This annual treat was held this year at Ottimo Cibo,
the beautiful Mediterranean themed villa of Nikki Booth and her advocate husband,
William, in Kirstenbosch. John Collins represents a small, but perfectly
formed, list of wine farms and, this year, we were delighted to see that he has
added a friend, Chris Keet, with his First Verse wine. Nikki always lays on a
fantastic spread of canapés and she did not disappoint
We started at
the Jordan table, full of wines we know, love and buy. Both the 2011 Cobbler’s
Hill Bordeaux blend and 2013 Nine Yards Chardonnay are looking fantastic this
year. We like their new elegant labels.
Chris Keet
with his First Verse, which is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet
Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Malbec. We were able to taste both the 2010 and the
newly bottled, unlabelled, 2011. These wines have such depth and power and lots of stamina
for cellaring. The 2010 is mushroomy, full on cassis with some forest floor. The
2011 has violets, cassis leaves, layers and layers of deep dark fruit and some
dark Valrhona chocolate at the finish.
The Sutherland
wines always charm us and we especially liked their 2011 Viognier/Rousanne
blend which is a perfect wine for complex and spicy food. Rousanne is starting
to appear in quite a few wines we are tasting at the moment. Their Elgin
Sauvignon Blanc is always worthy of note, and purchase!
The line up of
Diemersfontein wines, many of which we tasted when in Wellington recently. John
loves the Carpe Diem Pinotage, Lynne is a great fan of the fruity rich
Viognier. And the 2012 Maiden’s Prayer White gives huge value for money.
Diemersfontein
owner, David Sonnenberg pouring us some Thokozani 2012 White
John Collins
Bevan Newton
Johnson and Deon Leppan showing us the 2013 Family Vineyard Chardonnay, a nice
refined and sophisticated chardonnay with citrus and gentle wood. They showed
two Pinot Noirs at this tasting and we thought the 2012 Walker Bay a real
winner. It is light and perfumed on the nose and on the palate with warm fruit
followed by some dark toast. Quite delicious. The 2013 Family Vineyards is one
of their classic Pinot Noirs. We also loved the deep fruity richness of the
Granum, a blend of Syrah/Mourvedre, another food wine
Jeanette Bruwer
of Springfield with her niece Jenna, daughter of her winemaker brother Abrie. Jenna has now come into
the business. This is always our first opportunity to taste their two 2014 Sauvignon
Blancs, Life from Stone and the Special Cuvée. The Life from Stone is jumping
out of the glass for attention, deep and delicious, this needs a little time to
gather its skirts together. The Special Cuvée is just that, but it has gone a
little shy for the moment. We look forward to tasting these both later in the
year to see how they are developing. The 2011 Methode Ancienne Chardonnay is superb.
The 2008 Methode Ancienne Cabernet Sauvignon has perfume, cassis, rich and full
berries, some chalk and some licorice on the end. And the 2008 Bordeaux blend,
Work of Time, will go wonderfully with game and rich stews. All wines to think
of buying
The Springfield wines
A tray full of parmesan cookies topped with a little paté
A tray full of parmesan cookies topped with a little paté
Rich meat
turnovers with very good flaky pastry
The beautiful garden
tasting the Jordan Nine Yards Chardonnay
Cheese tomato
and pesto foccacia
More pies
anyone?
Enthusiastic tasters at the Newton Johnson table
Our hostess
and cook par excellence, Nikki Booth
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014
