Charl du Plessis describes himself as a beer drinking winemaker, preferring micro-brewed Jack Black lager. This makes sense when you consider that Charl is a scratch golfer and cyclist who has completed the Cape Epic and Cape Pioneer Mountain Bike stage races several times – what better way to quench the thirst after competing.
The Spice Route winemaker, Charl Du Plessis
Chatting to Charl at the new home of the Spice Route restaurant and tasting room on the slopes of Paarl Mountain, I asked how it was that he became a winemaker. While studying viticulture at Elsenberg College in Stellenbosch he was intrigued by the elite group of Cellar Technology students who wore t-shirts splashed with red wine and who converted an extra dormitory into a wine tasting laboratory which only they had access to. He was soon accepted into the course as one of only 10 students and remembers drinking classic 1970′s premium wines, (which formed part of research stock for the wine making course) at inter-varsity rugby games whilst most students were drinking Black Label or Carling.
Charles Back, owner of The Spice Route winery
More recently Charl was sought out by Charles Back, Spice Route owner to create his innovative wines. Charles has this to say about Charl:
The man has enormous passion for wine and pays incredible attention to detail – with talented winemakers it’s usually either the one or the other; it’s rare to find both in one. He has an incredible affinity for the Swartland and dryland viticulture.
Charles Back is one of the originators of the Swartland revolution in South African wine culture. He bought a farm near Malmesbury in partnership with Gyles Webb of Thelema, wine writers John & Erica Platter and wine activist Jabulani Ntshangase in 1997, although he soon bought over the shares of the other partners leaving him to develope Klein Amoskuil into The Spice Route Winery.
Restaurant interior
Select blocks of 40 year-old Chenin Blanc and Pinotage were retained and unusual to the Western Cape, Mediterraen varieties, were planted: Shiraz, Mourvedre, Grenache, Petit Syrah, Barbera, Tannat, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Carignan and Tempranillo. Viognier was established as a blending component for the rich, full-bodied, Rhone red cultivars. The Portugese grape, Souzao was also planted. These vines grow in deep composite soils without irrigation and benefit from the cool effect of the Atlantic ocean breezes. The resulting wines created by Charl and his team are of exceptional quality.
Currently these are The Spice Route wines with their prices ex cellar door:
Spice Route Sauvignon Blanc 2011 – R60.00
Spice Route Chenin Blanc 2010 light – R60.00
Spice Route Chenin Blanc 2010 – R60.00
Spice Route Viognier R90.00
Spice Route Mourvedre 2008 – R75.00
Spice Route Pinotage 2009 – R90.00
Spice Route Shiraz 2008 – R90.00
Spice Route Chakalaka 2009 – R110.00
Spice Route Syrah 2007 – R210.00
Spice Route Malabar 2006 – R350.00
My favourites? The flagship Syrah 2007 and Malabar 2006. The Viognier too is utterly delightful and a great friend of food.
Flagship wine, Malabar 2007
Visiting the new Spice Route restaurant with fellow bloggers last week I was amazed at how busy it was with large groups of diners and that after being open for only a couple of weeks. Relishing Chef Philip Pretorious’ cured linefish marinated in citrus with Szechuan pepper and wasabi mousse, and the traditional Indian butter chicken with rice pilaf, fresh roti and espresso foam, makes it easy to see why foodies are talking about this exciting new destination.
All of The Spice Route wines are served by the glass in the restaurant and there is no markup. From the tasting room a Sommelier Tasting of 6 wines is on offer for R35.00 per person and a deluxe tasting of 9 wines with samples of the dishes served in the restaurant for R90.00 per person.
The Spice Route Wines are sold at Caroline’s Fine Wine Shops and also at Makro if you need them in a hurry. Why not rather take the N1 out of Cape Town and visit the relaxing destination which has been created around these special wines?
Opening hours and contact details
Open seven days a week
Sunday – Thursday – 09h00 to 17h00
Friday – Saterday – 09h00 to 18h00.
Last tasting vouchers are sold 30min (standard tasting) and 1 hour (wine & food pairing) before closing, so as to allow sufficient time to complete your tasting to the high standards of service that Spice Route sets. We don’t like to rush things!
From Cape Town on the N1:
Take exit 47 (Stellenbosch/Wellington/Klapmuts)
Turn RIGHT towards Klapmuts
At the four-way stop turn left onto R101 (follow signboard to Fairview)
After passing Simonsvlei on your right, turn LEFT into the Suid-Agter Paarl Road (follow signboard to Spice Route)
Spice Route is on your right hand side, about 4km along the road.
I never take for granted the gorgeous country that we live in and even less, our corner of
Woolworths Limited Release TMV Spectrum 2008
paradise on the banks of Zandvlei. It’s hard to think that today was the shortest day in the year, supposedly the middle of Winter, and we found ourselves enjoying the early sunset, on the jetty with our canine companions and pelagic birds, sipping another delectable South African wine.
Mostly we enjoy red wines but the glorious sunshine today called for a fresh white wine and Tullbagh Mountain Vineyards Spectrum was the perfect choice.
Tulbagh is a wine district in the Coastal Wine Region of South Africa, a valley enclosed by mountain ranges. TMV is run using a terroir driven approach and bio-dynamic farming methods, by Paul Nichols who tends the vineyards and Rebecca Tanner who is the cellar master.
Spectrum 2008 is a much lauded blend of Chenin Blanc 62%, Chardonnay 14% Grenach 9%, Rousanne 8% and Viognier 7%. The components were fermented seperately in old oak barrels and 600 liter Nomblot egg-shaped fermenters and only native yeasts were used. Malolatic fermentation was allowed and the wine was left on its lees without sulphur additions. After a year the wine was racked and blended. The result is natural richness and mouth feel as well as natural minerality. The palate is rich and complex with elegant layers of citrus, lime and vanilla flavours ending in a long, long finish.
Food matches are roast herb chicken or duck with orange or ginger sauce.
For me this is a superior quality wine and I rate it 19/20.
It has a screw cap and the alcohol content is 13.5%.
Perhaps not many people know that Bastille Day commemorates the 14th July 1789 storming of the medieval fortress in Paris. The fall of this jail became a flash point of the French Revolution.
Alexandra Galindo & Andres Correa tasting Topiary wines
But that did not stop thousand of Cape Townians and tourists alike from revelling in the Franschhoek sunshine at the Franschhoek Bastille Festival 2010, the 16th celebration of this event.
Football fans, Alexandra Galindo from Chile and Andres Correa from Columbia, stayed on after the 2010 FIFA World Cup to discover the Western Cape and to improve their English. They had read about the Franschhoek festival on a local website and we met them while sipping Topiary wines in the Food and Wine Marquee. Alexandra had only good things to say about the Shiraz 2006 and the Rose that were on offer for tasting.
Topiary Wines, not surprisingly, is named for viticulturist, Malcolm Pemberton’s sculpted garden on the property in Franschhoek. This new boutique winery produces a Methode cap classique and a Rose wine, as well as Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc varietal wines.
Protea wines stand
For me a super discovery in the Food and Wine Marquee was the new second label of Antonij Rupert Wines, The Protea Range, consisting of Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Chenin Blanc 2009, Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 and Merlot 2007. What is remarkable about this range is that they are made to the same high standard as the L’Ormarins and Anthonij Rupert wines but retail at under R50.00 per bottle. They are available locally at Ultra Liquor Stores, Vaughn Johnson’s Wine Shop, Wine Concepts and at Picardi Liquor Stores.
The barrel rolling race drew us out into the sunshine again. South Africa had promised to roll out the barrel for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but you haven’t seen anything quite like this Franschhoek Wine Route competition where 16 wine farms compete for the trophy. Although the challenge is thrown out each year to the other wine routes to compete, none take up the challenge. An investigation by our specialist team led to an embarrassing reason for this – the maturation containers of Stellenbosch Wine Route farms are square. Come on guys – prove us wrong on this one and take up the challenge in 2011!
Reigning champ, Glenwood, fell in the quarter finals and Franschhoek Cellars took the trophy.
With or without a festival, Franschhoek has everything to offer as a mini-break destination or a day out. Enter the valley and you could be a world away.
Scanning the shelves in Pick and Pay’s wine section I was stopped in my tracks by the zany, curious label of La Capra Shiraz and on closer inspection discovered this to be one of the new value wines made by Fairview, the much loved and visited Paarl wine farm whose name is linked as much to finely crafted cheese as it is to premium wines.
La Capra wines
That evening we paired our La Capra Shiraz with barbecued ostrich sausage and sirloin steak with delicious results.
Having a chance to review the entire range of La Capra wines at the public launch was a huge bonus which I grabbed with both hands. This gypsy carnival was staged complete with oompah band, gypsy caravan and beautiful fortune teller in the form of Bridget Back, daughter of the renowned wine maker Charles Back, owner of Fairview estate.
Bridget lured us into her caravan with the promise of delightful potions and disappointed we were not.
The Chenin Blanc 2009 is perky and delicious, as are the Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Rose 2009 from Pinotage, and the Chardonnay 2009. A real treat for consumers who want to be more adventurous is that the range includes a Viognier 2009.
My favourite amongst the red wines is the Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 which is amazingly smooth with almost imperceptible oak. This can happily be drunk as an aperitif for those of us who simply can’t get enough red wine. To my mind, the Pinotage 2009, Merlot 2009 and Shiraz 2009 will compliment food really well. Also in the range is Malbec 2009 another more unusual variety wine which I will be scouring the supermarket shelves for.
All of these wines are accessible and perfect for drinking straight away.
Sipping to the sound of the Oompah Band
“What about the name?” I asked the gypsy princess. My Italian being somewhat rusty I had missed the word capra meaning goat, referring of course to the Fairview goat herd from which the very first goat’s milk cheese was produced in South Africa. La rhymes with Ra the Egyptian sun god and Capra also points to the Cape Cap, suggesting a Cape to Cairo connection.
These wines are available at Fairview Estate for the unbelievable price of R200.00 per mixed 6 bottle case. Alternately they can be bought at Pick and Pay supermarkets in the Western Cape for between R35 and R42 per bottle.
Fairview’s latest range of value wines is La Capra. The range comprises Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Viognier as well as Shiraz, Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec.
La Capra presented by Fairview
We decided to try the La Capra Shiraz 2008 and very easily laid the bottle waste. There is are spice flavours galore on the palate like white pepper, clove and nutmeg, and the fruity yet dry flavours remind of eating pomegranates when I was a child. We think this wine goes very well with itself but it was also great with our sirloin and ostrich sausage braai. It’s beautifully balanced and sits on the palate forever after swallowing.
If I wanted to introduce a first time drinker to a Shiraz varietal wine, La Capra Shiraz is what I would reach for.
The quirky label reminds us that Fairview is home to goat herds and produces award winning cheeses.
These wines are available at the unbelievable price of R200.00 ($28.50) per mixed case from the farm.
The winners of the World Cup of Wines 2010 have been announced and South Africas excellent results underscore the new trend in international tastes for new world wines.
Beating the Australians hands down, South Africa came sixth overall after Chili, earning 80 medals. The winning country was France, followed by Spain, Italy, Portugal and Chili. 7,000 Wines and spirits were judged.
In episode #842 Gary Vaynerchuk takes a look at 3 South African Chenin blanc wines.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Wine educator and wine critic, Gary Vaynerchuk is also referred to as “the first wine guru of the YouTube era” and “aside from Robert Parker, the most influential wine critic in the United States.” He started Wine Library TV (WLTV or The Thunder Show) in 2006 and produces his daily podcasts from Monday to Friday each week. The show is watched by an estimated 90,000 people.
The wines tasted on this show are Sizanani 2008, from Bellvue Estate, Stellenbosch; Savanah Steen 2008 which is part of Spier and Teddy Hall Chenin blanc 2009 which is presumeably part of the Moments collection.
With his inimitable passion and conviction Gary tastes and rates the wines using the 100 point scale.
Sizanani 2008 initially scored 59/100 but was down-graded to 55/100. Gary declared the wine to be “Awful. Really bad. Thin, disjointed like bad water with topsoil”.
Savanah Steen 2008 scored the best getting 89/100 with it’s aromatic flavours and similarity to Pinot Grigot.
Teddy Hall 2009 was Gary’s favourite in the lineup because of it’s green vegetable character. He scored it 82/100 thinking that not everyone would be attracted to the almost New Zealand Sauvignon blanc style.
Ace drummer Ginger Baker who has a stud-farm in close-by Tulbagh and who performed at the Riebeek West Cricket Club open day two years ago, you will find if you are really lucky but beautiful wines; a plethera of olives and olive products; live music; olive tours; art; a kiddies’ playground and loads more simply by being in the Riebeek Valley this coming weekend.
Higgo Jacobs, current sommelier at Steenberg Vineyard’s restaurant Catharinas, guided us through a flight of off-dry to natural sweet wines.
Higgo grew up in Calitzdorp in the Klein Karoo wine district of South Africa and no doubt developed a love for the complex, delicious port wines that the area is famous for.
Early in his career he made his mark by achieving an Advanced Certificate at the UK Wine and Spirit Education Trust as well as passing the Michael Fridjohn Wine Tasting Academy course with distinction. Higgo has worked for Jeroboams Wine Merchants and Anthony Byrne Fine Wines in London and has also served on many wine assessment panels.
Higgo is soon to open his own wine consultancy. He can be contacted at higgo.jacobs@steenberghotel.com or on (27) 21 7132222.
When exploring the Southern Cape wine area we stopped at Napier, home of Jean Daneel and his wonderfully sophisticated Chenin blanc wines.
This sign board with its quirky use of language, is at the entrance to the Napier Farm Stall and restaurant. Brekfis is a corruption of breakfast. Wail Trail vegetarian breakfast is a reference to the coastline where hundreds of Southern Right Whales spend Winter and Spring mating and giving birth to their young. I suppose not getting bacon with your breakfast is what causes the wail of grief.
In the container are King Proteas and Pincushion Proteas as well as fynbos blossoms which grow wild from the Cape Peninsula to the Eastern Cape. The Cape Floral Region is a World Heritage Site and is home to 20% of Africa’s flora.
Menu at Napier Farmstall and Restaurant, Southern Cape
I met Katinka several years ago as part of a small group who spent a three hour long lunch with her as she guided us through the principles and practice of matching food with wine. This experience was a revelation and gave a me greater respect for the wine which can be easily ruined by a
Katinka van Niekerk
careless food choice.
Katinka is a consultant to winemakers and chefs as well as a visiting lecturer to hotel schools and catering colleges. Her fascination with food and wine pairing began when she was the young wife of a South African diplomat serving in New York. At the many dinner parties they attended, it was fashionable to end the meal with chocolate mousse served with champagne which Katinka found unpalateable – the lovely bubbly nuances became vinegar against the sweetness of the mousse. Feeling impelled to do things differently and expressing this to her husband Albert, he reponded by saying,
We are young diplomats and will learn how it should be done. Just follow what the others are doing. You’ll get used to it.
But Katinka’s taste buds did not get used to it and she set forth in her inimitable way, to alter convention.
Thus her passion for what actually works and what does not when marrying food and wine, become a second career. Diplomatic postings to the United States, Israel, Germany and the United Kingdom and many glasses of wine later, gave Katinka ample opportunity to experiment.
At her workshops she discusses basic principles to think about which once practised a few times become intuitive.
These are - weight which is for example the difference between a piece of grilled hake and a grilled sirloin steak. The fish is light while the steak is heavy. Wines too, can be light or heavy-bodied. Consider the difference between a dry chenin blanc and a wooded chardonnay. The weight of the food should balance the weight of the wine so that neither overwhelms the other.
Flavour intensity – this is the degree of flavour that a dish has. This is apparent if we have to compare the flavour profile of white meat like
The Food and Wine Pairing Guide
chicken breast, pork fillet or veal schnitzel to red meat. The added flavourings used to prepare white meats play a bigger role than those used for more robustly flavoured meats. Consider the flavour profiles of an unwooded chenin blanc, a riesling or a gewurztraminer and it becomes clear that the more fragrant wines pair well with ethnic dishes from say, Thailand, Japan, North Africa or Mexico.
The five primary taste sensations – sweetness, acidity, saltiness, bitterness and umami (savoury). Wines and foods share basic tastes with wines having three: sweetness,acidity and in the case of red wine, umami.
Then there are secondary considerations such as sauces, cooking methods, pepper and the echo factor.
Happily for all of us Katinka has in collaboration with Brian Burke, produced The Food and Wine Pairing Guide which explains all of the above aspects in detail and with much more. It is available from Loot.
Even better, if you are in Cape Town contact Katinka to attend one of her workshops on katfoodwine@adept.co.za
Just 45 minutes drive out of Cape Town lies Wellington on the banks of the Kromme River surrounded by the majestic Groenberg and Hawequa mountains. Known for fruit production, grapevine nurseries and home of an historic religious seminary and college, Wellington has 26 wineries
Wellington Wine Harvest Festival
within a short distance of each other. Some of the Wellington wineries stretch over alluvial terraces towards the Swartland’s rolling hills and
wheat fields, while others are found in the foothills of the towering Hawequa mountains, where folds and valleys create unique meso-climates. The predominate varieties grown here are Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage, Shiraz, Chardonnay and Chenin blanc.
Happening this weekend is the annual Wine Harvest Festival from Saturday until Monday with all of valley’s wine farms offering events such as musical entertainment; wine, brandy and grappa tasting; vintage cars and cricket; gourmet food tasting and much more.
My wine recommendations? Don’t miss the Andreas Shiraz and Dunstone’s award winning Shiraz. Schalk Burger & Sons have a big Bordeaux blend, Cricket Pitch and in the Meerkat range Burrow Blend is fantastic for everyday drinking. The Meerkat Chenin blanc is made from grapes off extremely old vines and has character you won’t expect from such a well priced wine. Diemersfontein wines are bold, beautifully crafted wines and offer an excellent example of pinotage.
Under the heading “17 Impressive White Wines”, James Molesworth, the senior editor and South African wine expert of Wine Spectator magazine, raves about the consistency, diversity and value delivered by Cape Town Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc and Chenin blanc based wines. Eben Sadie’s delicious chenin-driven blend Palladuis is one of the applauded wines and his comments are,
Local Chenin blancs are finally coming into their own and it is definitely encouraging to see so many Chenins and Chenin-driven blends making a top listing such as this one in Wine Spectator. I think wine lovers are becoming more adventurous by trying lesser known varietals and eventually enjoying the complexity of flavours offered by a great Chenin blanc.
The wines are here listed together with the wine district or ward where they are produced.
SADIE FAMILY Palladius Swartland 2008
Wine Spectator
KEN FORRESTER Chenin Blanc Stellenbosch The FMC 2008
The results are out for this year’s Chenin Blanc Challenge and it’s no surprise to note that the 11 wines which were awarded 4 stars and above had wood treatment creating complex, layered, age-worthy wines.
As described in an earlier post on this blog, chenin blanc is the most planted and most versatile grape in South Africa and the wines range in price from super economical everyday wines priced at about R30.00 ($4) to R260.00 ($36) for the more elegant chenin styles.
Listed here are the four and five star winners. For the complete awards list, please visit Wine Mag.
Thinking back to the bottle of this luscious, complex, Chenin with a dash of Noble Late Harvest in the blend, that could have been the best wine we drank in 2008, it is no surprise to hear that Ken Forrester’s fabulous FMC has been named in the top 100 wines list by Mike Tippings, journalist for The Press (York) at the London International Wine Fair. Tippings is quoted as saying, “High marks also go to South Africa’s Ken Forrester’s The FMC 2007 . This beautifully crafted Chenin blanc from Stellenbosch, show the grape at it’s best.”
Ken Forrester’s numerous awards include a five star rating for The FMC 2007 and The “T” Noble Late Harvest, as well as a Decanter Trophy for the Best Varietal White Wine in South Africa.
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