Silverthorn MCC vertical tasting with John & Karen Loubser

This has to be the highlight this week. Occasionally, we write about tasting South Africa's version of Champagne (made to exactly the same method and called in South Africa Méthode Cap Classique or MCC because, justifiably, Champagne guards its brand).  We do not have the same climate or terroir, but we do have winemakers who have studied the process in depth, made these wines for many years and so understand the process that they are producing superb sparkling wines. John Loubser is one of these.  It was very exciting to be invited with other members of the media and wine trade to taste several different vintages of his Silverthorn wines at his home. It was a very rare opportunity to taste so many vintages of great MCC

John and Karen live in a beautiful home set like an eyrie high above Lakeside, with the most enviable views. John is the MD of Steenberg Vineyards, which belongs to the Graham Beck family. Silverthorn is his own label with the grapes grown on their family farm in Robertson. All these wines are MCC

We had four flights plus the non-vintage Genie, made from Shiraz, on arrival; it sparkles with strawberry notes. Then on to Flight 1, four vintages from 2014 back to 2011 of The Green Man, 100% Chardonnay. The 2011 won the Trophy for best sparkling wine in the 2014 Six Nations Wine Challenge and shared the Trophy for  Best Wine on Show with Dog Point (New Zealand). It is sophisticated and complex with toasted coconut marshmallow on the nose and crisp apples and citrus on the palate. Lean and crisp is good in a champagne glass. The others all show well with similar characteristics to the 2014 (released that day) showing some spicy promise

John has kept a small vinoteque, so the second flight was another four vintages of The Green Man from 2010 back to 2007. These wines are showing very well and do show their differences with the vintages. This spends 29 months on the lees and has 10% oak contact. The earliest is classic with perfume and warm brioche on the nose and crisp, lean citrus favours and is still restrained, which means that it can last and last. These wines all have that oyster shell, gun smoke and petrichor (rain on hot stones) aromas which undoubtedly come from the lime-rich rocky shale soils in which they are grown

He started making bubbly in 2004 (first release in 2006), but has not held back any until 2007. This year he will be bottling some of the Green Man in magnums

Here Mike Bampfield Duggan of Wine Concepts, Tarryn Vincent of Reciprocal Trading and Tracey van Maaren, who represents Silverthorn in her portfolio, enjoy the flight

John is ably assisted by his talented wife, Karen. They are joint owners of Silverthorn; the farm was inherited from her father, Joachim Rieck, who bought it in 1976. John's brother Steven and former investment banker Brett Nagel are also involved and this has enabled them to increase production

Then came flight 3. Four vintages of the Special Cuvée Jewel Box; 2012 back to 2009. The three earlier vintages had 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir but this has now changed to 70%/30%. The Chardonnay goes through malolactic fermentation in older barrels. John likes the clean minerality it brings to the wine. They have sourced the Pinot Noir grapes from Darling and Stellenbosch; it is not wooded. The 2009 was creamy with brandy notes on the nose and whiffs of jasmine and citrus. Creamy on the palate with crisp minerality and long end - it kept on delighting. The latest release, the 2012, is also creamy with a faint whiff of smoke and a zing of citrus and soft raspberries follows, very full and satisfying . These wines are kept on the lees for 42 months and are beautifully bone dry

Then it was time for some canapés and with these we tasted two versions of the Big Dog, John Loubser's Cape Winemakers Guild Auction Reserve wine. This is a special hand-picked, whole bunch pressed blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, kept for 53 months on the lees. The 2011 is this year's offering in the auction, which will be held at Spier on the 1st of October. They are indeed big wines. The 2011 is full of golden fruit with flinty gun smoke on the nose, prickly clean dry limes, lemons and green apple on the palate. It has miles to go.. It went so well with the Osciètre prestige Caviar they served as a treat

These two work so well together

Just a small pearl spoonful is all you need, soft sea-filled bubbles to go with crisp bubbles and lime

Then time for lunch - some fresh Saldanha Bay oysters

Tomato tarts with cheese and crisp, buttery pastry

Charcuterie platters with top quality meats

Dill gravadlax

Salami and good fresh bread, served with a great Epoisses cheese absolutely at the perfect point of ripeness. There were also other cheeses, fruit, nuts and, for 'dessert' Turkish delight, tiny almond biscuits and other sweetmeats. It was a feast and we drank more of the Silverthorn wines. It appeared that, for many, the wine of choice was the 2009 Green Man, but others were appreciated. These do go so well with food.

John talking about his wines

Helping ourselves to the buffet in the kitchen

The wines we tasted

John and Karen’s daughter Fain with the other Big Dog, the family pet, an enthusiastic and friendly Rottweiler

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

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Spring flowers near Darling

As we were in the area last Saturday, we were able to drive from our appointment at Ridgeback through the very green countryside through Malmesbury and Darling, looking for spring flowers which we had heard were spectacular this year. They were good, but perhaps the best are inside the Postberg Nature reserve

A blindingly acid yellow field of daisies

And they stretch almost as far as the eye can see

There is also a lot of oxalis about

A close up of the first field of daisies. We have not seen this kind in such profusion before

More round the bend

It is also the season when rape seed is in bloom

This is sign that summer is on the way, our sour fig succulent Carpobrotus edulis, also know as pig face, blooming. And next to it Cape Snow Bush or Kapokbossie, often called wild Rosemary, though not related

Misty mountains and more yellow daisies with a blue flower

Nice contrasts of Cape fynbos, probably Renosterveld up in this area, wheat fields, resting vines, spring flowers and Cape thatching reeds (restios)

Blue flowers with yellow centres, we have looked but cannot identify them, growing alongside the yellow daisies

A shiny black beetle on an Arum lily

Another blue flower, rather like a harebell

John was standing near this kiewiet’s (crowned plover’s) nest and he was the beneficiary of a lovely display of GO AWAY! with loud warning noises from the breeding pair

Those blue flowers in profusion

These were growing in the Tienie Versveld wild flower reserve near Darling

Colourful Mesembryanthemum - locally known as vygies (fairies)

Up close they glow

More star flowers, Cape Star or Spiloxene

 Ornithogalum thyrsoides, known here as chincherinchees, just beginning to bloom. There were acres of them

It seems to be a predominately yellow year in this region

The yellow daisies laced with blue flax Heliophila

Romulea Rosea

Bright orange gerbera daisies

Such pretty colour mixes

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

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A visit to Ridgeback Wines

We hadn't visited Ridgeback since 2013 and they invited us to return and taste their wines recently, so we decided to combine the visit with a trip to see the Spring flowers up the West Coast last Saturday, which was a lovely sunny day. The tasting was followed by lunch on the deck and then a chat with the owner Vernon Cole and his daughter. They are originally from Zimbabwe where the Ridgeback dog is famous.. It was a very friendly tasting and we were ably led through the wines, which are made by Toit Wessels, by Pieter van Straaten. Then we motored off through the Malmesbury and Darling countryside to spot the daisies

The rustic tasting room. They have about 14 wines on their current list, we tasted many of these. We bought a box of the good Lion Hound 2015 White for drinking this summer, it was on special at R300 for 12. It is a blend of their rather tropical Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier - crisp, clean full of peaches and limes so refreshing. We also rated the Ridgeback 2015 Chenin R80 and the Ridgeback 2014 Viognier 2014 quite highly. Both are well made and drink well. the Viognier is wooded but this has softened with age. Both are 4 star Platter wines, as are the 2 reds below.

We sat inside as it was a bit windy on the deck initially. Then it was time to taste the reds. The well wooded 2013 Cabernet Franc, R110, impressed with lots of savoury umami, red fruit and black olive notes with plums and rhubarb. A food wine. The His Master's Choice 2013 R150. a blend of Shiraz, Mourvèdre and Grenache also had us talking: Rich intense fruit with cherries, pomegranate and cassis and salty savoury liquorice from the Mourvedre, this Rhône blend finishes with white pepper on the end. We also liked the spicy Shiraz 2013, R110

The restaurant and tasting room are built on stilts over a huge pond filled with water birds and koi fish

Just one duck awake

An unusual duck. There are also white swans and a pair of New Zealand black swans

Lots of huge koi carp, in gleaming colours

They all look the same size but apparently the smaller ones swim deep

The wind had dropped, so we moved outside for lunch on the deck under the trees

Owner Vernon Cole and his daughter Vanessa

Pieter chose this sweet and sour pork dish for his lunch

Lynne had two starters instead of a main: Calamari was on special and the other was spicy Thai fish cakes with a sweet chilli sauce. The portions are very generous.

John chose the rump steak with a Teriyaki dressing, pepper cream sauce and chips. We had no room for dessert and finished with coffees. Thank you all at Ridgeback 

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016

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