Virtual South Africa - Feb 2023

Our virtual “Wine Wednesday” events return in February with a 4-week visit to South Africa.

This is a particularly interesting event as I visited South Africa in November and visited all the wineries featured on this event.  The wines have all been sampled “on location” in beautiful Stellenbosch and Franschhoek!

So, in addition to the usual factual presentation alongside the wines, there will also be the story of our visit and lots of pictures!

As usual, the event will be delivered via “Zoom” so you can enjoy these wines from the comfort of your own home.

Week 1 – Wednesday 1st February

Our first winery to visit is the spectacular Haute Cabrière, the only winery from Franschhoek in this event.  That’s only because I haven’t yet found supply sources in the UK for some of the other amazing wineries in this pretty “French quarter” of South Africa.

Haute Cabrière Pierre Jourdan Brut MCC was created with the desire to release a South African Cap Classique that pays tribute to the Champagne region in France.  Created in the traditional French method of bottle fermentation or ‘Méthode Cap Classique’. Enjoy delicate yeasty aromas on the nose, complemented by fresh citrus flavours and crisp acidity.

Next stop is the extremely tourist friendly Waterford Estate in the Somerset West sub-region of Stellenbosch. 

Shiraz is increasingly popular in South Africa and we have a premium example named after Waterford’s previous winemaker Kevin Arnold, and from the spectacular 2017 vintage too!  Lovely aromatics of strong violets, dark plum fruits and liquorice. Layered into the aromatics, you will find subtle earthiness and leather spice notes. The palate is generous and rich with well textured and sturdy tannins which will add many years to the ageing ability. The wine finishes with a cooler feel than expected, with the ocean influence maintaining a great natural acidity.

• Pierre Jourdan Brut MCC NV, Haute Cabrière – Retail Price £18.50
• Kevin Arnold Shiraz 2017, Waterford Estate – Retail Price £25.30

Week 2 – Wednesday 8th February

We stay at Waterford Estate for another wine.  Waterford Estate Old Vine Project Chenin Blanc is made from old vine Chenin Blanc planted in 1966 and sourced from the Stellenbosch region. The 2019 shows aromas of white pear and pithy grapefruit, followed by elements of peach pip, light honeycomb and soft floral notes. The mouthfeel is delicate and smooth but holds a tremendous amount of mineral flavour and depth.  A lot of stone fruit and minerality is found on the palate, with the finish being lovely fresh and almost “sweet fruit” sensation.

Next up we make our first visit to Kanonkop, but this time we eschew their speciality variety, Pinotage, and sample their Estate Cabernet Sauvignon instead.  A dark and brooding wine, with intricate aromas of oak spice, black berry coulis, graphite powder, tilled earth, wet tobacco and chai tea. The palate is luxurious and utterly elegant, with layered flavours of blackcurrants, morello cherries, crunchy raspberries and dark coffee beans, all of which are framed against a sturdy, yet delicate latticework of finely grained tannins. A wine filled with poise and precision, waiting to unleash the promise of this majestic vintage.

• Old Vine Project Chenin Blanc 2019, Waterford Estate – Retail Price £23.95
• Cabernet Sauvignon 2016, Kanonkop – Retail Price £35.95

Week 3 – Wednesday 15th February

This week we focus on top Stellenbosch estate Meerlust.  This estate is at the False Bay end of Stellenbosch and is therefore notably cooler, allowing varieties such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to exhibit elegance alongside the power of Bordeaux varieties.

The Meerlust Chardonnay 2021 has a complex and appealing nose of apricot, peach, pear, lemon zest and floral notes with hints of toasted almonds. On the palate the wine is well structured and linear but retains generous focused stone fruit flavours with sleek, balanced, and crisp acidity. The wine remains vivacious and fresh on the finish with clean citrus fruit under pinned by minerality. The wine has a long, very pleasant lingering finish.

Meerlust’ “flagship” wine is called “Rubicon” a Bordeaux blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot, again from the superb 2017 vintage. It has a quintessential Rubicon nose of violets, ripe plum, cedarwood, fennel and intense spiciness. Typical liquorice notes are also evident on the nose. Still young and intense, promising further maturation potential. The palate is full bodied, structured but packed with fresh dark fruit and rounded, linear tannins promising long beneficial maturation. A stand out vintage of Rubicon displaying all the charm of a perfect vintage from mature vines.

• Chardonnay 2021, Meerlust – Retail Price £22.50
• Rubicon 2017, Meerlust – Retail Price £28.50

Week 4 – Wednesday 22nd February

Our final tasting is dedicated to South Africa’s very own Pinotage from the masters of that variety at Kanonkop.  Kanonkop were the very first winery to produce Pinotage wines and have won awards ever since.  Their vineyards are located in Simonsig-Stellenbosch, ideally located for ripening this variety, and they have all the winemaking “know-how” required to get the very best results in the cellar.

We have a great “vertical tasting” here, tasting the 2019 Estate Pinotage against the 2010 Estate Pinotage.  On our visit in November, I was completely blown away with the development on the aged wine, most Pinotage is drunk too young and 12 years after vintage the tertiary aromas and softness of the tannins would give many much more expensive wines a run for their money.

Kanonkop 2019 Pinotage shows vibrant aromas of blueberries, ripe plums, black cherries, cinnamon and vanilla on the nose. The palate is sultry and luxurious, with densely packed flavours of berry compote, wild bramble, plum tart and spicy Christmas cake. Ripe tannins are beautifully intertwined between the layers of fruit, adding a dense and broad texture to the wine. The subtle spicy tones and plush black cherry flavours on the lingering finish completes a very elegant and age-worthy wine.

Kanonkop’s 10-year re-release of the 2010 Kanonkop Pinotage is a very complex wine with hints of red fruit which reflects some Pinot Noir elegance and structure.  Back in 2000 winemaker Johann Krige made the bold decision to hold back a number of vintages to show how well Pinotage would age. He has now been releasing limited bottles every 10 years.

• Pinotage 2019, Kanonkop – Retail Price £31.50
• Pinotage 2010, Kanonkop – Retail Price £38.50

As usual, we have partnered with a wine merchant to supply the wines.  We were fortunate to come across South African specialists, Frontier Fine Wines who stock wines from over 40 of the best wineries in South Africa.

The wines are available from them at the discounted price of £200 including delivery.  Please click here to place your order.

Note - enter the discount code of Shrop10 to reduce the price to £200.

Stocks of the 2010 Kanonkop Pinotage are very limited and Frontier Fine Wines have kindly reserved all the stock they have for Shropshire Wine School and it’s customers.

We do not sell wine.