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All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Robertson Wine Valley's Wacky Wine Weekend 11. Quando

Our next port of call after Arendsig was just down the road, to visit our friends at Quando

The garden was full of happy people tasting their wines

Friends we made the previous evening at BluVine were enjoying the day

It is a family business. These are the four excellent wines that winemaker Fanus Bruwer makes

Fanus also does the marketing. His brother Martin is the viticulturist

Martin’s wife Estelle keeps them in order!

The 2017 Chenin/Viognier has beautiful peach and lees notes on the nose; Rich old vine Chenin, sophisticated Viognier, with ripe peaches and nectarines, nicely balanced with acidity. The 2019 Mourvedre Rosé always has to be topped up in our cellar, so 6 bottles came home. Red berry fruit on the pretty nose with a little bit of wildness, cassis, rose petals, cranberry and candy floss on the dry palate; a quaffable wine to drink all summer and in the colder months with spicy food. And at R65 a bottle very reasonably priced. The 2016 Pinot Noir is perfumed and has dark berry fruit on the nose and palate; it’s an old style, very satisfying, Pinot Noir. R130

Some free hapjes (snacks) were delivered to every table. Home made (by Fanus) snoek paté and some olive tapenade from their own olives, on seed loaf

We began with the 2019 Sauvignon Blanc. Old School Robertson, crisp and green with a slight tropical note,
very satisfying and so easy to drink with food. R75. A case of that came home too

Fanus came to join us at our table and we had a long chat while tasting the wines

All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Robertson Wine Valley's Wacky Wine Weekend 8. Silverthorn

A visit to Silverthorn, where talented winemaker John Loubser and his wife Karen have recently moved to their farm on the banks of the Breede River in Bonnievale, to set up a cellar where they will make his range of very special MCC bubblies. The 10.5ha family farm was bought over by the Loubsers in 1999. We are big fans of these wines and asked if we could call in briefly while we were in the Robertson area to see their new Tasting Room, which is nearly complete, and the new wine cellar, which was about to be erected

Thorns of the Fever Tree (Vachellia xanthophloea) which form the Silverthorn wine logo

John was at Steenberg winery in Constantia for over 15 years as cellarmaster and then General Manager and has produced some of South Africa's finest bubblies. He is a member of the Cape Winemakers Guild and now wanted to concentrate on making more of his own brand, Silverthorn, which he launched in 2004, and which currently which has four MCCs. John qualified at Elsenberg as the Dux student and went on to work first for Môreson in Franschhoek and then back near the family farm for De Wetshof in Robertson. Two years working at Graham Beck's Robertson cellar with Pieter Ferreira followed. In 2001, he was offered the position of Cellar Master at Steenberg. Since then, John has never looked back. He won the prestigious ‘Diners Club Wine Maker of the Year’ in 2003

This is the new Tasting Room, almost completed and it will have one of the best views over the Breede River

of any of the wine farms we have visited. It will also be disabled friendly, with ramps

The family house. They currently have four Cap Classiques, namely The Green Man (Blanc de Blancs), The Genie (Rosé, from Shiraz), Jewel Box (Cuvée of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) and, for the Cape Winemakers Guild Auction, John has produced Silverthorn Wines Big Dog Méthode Cap Classique (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir)

It is a family business: Karen, John's wife handling the sales, marketing and administration side of the business. Daughter, Faine, handles their social media, while son Tivon helps with wine shows and deliveries

We walk to look at the skeleton of the new cellar

Which now, a week later, already has its roof going on

Note the Green Man hung over the front door, portrayed as a human face surrounded by dense foliage;

he is a symbol of growth and rebirth

He appears in many forms in British, Celtic & Wiccan myth and is known right across Europe. Not unlike depictions of Bacchus

A potent emblem for Silverthorn and the Loubsers

John was busy painting and renovating the windows when we arrived. They are now installed

This is where you will get the marvellous view of the river below

We take a tour of the vineyards and see the limestone in the shale which helps to produce the best wines for bubbly

The sloping vineyards. John has some 75 year old Colombard vines that he intends to use for an MCC in the future,

as well as other vines which are more typically used for MCC

Thena the Rottweiler plays a supporting role. She is the Big Dog on the label

In the 2018 Tim Atkin Report on SA wine, Silverthorn wines scored impressively:

The Genie NV – 92 Points, The Green Man 2015 – 94 Points, Jewel Box 2014 – 95 Points

They treated us to a glass or two of The Jewel Box, named for the 100 vibrant stars called Kappa Crucis near the Southern Cross area of the Milky Way. They were nicknamed Jewel Box by the early 19th Century astronomer Sir John Herschel (1792-1871) who worked in the Cape between 1834 and 1838. It is a blend of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir. And magic does come out of the bottle. Nutty on the nose with hints of strawberry and cherry and some citrus zest. On the palate it is classic with crisp creamy notes of brioche, crispness of citrus & apple with some richness from the reserve portion of Chardonnay which spent 12 months in old French barrels from the partial barrel fermentation on the reserve, exciting bubbles and a nod to good French Champagne in style

And John showed us the enormous bill (in Dollars) from an historic meal he had in the US in 2006

at the famous French Laundry Restaurant in California. He was a guest. Thankfully

The hospitable Loubsers

That view. Thank you both, we cannot wait to see the finished buildings

when you are open and up and running an a few months time

All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Robertson Wine Valley's Wacky Wine Weekend 10. Arendsig

Sometimes after a good dinner, you awake quite hungry for breakfast. So we packed up at Tanagra, checked out and thanked our hosts by 7,30 to get to Arendsig in Bonnievale where we were invited to breakfast at 8.30. Oops no, Lynne got it wrong, it was 9.30(!), so we arrived an hour early. Actually it was fine as we got the most beautiful early morning winter views of the countryside on our trip there. We risked the short route via the Steenbokvlakte Road skirting the Vrolijkheid Nature Reserve. It is gravel all the way but much, much shorter than going back into Robertson and "all round the houses" for 40+ kilometres. There is a rather vertiginous mountain pass on the way and we were so glad we had not driven that way when the road was wet with rain. But it is a beautiful route. John grew up on dirt roads in Botswana and, later, was in a rally team so he has no problem driving on them

We had encountered freezing fog on our way back from Montague the night before and could see patches of it on this road

as we came down the road into Bonnievale. But it looks so romantic! And it is a very bonny vale

They were still getting things ready for the day but we were happy to walk around, have some coffee and enjoy the early morning and not get in the way

The farm has some lovely views across the valley

At 9.30 people began to arrive and the sun came out to shine. The low temperature of 7.5 we had seen that morning went up during the day to 25 degrees

Is it a Triffid? About to whiplash Lynne? We have one in our garden and had no idea that it could grow a flower stem this long

Called the Fox Tail Agave, aka Lion's Tail, Swan's Neck, official name Agave attenuata

Beautiful late Autumn/early winter landscape over the vines

Across the river, the mountains turning blue

We enjoyed a thorough tasting of these wines after breakfast!

On offer for lunch

All lined up and ready for opening - the White wines. The Sauvignon Blanc is very much in the Marlborough style; they have a lovely Soft Chardonnay which spends 11 months in old oak barrels, and a very good Chenin Blanc. The Viognier is elegant with soft peach notes but dry with long flavours, a terrific wine which spends 10 months in old small French oak. Its very Condrieu in style. Had to buy some

And the Red wines. The pinot noir is tempting and has a typical strawberry raspberry nose with classic cherry flavours and gentle wood. The Granache has wood smoke, dark berry fruit and those lovely wild flavours, Its young and needs time. The Shiraz is complex, spicy dark berry fruit on the nose, Salty with cherry fruit, licorice, pepper and chocolate. The Pinotage grown on shale has leather and salt on the nose and palate. Tight tannins mean this needs to age. The Pinotage grown on chalk has richness, dark berry fruit, chalky tannins and again salt on the end. The 2017 Cabernet Block 9 is classic with cassis berries and leaves, and salty minerality. The Mourvedre has richness, wildness, mulberry and cherry and is full and satisfying, with soft tannins. An amazing selection

And yet more

The farm dog Boerseun (Farmer’s son) a St Bernard, is as soppy as they come and loves being made a fuss of

Across the valley lies Weltevrede where we visited the day before

First cup of coffee for about 6 months! But she hasn’t warmed up yet

Tasting wines but who remembers Bashews soft drinks?

The lads start a cooking fire

And tables are laid for breakfast

Boerseun wants some too

Arendsig spoils its guests. Time for breakfast. To begin with, a selection of lovely fruits with yoghurt

There was also a nutty Muesli and some juices

Croissants and good home baked breads served with jam and butter

And a wonderful cooked breakfast of farm sausage, crisp bacon, tiny seared Roma tomatoes and two very fresh fried eggs. Delicious and just what we needed.

Lourens joined us at the table and one of his twin daughters also did for a short while

A quick cuddle and she was off. Mom looks on

Another view of farms and vineyards in the area

Lourens and Lizelle van der Westhuizen. They also cater for functions and weddings on the farm and you need to contact Lizelle for information. https://www.arendsig.co.za/contact-us-map

A man and his wine

And suddenly it was busy and lots of people were tasting the wines and buying

We could not resist and came home with a couple of boxes

People arriving for lunch in the the Marquee. We had to leave for our next appointment at Quando

Boerseun was finding it hard going & relaxed for a nap or a tummy rub!

Thank you Lourens and Lizelle for superb hospitality, wine and breakfast