Thursday, December 07, 2023

Meerendal launches a new Blanc Fumé

 An invitation to experience another new wine from Meerendal
Their Cellarmaster Wade Roger-Lund has made a new Sauvignon Blanc, this time in the Blanc Fumé style
which, translated from the French, means smoked white
Called The Chapel 2023, the wine has been barrel fermented; it will be released on December 15th
This style of wine comes typically from the regions of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé in France's Loire Valley
Meerendal has put one whole vineyard block of Sauvignon Blanc into this very special wine
It is their oldest Sauvignon block, planted in 1997 on a high, cool site
Meerendal has 48.6 hectares under vine, 16 hectares of which are planted with Sauvignon Blanc
It has that lovely identifying whiff of smoke, then buttered toast, jasmine and lime blossom on the nose
It is full on the palate with wood just supporting the crisp limes and guava fruit
Minerality and length make this a very enjoyable food wine
It is a style of Sauvignon Blanc that we love and have missed
It was very popular here in the 1990s when Villiera produced a very good example

Wade welcomed us with a glass of their new sparkling sauvignon blanc which will be disgorged in the new year

Still a little yeasty with a good mousse, bready nose, crisp and zingy

Sitting out on the tasting room terrace were Bennie Howard CWM and Delaille Raubenheimer
being poured a taste of The Chapel and Meerendal 2005 Sauvignon Blanc by Wade and winemaker Trudie Mulder

Wade explained that the Meerendal focus is changing
They have always been diverse with restaurants, their hotel, food, events and cycling
Now more focus will be concentrated on their wine

We also tasted something older and rather special, a bottle of Meerendal 2005 Sauvignon Blanc
It hints at the Sauvignon Blanc character, with richness and complexity on the nose
Full on the palate, with layers of berry fruit and a good grip on the end, showing how well Sauvignon Blanc can last
It would be perfect with cheese and dessert

We asked to taste the current 2023 Sauvignon Blanc and there is a similarity on its nose to that of The Chapel
Nectarine, some gentle green pyrazines, with crisp fruit on the exciting palate
which is long and chewy with berries, lime and nectarine
Pumping well above its station, it makes you want to quaff and reach for food
To be added to our daily drinking list

Then we tasted The Loft 2023, a Cape Blend of Pinotage, Merlot and Shiraz
Incense wood, perfume, richness with red berry fruit, complexity and long flavours, soft tannins and spice
One can see how this is becoming a best seller in the market, both here in the Cape and in Gauteng

The Meerendal Chenin Blanc is from a high mountain vineyard near Philadelphia, about 40Km north of Cape Town
It was fermented with Champagne yeast 
Classic Chenin, big fruit nose, softer on the palate

The Meerendal 2023 Pinot Noir is a light almandine garnet in colour
Beautiful perfume; a berry delight with elegance and restraint on a very attractive nose
On the palate, crisp and full of long cherry and raspberry flavours in layers. Definitely one to watch and keep
Not a hint of green or vegetative character; it is grown in a single vineyard  on rich clay soil

The Meerendal 2022 Pinotage shows more of its Pinot noir parent's character; good fruit and gentle, soft tannins

We enjoyed some good cheese and charcuterie platters with the wines for our lunch

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Monday, December 04, 2023

The Moss Garden at Tokara

We received an exciting invitation to visit Tokara wine estate during the Open Gardens weeks,
including a visit to their special Adamastor Moss Garden
The gardens are spectacular, with many garden 'rooms' leading down from their home to the lake
Lovingly created by GT and Anne-Marie Ferreira, we wandered around in awe, exclaiming at the garden
and enjoying the marvellous views back over the vines to Table Mountain in the distance
The most recent addition which has been evolving over the past two years is the Moss Garden
We really had no concept of how amazing a moss garden could be until we saw it, and how beautiful and large it was
It has been created by moss artist Gert van Tonder
using local sandstone, granite and mosses from the surrounding terrain
As they say, "it shares the beauty, humility and harmony of the Zen gardens of Japan, yet remains quintessentially Tokara"

We followed the path that leads in front of the Ferreiras' house 

and found the round lily pond


Beautiful swathes of old roses that have lovely perfume

A table for picnics in the green shade

Another view of the house and the round lily pond

"Lovingly nurtured by GT and Anne-Marie Ferreira, who founded Tokara over two decades ago,
their private farm garden is a place of serenity where awe-inspiring landscapes are accentuated by life-size sculptures
from the family’s extensive art collection"
We loved this one of dogs playing on the lawn

Then we found the Moss Garden. There were many people keen to see it
so we were taken around in a small group so as not to crowd it to much

Stepping stones, but only for the gardeners. We had to stick to the specially laid flagstones

One of the stone masons crafting another stone for the garden. So skilled

The lake is full of lilies and birds
We sat at the boathouse while waiting for our tour to begin. So peaceful and calm

Bees and dragonflies love these local pink waterlilies

We have decided to find some of these for our lily pond

The entrance to the Moss Garden

We were guided by this young man, who gave us all the information we needed

Another pretty flowering fynbos plant

The Japanese stone lantern was hand crafted by the stone masons
This is the second one; the first, sadly, broke during installation, so they started again. The tools they use are laid below it

Rocks, grasses and moss

You may not walk on the moss; here our guide is explaining the different mosses that you find here. All are indigenous

Some are large and green

Others are brown and grown in a velvet carpet.  Here you can see many different varieties in the garden.  

A stone basin in the rock
 We were told that it is a Japanese tradition, on entering the garden, to wash your hands and scatter some water around

A beautiful Zen arrangement of rocks and nature

More rocks and moss and the addition of running water adds to the calm and quiet of the garden

This is the tiny yellow local waterlily Nymphoides indica
Geelwaterlelie (Afrikaans)
Yellow Waterlily, Floating Hearts (English)
Marombodane (Venda)

A rare Cape orchid

Flowering fynbos and Dietes iridioides
A species of plant in the family Iridaceae which is native to Southern Africa, planted near the water
commonly named African iris, fortnight lily, and Morea iris

The local bees seem to enjoy this beautiful fynbos plant Pseudoselago pulchra which often grows in rock crevices

So peaceful, so beautiful

Back up to the car through a lovely green lane

Another special sculpture 'seated' on the lawn. This is Dionysus by South African sculptor Angus Taylor. He is huge
Dionysyus is the Greek god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity,
ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre

The children give an idea of his size

and, on a bench, a girl with an umbrella

Further up the green lane was the visitors' parking area

A very special experience
We were lucky enough to see Mrs Ferreira briefly and to thank her for inviting us to view their wonderful gardens
and especially the moss garden

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Elgin Open Gardens

 Lynne is a member of the Cape Horticultural Society.
With our friend Judi Thomas, who is also a member, we decided to go to Elgin for the Open Gardens weekend 
We stayed overnight in an AirBnB. It was quite an experience; do always check the reviews before you book ....

We began our visit at Freshwood. The gardens here are spectacular at this time of year
They have been arranged as different rooms, all filled to the brim with interesting and some unusual plants

A male malachite sunbird (Nectarinia famosa) in a Spathodea campanulata or African flame tree

Lynne loved this rose so much, that we have brought home a plant and hope to grow it in our front garden

The bamboo forest and the path leading to the Japanese maples
Sadly a tree fell just there  in the storm and had caused some damage 

Thick, strong and impenetrable bamboo

In the English garden, a Columbine Aquilegia

Tall foxgloves Digitalis

There are several large Rhododendron bushes, some still flowering as well as the smaller Azalea
They make such splashes of colour

A Common Metallic Longhorn Beetle (Promeces longipes) on a lime green Euphorbia

Azalias

Unusual Yellow malacoides Primula

A beautiful mixed border backed by a vibrant prunus tree

Iris, rose and lilies all blend perfectly

Another variety of Columbine Aquilegia

A tall tree fern

Golden Inca Lilies aka the Peruvian Lily, or Alstroemeria after the Swedish botanist Baron von Alstroemer

The Stone Kitchen was our next stop where we met the owner, Jane Touwen

Swathes of the Inca Lily, or Alstroemeria in this characterful garden

Fighting cocks

An attractive door at the side of her house

A Common Waxbill (Estrilda astrild)

Yet more Inca lilies

A Hadeda Ibis high in a stone pine tree

The following day we visited Auldearn and were sad to see that they also had suffered damage
On the way into the garden, several large trees had fallen
But, thankfully, it did not damage most of the near perfect garden

The house is high on a hill with marvellous views over the Elgin countryside

Refeshments and plant sales on a verandah at the house

Such clever planting reveals the views 

Mixed beds and shade trees, the photo does not show the magic of this bit of the garden

Verbena bonariensis, the purpletop vervain

Looking back toward the house

A spikey spiral aloe

More views across to the blue mountains

Glorious old roses in full bloom

And a perfect pale pink rose

Agave Attenuata


Koppie Foam Grasshopper (Dictyophorus spumans)
It feeds on poisonous plants, which makes it toxic to predators

Looking across at orchards and vineyards

The pincushion protea attracts many birds

Like this Malachite sunbird


Keurbos is more of a nursery than a garden but the walk to the plants is lovely

A European paper wasp (Polistes dominula)

Golden moon flowers Brugmansia 'Yellow'

We were so lucky to see this huge epiphytic cactus in flower

A Cape robin-chat (Cossypha caffra)

A lovely show of pink oxalis with a tiny white daisy

After all the rain this year, all the leaves are beautifully green




Two nectar lovers, a Common Dotted Fruit Chafer (Cyrtothyrea marginalis)
and a Common Metallic Longhorn Beetle (Promeces longipes)

Aloeides vansoni, the Van Son's copper butterfly

A lovely old rose arbour

Some sensational pink and red roses intertwined

All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right

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