed tanks

Preparation for next year's harvest will soon begin


It is a very large cellar


Nice clean bottles ready for their labels

and they had the bottling and labelling line working

Packing wines to go out on order


Each bottle is individually wrapped in branded tissue paper


The weather was changing and we could see a possible storm approaching from the South West


Lovely irises grow on the banks of the dam


Thank you, Emma, Abrie and Jeanette for a really superb tasting of great wines
You know we are fans of Springfield wines

Lunch and a tasting with Newald Marais at Kranskop came next (Click Here)


If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com
Posted by MENU at 1:09 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 20. Robertson - DeWetshof

We made very good time coming from Knysna and reached Robertson before 12. This is one of our favourite wine areas; the people are so friendly and genuine and the wines are excellent. We have made lots of friends here. The two valleys of Robertson and Bonnievale are very fruitful and beautiful. It is easy to get around and we like it so much that we even contemplated moving here at one time. All our appointments for the two days were ably organised for us by Renate le Roux at the Robertson Tourism office

Our first wine estate visit was to De Wetshof, which produces some of the best wines in the valley
This is the stunning avenue leading up to the tasting room and winery

Such an elegant building. The cellar façade is based on the renowned and historic First Customs House in Cape Town, while the tasting room/administration building is a replica of the Koopmans De Wet House in Strand Street, Cape Town, which dates back to 1791. Both of the original buildings were designed by Louis Michel Thibault, one of the most renowned architects of the early Cape. De Wetshof was the first registered wine estate in the Robertson Wine Valley. Danie de Wet was one of the pioneers in bringing Chardonnay grapes to South Africa and De Wetshof has continued to produce excellent wines from them to this day. De Wetshof is one of the few third generation wine estates in South Africa. Danie de Wet, Proprietor and Cellarmaster is assisted by his sons and co-owners Johann (viticulture and marketing) and Peter (winemaker)

The farm recently became the first recipient of the 2022 World Wildlife Fund Conservation Pioneer Award, one of the accolades under the prestigious Great Wine Capitals Best of Wine Tourism and Wine Tourism Ambassador Awards. The award seeks to emphasise the critical role of eco- and social sustainability in the development and execution of a new generation of relevant and appealing competitive travel offerings

Charmaine Delgado has been selling De Wetshof wine as long as we can remember

and was happy to see us after quite a long time, due to Covid

Heinrich Bothman, the Public Relations Officer  and tasting room manager, 

took us on a tour of the busy and impressive bottling plant
Heinrich is better qualified than he lets on!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/heinrich-bothman-8b07251a/

The bottling plant had just finished for the morning; the staff had stopped for lunch

Bon Vallon is one of the renowned Chardonnays that de Wetshof produces


Translation: Each bottle is a masterpiece

and then it was time for a tasting of their excellent wines
We were to have the tasting in the smart downstairs cellar,
but the weather was so perfect that it had been moved outside

Johann de Wet, who is responsible for marketing, viticulture and vineyard management on De Wetshof,
joins his father Danie and brother Peter on the South African chapter of the Commanderie de Bordeaux.
The de Wet family’s winemaking heritage can be traced back to 1694 when the first de Wets arrived at the Cape

We love their range of different terroir Chardonnays, which we often drink at home
and were impressed with their Sauvignon Blanc, Lilya Rosé and Nature in Concert Pinot Noir
We had the tasting during a lovely relaxed lunch outside under the trees with Johann

What a wonderful treat to have the tasting with Johann in such beautiful surroundings

We began with the 2021 Lilya Rosé, made from Cabernet Franc, which grows in the vineyard next to Johann's home
This pale onion skin rosé is gently pressed with no skin contact
Lovely, gentle red berry fruit and floral notes on the nose, which follow through on the lively palate;
it’s a summer wine with hints on the end of Cabernet Franc savouriness.
So good with food, or just to quaff while sitting, as we did, in the sunshine

De Wetshof 2021 Sauvignon Blanc. We didn't know that De Wetshof produced the second Sauvignon Blanc in South Africa
It is quite French in style with capsicum, delicate asparagus and granadilla on the nose
The long deep flavours repeat those characteristics on the palate, with lime and loquat

Next, a wine that we drink and buy often - the Limestone Hill, 2021; unwooded and a good example of cool climate unwooded Chardonnay. It shows fresh lime with minerality on the nose, zingy crisp lime, grapefruit and lemon on the palate with a touch of white peach; such a good crisp wine for rich dishes and seafood

Bon Vallon is also a site specific unwooded Chardonnay, but gentler than Limestone Hill, with some creamy lemon lime flavours, and floral notes with good minerality from the limestone and broken mountain rock terroir

Cheers! So happy to be here tasting some of our favourite wines



Finesse 2020 Chardonnay has a slightly dusty nose with vanilla and loquat, a lovely rich mouthfeel,
zesty lime and orange peel flavours and some good chalk from its terroir - rocky, gravelly mountain soils, rich in limestone
It spends 10 months in 2nd and 3rd fill barrels which give it a pine nut hint on the end palate
A wine to drink with roast meat and seafood

2018 The Site, wooded Chardonnay, matured in French Radoux oak barrels for a year
The Chardonnay vines planted in this unique 2.5 hectare south facing vineyard site
were sourced from a specific vineyard in Burgundy
Grown on gravelly mountain rock, rich in limestone with a high PH, this wine "reaffirms De Wetshof’s belief
that single and site specific vineyards are non-negotiable wherever the aim is to produce great Chardonnay"
Vanilla wood is to the fore on the nose, the rich wine is rounded on the palate with crisp lime,
then butter, cream and more lime producing a superb Chardonnay that has a good chalky finish. Very special

Finally our favourite De Wetshof Chardonnay, the Bateleur. Named after an eagle (Terathopius ecaudatus),
which is one of Africa’s most majestic birds of prey; it is found in this area. We tasted the 2018
 This premier 3.5 hectare vineyard is one of the oldest Chardonnay vineyards in South Africa, planted in 1987
with vine material that had been imported from Burgundy several years before
Gravel soils from mountain rock, rich in limestone and clay
The wooded wine spends several months in French oak Radoux barrels and is given batonage
On the nose it is very French in style and is a dive-in one for Lynne;
hard to get one’s nose out of the glass, the aromas are so seductive
On the rounded palate, it has good minerality, chalk and layers of lime, lemon and pear fruit
with nutty vanilla wood gently holding it all together. So well made and it has great aging potential
We have had the privilege in the past to taste this wine together with the wine from the parent French vineyard and,
while they are different expressions, the similarity and the site character are there in the wines

We were glad that winemaker Peter de Wet could join us for a short while as well,
and we so enjoyed being with them both again

The final wine was the De Wetshof 2017 Nature in Concert Pinot Noir. Grown in rocky slate soils on south facing slopes
open to the cooling sea breezes blowing in from the Agulhas coast and ideal for Pinot Noir
It is delicate on the nose, with red berries, raspberries and mulberries; there is a hint of smoke from the French oak
Heady, long flavours of red berries, elegance, good chalk tannins and light wood on the end,
again very French in style and excellent

They had prepared a very enjoyable lunch of braaied boerewors, succulent lamb chops, and good salads, which we enjoyed very much. There should have been photographs but, sadly, the SD card in John’s camera let us down at that point and they are corrupted

Thank you to all at De Wetshof who made it such a special afternoon, especially Johann and Peter
We are very grateful indeed for their time and for the wonderful wines we tasted

and then, we were off to a bubbly afternoon at Silverthorn (Click Here)

If you do not wish to receive e-mails from us, please email menucape@gmail.com
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