Mount Nelson fine dining: Waterford

The highlight of the evening was spending time with Christo and Nick and my other favourite couple, Christi and Jan.
In a close second: this fabulous wine:
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Shiraz, Mourvedre, Barbera
www.waterfordwines.co.za

Van Pepper Wines wine tasting 2: 20081009

After our very successful first wine tasting, I was really looking forward to the second one.
Our theme was: Food and wine pairing and the brief was to bring a bottle of wine and a bite-sized snack to go with the wine.
Attendees: Elna, Mariska, Van, Erina, Sarah, James, Wayne, Charlotte, Swo and Hendrik.
We were fortunate to have three winemakers, three foodies and four wine enthusiasts around the table.

Warwick Sauvignon Blanc 2008 and Salmon & Avo sushi
(Sauvignon Blanc | 13.2% Alc)
The first pairing was the Warwick Sauvignon Blanc 2008 with salmon and avo california rolls. This was our only white wine for the evening, and it went down a treat! There was a definite taste of guava, some tropical undertones and the acidity more pronounced after the sushi.
The ginger, according to Charlotte provides a spicy freshness and the oily fish cuts with the acidity nicely. We had two contrasting opinions from the winemakers' sides: one said the freshness of the Sauv Blanc went away after the sushi, the other said the freshness seems to come back. Fascinating how people's palates differ, hey.
www.warwickwines.com

Cirrus Syrah 2006 and Biltong
(Syrah 94%, Viognier 6% | 15% Alc)
Let me just start off by saying: If anyone is wondering what to buy me for Christmas, look no further! I think if the Cirrus Syrah were a man, I'd be married by now!
The rest of the guests really enjoyed this one as well.
According to the Cirrus website: This wine was matured for 18 months in a combination of new French and American Oak 300 litre barrels and is made in a typical Rhone style.
The wine has a romantic, dark appearance and I loved the hints of vanilla and chocolate shining through. After the biltong, the wine's spiciness became more apparent and Erina also picked up on the vanilla. James gave this wine a 5/5!! Gotta be good, hey Jimbo.
www.cirruswines.com

Rust en Vrede Estate 2004 and meat balls
(58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Shiraz, 13% Merlot | 14.94% Alc)
We were so spoilt by Sarah and James bringing this exquisite bottle of wine, wow! This wine was paired with some spicy meatballs accompanied by Peppedew and a pepper dip. The meatballs enhanced the spiciness of the wine and here are some of the flavours we picked up on: peachy, cinnamon, cherry, marmite, liquorice.

www.rustenvrede.com

After the bold, beautiful reds, we were treated to some dessert wines...

Asara Noble Late Harvest with Digestive biscuits, blue cheese and preserved figs
Just writing down this combination makes my mouth water! What a superb pairing and what a lovely dessert wine.
www.asara.co.za

Kanu Kia-Ora 2004 with cheese and crackers
(93% Chenin Blanc, 7% Harslevelu | 12.28%)
This NLH has lot of depth and honey characteristics. Not everyone is crazy about sweeter wines, but if you have to drink it, this is definitely an option!
Partner with Pâté de foie gras; Stilton and Roquefort cheese; lemon meringue pie; crème caramel; tiramisu; gratinated summer fruit napped in zabaglione; baklava; or simply on its own after dinner!
www.kanu.co.za

Van Pepper Wines wine tasting 1: 20080918

THEME: Bring a bottle of wine you think none of the other people have tasted before

Attendees: Van, Erina, Mariska, Niek, Elna and Swo

This being our first tasting and all, we had some trouble figuring out how to "hide" the identity of the wines. Luckily Swo came to the rescue and after about 20 minutes of hiding the wines to himself and from Mariska, the party got started.

Guardian Peak Tannat Malbec 2006
(Tannat: 54%, Malbec: 34%, Merlot: 12% | 14.5% Vol)

The Tannat comes from Wellington and the Malbec from Bilton, which is Guardian Peak's neighbour.
It is so funny to see a bunch of wine lovers uhm'ing and aah'ing about the cultivar. Some suggested it to be a Cab/ Merlot, New style Cab, Merlot or even a Pinotage from the Hermanus area!
I've never heard of Tannat before, so according to Wikipedia: historically grown in South West France and is now one of the most prominent grapes in Uruguay.
We all tasted lots of berries, Van tasted some dark chocolate and Erina spicy pepper. I picked up a bit of coffee (for a moment thought it might be a Pinotage - but a blind tasting makes fools of us all!).
According to Guardian Peak's website: "This Cohors based blend is a first for Guardian Peak and South Africa This wine will soften and mature beautifully over the next 5 years".
www.guardianpeak.co.za

Auction Crossing: Syrah Viognier 2005
(Syrah: 93%, Voignier: 7% | 14.5% Vol)

This wine comes from the Hex River Crossing Private Cellar and is made in the traditional Cote Roti style where a small percentage of Viognier is co-fermented with Syrah to to produce a unique wine with complex flavours.
What's always lovely about tasting new wines (or in our case: wines that you think other wouldn't have tasted before), is you get to discover new wine farms! In this case, I had a look at their website and found out that Auction Crossing got its name because the original farm was called "Vendutie kraal" - vendusie means auction in English. The Crossing part is because of pioneers crossing the river.
So, what did our tasting panel make of this wine? I picked up some bacon kips, fruity and spicy with slight pepper. Swo decided it was a Shiraz from a cold area, and Elna picked up some biltong and fynbos flavours. Erina also guessed a Shiraz and she got the vintage right!
www.auctioncrossing.co.za

Lovane Iziko 2006
(Cabernet Sauvignon: 100%)
"Three different clones of Cabernet Sauvignon were seperately fermented and matured in french oak barrels for 22 months. LovanE; being a boutique estate, enabled the Gous family to rate each barrels' tannins, structure, complexity and palate and to then select specific barrels to be blended together - resulting in the 6 different 100% Cabernet Sauvignon".
We all enjoyed this wine very much. Most people thought it was a Pinotage or Cab. I think this wine can be enjoyed around the fireplace, as the name Iziko (Xhosa for fireplace) suggests. We also had it at Niek's 55th birthday party on 29 September and everyone was crazy about it! Do yourself a favour, of you want to go for a wine-tasting lunch over the weekend, do stop by at Lovane!
www.lovane.co.za

First Sighting Shiraz 2004
(Shiraz: 95%, Cabernet Sauvignon: 5% | 14.2% Vol)

Van and Erina spoilt us with this gem of a Shiraz from Strandveld Vineyards: "Strandveld refers to the coastal belt of land which straddles the coastline around the Cape Agulhas. This confluence of maritime climate ad varying sites and soil types create the diversity of terroir that distinguishes the wines of Strandveld".
This is quite a full-bodied wine and it needs to be complimented by some red meat (which we have just had a taste of in the form of Mariska's (in)famous Spaghetti Bolognaise... Swo picked up some pencil shavings and Erina commented on the sweet berry aroma. At this stage myself, Elna en Niek were just enjoying the wine...

Winner of the Evening:
Schalk Opperman 1846 C: Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
(Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon | 14.4%)
You might think that we were quite biased because Schalk is a great buddy of ours, but we all really enjoyed this wine before we even knew what it was or who made it!
Schalk wants this wine to be "enjoyed with friends and family", something we did! And the label design is understated elegance in its purest form.
We all thought the wine to be older than it was - a sign of pure greatness! Only 400 bottles were made, we're still waiting for our batch! ;)
Can anybody guess what the 1846 C stands for!?

That's it on our first Van Pepper Wines wine tasting.
Coming up:
Thursday 9 October: Food and wine pairing
Thursday 23 October: Under the influence Premium 6

Welcome to Van Pepper Wines' blog

Hello fellow fine crazy people and welcome to Van Pepper Wines' blog. To find out more about Van Pepper Wines, visit our website: www.vanpepper.com
Coming soon:
- News about our first wine tasting
- Feedback on Cape Wine 2008
- Must-do events for summer

Season of Sauvignon Blanc 20080913

Being a great lover of Sauvignon Blanc, I was really looking forward to spending the day in the Durbanville area and tasting some.
So, off we went to Durbanville. Had a quick stop at Villiera on the way and tried some bubbly, just to get in the mood...
Got to Meerendal as the rest of our group was still on their way from De Grendel. Had a quick taste of the 2007 and 2008 Sauvignon Blanc as we waited.
The Season of Sauvignon Blanc gave each wine farm in the Durbanville ward the chance to showcase their Sauvignon Blanc. Each farm had a little festival going, it was great fun! The clever organisers also offered festival-goers the chance to try each wine farm's offering at all the other farms, meaning that one didn't have to drive to all the farms to try all the wines.
So, long story short, once our friends arrived, we did a comprehensive tasting of all the Sauvignon Blancs on offer. (My personal favourite still the Durbanhille Hills, with Meerendal a close second). We were honoured by the presence of Bennie Howard, who enticed us with some of Meerendal's red offerings as well.
Then off to Diemersdal where the real party was going on, white tent and bands included! They only had their Sauvignon Blanc or Sauvignon Rose... and because I'm such a fan of pink, I had a lot of Rose. Definitely one of the wines I'll be drinking this summer!
(According to the website: "Pink, the season's new white. Diemersdal Sauvignon Rose: Is the first of its kind in South Africa: a Sauvignon Blanc base infused with a whisper of Cabernet Sauvignon, to create a compelling marriage of fruit flavours. 93% Sauvignon Blanc / 7% Cabernet Sauvignon.)

WineX 20080910

September is a gem for wine shows and festivals and the RMB WineX was no exception.
M attended on the Wednesday evening. It was great, not a lot of people and the organisers must be congratulated on the professional exhibit they organised.
I bumped into David from Overgaauw and tasted their 2008 Sauvignon Blanc - absolutely superb! Can't wait for Monday evening when we will be having the 2007 at dinner at Lovane.
Our good friend, Schalk Opperman suggested I stick to the whites for the evening. A first for me, but definitely a good recommendation if one wants to experience the whites on their own. Pity I couldn't go another evening to drink the reds.
Other highlights were the FMC (Forrester, Meinert Chenin), Jordan Chardonnay (both the Nine Yards - reserve, and Jordan superb), the Asara Sauvignon Blanc and off course, Krohne Rose*. I'm such a sucker for a pink bubbly!
*Don't miss the Summer Elegance party on 13 December at Twee Jonge Gezellen (The House of Krohne).

Lourensford Barrel tasting 20080905

The Lourensford barrel tasting has become somewhat of a tradition to attend by at least one of the Van Pepper crew.
We have photos from last year's event with purple tongues... Happy memories!
This year M attended with some friends. It was once again a delightful evening. The 2008 Shiraz shows a lot of potential, some dark fruity, peppery, smoky flavours... definitely worth waiting for! (But beware if you drink too much from the barrel - the tongue turns purple!)
Assistant wine maker, Hannes, was spotted giving some foody tips in the latest issue of Weg. Seems these guys are multi-talented!
PS: Don't miss the Honey Liquer - a great accompaniment to desserts. Very sweet, so try with some ice and check out the funky packaging - they've won an award for that.