Wine Gems

#MarchWineSafari

2013-03-13T07:33:00.003-07:00

On the first Saturday of the month we go on a #WineSafari.

In March we were hosted by Painted Wolf Wines in Paarl.

Jeremy and Emma Borg started Painted Wolf wines.

Painted Wolf is another name for the African Wild Dog.

Funds from every bottle of Painted Wolf Wine sold go towards their research & conservation.

We met at &Union & drove to Paarl, to Jeremy & Emma's home.

We then drove up to the top of Paarl Rock to summit the Pearl.

Jeremy wanted to show us his vines but they had already been picked bare.

So we set off...

and we climbed...

all the way to the top where Jeremy pointed out some of the vineyards he uses.

We had a well deserved glass of vino at the top, The Den Sauvignon Blanc 2012 by Painted Wolf wines. The view is spectacular.

There was even time for a group photo.

We then went back to Jeremy and Emma's home.

Jeremy does not own a winery, he rents cellar space to make the Painted Wolf wines.

Jeremy and Emma used to own a gourmet pizzeria in California in the US and they decided to pair their wines with home made pizzas for us in their own home, but before any of that happened it was time for a dip in their pool.

Then it was pizza and wine time:)

Jeremy hand made every single pizza from scratch.

There is a pizza oven in the garden and that is where our pizzas were baked to perfection.

Our first pairing was with The Den Sauvignon Blanc 2012, the pizza was pesto, anchovy and potato and it was delicious. The wines tropical notes were brought out by the pesto and the mineral zesty finish of the wine cut through the intense anchovies.

The next pairing was with the Rosalind Pinotage Rose 2012, the pizza was beetroot, onion and salt cod, even the textures of the bases were paired with specific wines. The earthy beetroot emphasized the fruity palate of this wine.

The next pizza was paired with the Rossanne 2011, the toppings were Hugenot cheese, mushroom and hazelnut. The hazelnuts brought out the earthiness/nutiness in this Roussanne whilst the cheese and mushroom complimented the creamy, silky texture of the wine. This wine was a serious hit with the tasters and we each took a bottle home with us.

Our next pizza was Calzone, it was filled with pork, chipotle, peppers and corn and the dough had toasted cumin seeds in it, this pizza was paired with the Guillermo Pinotage 2010 and served with a side of guacamole. Jeremy explained to us the Pinotage is a perfect pairing with spicy food due to its bold fruitiness. We completely agreed.

Our last pizza was topped with home made pork sausage (pork shoulder and jamon) with sage, rosemary and ginger on a smoked tomato sauce topped with mozzarella. This pizza was served with a side of Caponata which is a sweet and sour salad of aubergine, courgette, onion, tomato, capers, raisins, honey and grape wine vinegar. The Pictus One was served with this pizza, the wine is a blend of Shiraz, Mourvedre and Grenache and only 4500 bottles were made.

We would love it if Jeremy and Emma offered pizza and wine pairings to the public. What do you think?

Cheers!

The pairings were spot on, the wines were fantastic and the hospitality of Jeremy and Emma is second to none. They started making Painted Wolf Wines to help the Painted Wolf, these wines are available in all good wine shops. Jeremy also organizes cycle tours through Pedals4Paws

to raise money for these endangered mammals.

There are 394 African Wild Dogs left in SA, if you ever needed an excuse to drink more wine, this is it.

Support Painted Wolf Wines where ever you can.

A massive thank you to Jeremy and Emma for hosting us, follow them on twitter for awesome updates @PaintedWolfWine.

I host a wine safari every month, a seat will cost you R250 follow me on twitter @andUnionWine to book your spot on the next one.

Cheers!

Riesling Rocks

2013-02-12T04:28:00.003-08:00

According to good ol' wikipedia: 'Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wine. Riesling wines are usually varietally pure and are seldom oaked.'

I love Riesling, its versatile, its a great food wine and it tastes like my version of heaven. Needless to say, I'm a fan of the Riesling Rocks festival held at Hartenberg wine estate every year. The festival showcases the top SA Rieslings available, there is a walk around tasting as well as tutored vertical tastings with some of the winemakers. Tickets for the festival are not cheap at R180 but that includes the vertical tastings, you have to book these on the day and its a first come first served basis, the older Rieslings are worth that price alone.

The festival starts at 12 noon and I arrived at 12:30 to find both vertical tastings fully booked, so arrive on time, its a Germanic grape festival with Germanic time keeping. You then have 5 hours to taste, learn about and consume as much Riesling as you can, the wines are available to buy by the bottle at very reasonable prices ranging from R60-130 so you can stock up on your favourite. There are also fabulous food stalls where you can purchase lunch, this means you can drink more Riesling:)

Here is what was on show with a few really useless facts:

Howard Booysen makes his Riesling from grapes grown in the Karoo, these are the highest Riesling vineyards in SA at 1000m above sea level.

Nitida have made three vintages of Riesling but the 2012 is the first made from grapes grown on their farm. We are going to Nitida for our #AprilWineSafari.

The Ross Gower 2009 was the last vintage made by Ross, his sons Rob and James now make the wines. The 2010 was also available to taste.

Nederbergs winemaker is Razvan Macici he recently won Diner Club winemaker of the year & he nearly drowned in wine when he was 6. Fact!

Klein Constantia is now the only farm in Constantia that makes a Riesling

Thelema were showing their late harvest as well as their dry Riesling. This lil' cutie was picked on the 8th of April, now you know you could drink a bottle of it on its Birthday (use it, don't use it)

Hartenberg, the hosts, have been making Riesling sine 1984 thats 29 years guys. Lekker.

Spioenkop Riesling is basket pressed, hard work but nice and gentle on the grapes. Spioenkop is named after a battle in 1990 where the Boere beat the English.

Altydgedacht's winemaker Etienne Louw plays guitar for the Afrikaans band Celsius. Wine and music pairing anyone?

Groote Post owner Peter Pentz was the first private individual to be awarded the States premier conservation award for the major contribution he made to soil conservation over a fifteen year period.

De Wetshof was the first registered wine estate in Robertson.

Food....

Mmmmmm

Basically good food & good wines

Make sure you attend this festival in 2014, see you there

Cheers!

#MarchWineSafari

2013-02-12T04:12:00.001-08:00

I will now be hosting a wine safari every month so we may as well name them accordingly
A seat on the bus is R250, what do you get for that

On Sunday the 3rd of March we will meet at & Union at 9:30am

We will line our stomachs with beer & pastries whilst we are driven to Paarl

We will meet up with Jeremy from Painted Wolf wines at his home

We will summit the pearl on Paarl Mountain approximately 700m from the base

There are cable fixes in the rock for us to pull ourselves up with

We will have a glass of wine at the top whilst we admire the view

Then we will head back to Jeremy's home

Jeremy used to own a gourmet pizza restaurant in California

Jeremy will make us 8 different pizzas, some traditional and others a bit far out

Each pizza will be paired with a Painted Wolf wine

We will get collected at 4:30 and will arrive back in town just before 6pm
There are only 13 seats available
Follow me on twitter for updates and to request a seat @andUnionWine
Cheers!

#ConstantiaWineSafari

2013-01-17T04:26:00.000-08:00

On the 3rd of February (thats a Sunday)

We will be embarking on our third Wine Safari

A seat on the bus will cost you a mere R250

For that you will get the following awesomeness:

Collected at & Union at 10:30am

Breakfast beer

Driven to Constantia

A vehicle vineyard tour of the steepest vineyards in SA by Stuart (winemaker at Eagles Nest)

Private cellar tour with Justin (the winemaker at Constantia Glen & Beau Constance)

A tasting of the wines from all three estates with both of the wine makers

A spit braai for lunch to take the edge off:)

Driven back to & Union when all the above has been completed

Check out the last Wine Safari so you know what to expect

http://www.andunion.com/wine/index.php?id=925580054352902311

I only have 7 spaces available so

You have to tweet me @andUnionWine to book your spot along with #ConstantiaWineSafari when I open the bookings on Friday
Cheers!

Painted Wolf Wines

2013-01-11T05:06:00.001-08:00

Jeremy from Painted Wolf Wine has hosted 2 tastings at &Union

We also have an exclusive wine from them, the Jemma

Painted Wolf Wines is a dynamic and innovative South African wine company. They are dedicated to the production of authentic, distinct and delicious wines, and to the conservation of African wild dogs and their natural habitat.

A donation from every bottle goes to African wild dog research and conservation

On the 10th of January we tasted the 6 whites in the range

The Lekanyane was such a hit it will be on our wine list soon

Its a blend of Chenin, Viognier and Verdelho and is savory with an oily mouth feel

Jeremy only makes 7-8000 cases a year and certain wines only get made if the quality of the grapes is premium ie Viognier, which is notoriously difficult to grow

Jeremy also started the 'Pedals 4 Paws' initiative

To make donations or sponsor events or cycle with the pack contact Jeremy

Otherwise pop in to &Union for a glass of vino, its for a good cause:)

Cheers!

How Marvelous!

2012-12-14T05:09:00.000-08:00

On Sunday the 2nd of December we went on our second wine safari of the year

There were 15 of us, we were collected from &Union at 9:30 & headed of to Mulderbosch Wine Estate

Each person paid R250 for the day, was it worth it? You decide.....

Breakfast was mostly a liquid affair with the odd pastry thrown in

Our transport (look how fresh everyone looks)

After an hour of dance music, thanks to our driver Wassif, we arrive at our destination for the day

We then produced our 'before' pic, look how innocent & clean the fun is

Then I introduced the team to Adam Mason (Winemaker ) & Peter Templehoff (Chef)

aka our hosts for the day

Adam took us on a tour of the Mulderbosch winery, whilst Pete stayed behind to prepare our lunch

We spotted a hawk nesting (all pics are completely natural, no posing what so ever)*

Our first wine of the day was the Mulderbosch Rose which we drank out of the tank

It was a 'help yourself affair'

Pint o' pink anyone?

Then we tried to break the world record for the most people on one fork lift

We also went for a walk through the old concrete wine tanks
I explained to everyone that the walks were stained from years & years of red wine contact

So obviously the team decided to taste the wine walls

Then Adam took us to taste 6 Chenin Blancs out of different barrels

Our first Chenin is being aged in Acacia

The Acacia wood gave the wine a peppery finish

We also tasted Chenin that is being aged in Hungarian oak & French oak

As you can see our spittoon was unused

We swallow, we don't spit;)

Then it was time to taste the Cabernet Francs

We tasted 6 Cabernet Francs from different soil types & areas

There was plenty of red to go around

Check out the colour of that Cabernet Franc

After all that wine it was time for food

Pete had prepared some ostrich tartare to nibble on whilst we helped ourselves to the Marvelous wines

Adam & Pete make their own wines

A collaboration between a winemaker & a chef, these wines are fabulous with food

Adam & Pete make two ranges of wine, the Marvelous range which consists of the Ka-Pow, Kaboom & Shazam

& the Yardstick range which is made up of a Chardonnay & a Pinot Noir

We currently stock the Marvelous range exclusively at & Union

Pete & the hunk of steak he cooked us for lunch:)

Then it was time for boules, beer & more wine in the sunshine

There are two boules pitches at Mulderbosch, we took over both for our tournament

Then Adam brought out his grappa for us to sample

So quick re-cap: beer, wine, wine, beer, wine & grappa

Obviously some of us ended up skinny dipping in the dam

(Those pics are on my Facebook page)

After an awesome day at Mulderbosch with Adam & Pete we made our way home

There was a lot of singing on the way home

We survived the #MarvelousWineSafari at Mulderbosch

There will be a few more wine safari's next year

Follow me on twitter for updates @andUnionWine

A massive thanks to all of my tasters for making the day so awesome!

Pics courtesy of the rad Jon Meinking

Cheers!

*I might have made that up

What you missed - Solms Delta

2012-12-08T08:05:00.005-08:00

So much more than a wine estate

That is Solms Delta's moto and it couldn't be more true

This tasting was hosted by Medwin & Leon who both started off as security guards on Solms Delta,

after a year Medwin was promoted to Marketing Manager & Leon now works in the tasting room

There are 2 ranges of wine at Solms Delta, the Solms Astor range which are all named after music and the premium Solms Delta range

The first wine we tasted was the Solms Astor Vastrap 2011

Vastrap is a Khoesan trance-dance where you stamp your feet

This wine is a blend of Chenin Blanc, Semillon & Riesling

This bright, fruity blend is a dry white wine to party with

Easy to drink this wine is a Summer quaffer at only 12.5% alcohol

The next wine tasted was the Solms Delta Amalie 2010

This Rhone style wine is a blend of Viognier, Roussanne & Grenache Blanc

This wine is complex & aromatic, how complex?

The Viognier comes from 6 different sites to add complexity, the Grenache Blanc was desiccated on the vine which means the stems leading to the bunches of grapes were pinched. By pinching the stem the water flow to the grapes is cut off and the grape de-hydrate on the vine, the grapes loose 40% of their mass in just 3 weeks, this concentrates the flavours in the grape.

The wine also spent 4 months in French oak

To quote Michael Fridjhon:

"Gems like this may not be on the shelves of every wine store – but they will handsomely repay the effort of tracking them down.”

The first red of the evening was the Solms Astor Langarm 2011

According to the website: Langarm (‘straight-arm’) captures the mood of the Cape at the end of a long working week. It can be danced to just about any kind of music, but ‘Boeremusiek’ is definitely best. We dance it with our arms extended like melodramatic windsurfers. Outsiders find it comical, but that is only until they have tried it.

This unwooded red wine is a blend of Pinotage, Touriga Nacional, Shiraz & Mourvedre

this red is only 13% alcohol

The next wine tasted was the Solms Delta Hiervandaan 2010

This Rhone style blend is made up of Shiraz, Carignan, Grenache Noir & Mourvedre

This wine spent 14 months in oak, its is seamless & for too easy to drink

The last wine of the evening was the Solms Astor Cape Jazz Shiraz

This wine is a party wine, its got Christmas written all over it

This sparkling Shiraz is a deep red coloured sparkler

This wine will instantly put you in a good mood

At only 9% alcohol you can celebrate every day!

The beautiful Franschhoek wine farm estate also features a museum that explores the slave heritage of the area, and six special interest guided wine farm tours that exceed the conventional wine tasting experience.

Guys this is a farm you need to visit & next time you have guests from overseas they need to go to Solms Delta.

I host 2 complimentary tastings a week, every Tuesday & Thursday at 6pm a winemaker presents his/her wine to us at & Union

Booking is essential RSVP gemma@gabrielcollective.com & follow me on twitter for updates @andUnionWine

Cheers!

What you missed - Miles Mossop

2012-12-05T04:33:00.003-08:00

On the 4th of December Miles presented 5 wines to us

All 5 of the wines were nominated for 5 stars, 4 of the wines tasted were awarded 5 stars &

Miles made all 5

Miles is the winemaker at Tokara which is situated in Stellenbosch, however, Miles also makes his own range on wines on the side

We tasted 3 wines Miles has made for Tokara & we tasted 2 of Miles' own wines

Tokara's first vintage was in 2000 which means that Miles has worked 13 harvests for Tokara & really understands their grapes

We started off the tasting with the Tokara Reserve Walker Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2012

Tokara owns 3 farms, one in Stellenbosch, one in Elgin & one in Walker Bay

The grapes for this Sauvignon are grown on Babelonstoren Mountain in light, sandy soil

This Sauvignon is pineapple & passionfruit with a saline finish

This wine has a silky mouthfeel due to 7 months on the lees

The next wines tasted was the Tokara Directors Reserve White 2011

This blend is made up of 71% Sauvignon & 29% Semillon

Both components were fermented in barrel & were blended together before bottling

This wine is rich, full & silky with dried guava, quince & a light honey note on the palate

The last white of the evening was the Miles Mossop Saskia 2011

Miles has 3 wines in his own range & each wine is named after one of his kids:)

Saskia is a blend of Chenin, Viognier, Verdelho & Clairette Blanche

The grapes used to make this wine come from all over the Western Cape

This wine is elegant & smooth with honeysuckle & peach on the palate

The first red of the tasting was Tokara's Directors Reserve Red 2008

This Bordeaux blend is 73% Cabernet Sauvignon & it is the first vintage produced at Tokara that has used all 5 Bordeaux varieties

This wine is violets & black fruit on the nose, this wine is so silky it slips off your tongue

this wine was aged in French oak for 14 months during which Miles racked the wine off its lees to aerate it 5 times, this softens the tannins

The last wine tasted was the Miles Mossop Max 2008

This blend is made up of 3 of the Bordeaux varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot & Merlot

This wine is 27% Petit Verdot which is very unusual as Petit Verdot usually makes up less then 10% of most SA Bordeaux style blends

This wine is dark, inky & savory with a hint of liquorice on the nose

I host 2 complimentary tastings a week

Every Tuesday & Thursday at 6pm a winemaker presents his/her wines to us at 6pm at & Union

WineGems tastings are free of charge & booking is essential

RSVP gemma@gabrielcollective.com & follow me on twitter for updates @andunionWine

Cheers!

Month of Marvelous

2012-11-29T04:14:00.001-08:00

It is the Month of Marvelous at & Union

These wines are available exclusively at & Union

There are three wines in the Marvelous range

Yes, they are all named after cartoon noises: Ka-Pow, Kaboom & Shazam

These wines are the result of what happens when grapes, a Chef & a Winemaker collide

Ka-Pow 2012 is a blend of Chenin, Chardonnay & Viognier, this wine is all about perfume, structure & mineral acidity

Kaboom 2010 is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec & Cab Franc, this wine is all about juicy black fruit & powerful tannin

Shazam 2011 is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Viognier & Mourvedre, this wine is all about spice, red fruit & a fresh acidity

All of these wines are available by the glass for the next month, hence the Month of Marvelous!

Pop in for a glass or three

Cheers!

What you missed - Lyngrove wines

2012-11-24T05:16:00.000-08:00

On the 22nd November Lyngrove wines

Lyngrove is situated between Stellenbosch & Somerset West & is an hour drive from Cape Town

Lyngrove has 80 hectares under vine

There is no winery at Lyngrove, the wines are made in another cellar in Stellenbosch

Lyngrove makes 2 ranges of wine, the Collection range & the Platinum range

We tasted 5 reds in total, 2 Pinotage, 2 Shiraz & a Cape Blend

The reds in the Collection range are unwooded which results in lighter bodied wines

We got to taste an unwooded Pinotage followed by a wooded Pinotage & then an unwooded Shiraz followed by a wooded Shiraz

That means we got to experience the grape & what flavours it can produce without the influence of wood

Collection Pinotage 2011: This unwooded wine is medium bodied, fruity, rich, perfumed & spicy with ripe blackberries on the palate & a soft finish

Platinum Pinotage 2010: Toasty, coffee hints from the 15 months spent in French & American barrels, blueberries, chocolate & red berries with a silky mouth feel

Collection Shiraz 2010: This unwooded wine has soft tannin with a spicy, white pepper nose with dark chocolate, red berries & vanilla on the palate

Platinum Shiraz 2010: This wine spent 12 months in French & American barrels, its darker in colour & fruit. This wine is savory with a grippy texture & a long finish

Platinum Latitude 2011: This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage & Shiraz. This wine is so smooth it slips off your tongue & down your throat, simply delicious. Cedar, blackcurrant, chocolate & spice this wine was the favourite of the tasting.

These wines are priced between R50 & R125 & you will be hard pressed to find better value

If red wine is not your thing Lyngrove also make Chardonnays, Sauvignon & Chenin Blanc.

We will have to taste the whites another time

Contact Lyngrove to book a tasting

I host 2 complimentary tastings a week, every Tuesday & Thursday at 6pm a winemaker presents his/her wines to us. The WineGems tastings are free of charge & the wines are available to buy after the tasting. Booking is essential, you can email me gemma@gabrielcollective.com or follow me on twitter for updates @andUnionWine.

Cheers!

Leeuwenkuil

2012-11-17T04:58:00.000-08:00

This wooded Coastal Region white is a blend of Chenin Blanc, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc,Clairette Blanche & Verdelho

This wine smells like peach, melon, citrus & vanilla with a floral, flinty hint

It tastes like more

This fruity wine is delicious with a dry finish that makes your mouth water

Cheers!

What you missed - Glenelly

2012-11-16T00:22:00.000-08:00

On the 15th November Amanda presented Glenelly wines

Amanda has been marketing Glenelly for 2 years

Glenelly was bought as a fruit farm in 2003 by a French lady, May-Elaine

Lady May planted vines in the farm, she used to own a vineyard in Bordeaux, France

Glenelly is a boutique winery situated in Simonsberg, Stellenbosch

We had the Glenelly Chardonnay to start with

Chardonnay 2011: Aged in new 500l barrels for 7 months

This wine was fermented naturally

Its big, bold, silky, lean and fresh with a limey finish

Then we tasted 4 reds from the Glenelly range

The first 2 reds we tasted were from the Glass Collection range, a lower priced range of wines

Lady May is the worlds biggest antique glass collector and each variety of wine has its own glass on the label.

Glass Collection Merlot 2010: Smells like candy, vanilla and cassis, its black berries and cream on the palate with a spicy finish. This red is dry contrary to its nose and it spent 12 months in barrel

Glass Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2010: Savory on the nose with a hint of cedar wood, this wine has a perfumed palate with fine tannin, red berries and a dry finish.

The next red was the Grand Vin De Glenelly 2007: This wine is a blend of Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Again, this wine was aged in new wood this time fro 18 months, its smooth and creamy with loads of black fruit on the palate.

The last wine of the evening was the Glenelly flagship red

Glenelly Lady May 2009: This wine is 90% Cabernet and 10% Petit Verdot. This wine spent 24 months in new wood. This Cab is smoky, savory and dry with grippy tannin. This wine has serious structure, its big, bold and full of dark berries

These wines are great value for money, especially when you compare them to other Bordeaux style reds from Stellenbosch. Glenelly is registered as a museum because of Lady May's art and cup collection which are all on display.

Happy tasters

I host 2 complimentary tastings a week

Every Tuesday and Thursday at 6pm at & Union a winemaker presents his/her wines to us

Booking is essential

RSVP gemma@gabrielcollective.com and follow me on twitter for updates @andUnionWine

I also post my pictures and competitions on my facebook page, WineGems

Cheers!

What you missed - Jordan

2012-11-15T05:04:00.001-08:00

On the 13th November Gary and Cathy Jordan presented their wines to us.

In their 'previous lives' Gary was a geologist & Cathy was an economist.

Now they make some of the top wines in SA.

The Jordan's are in their 20th year of winemaking

That 20 vintages from the same farm, awesome!

We started off the evening with a welcome drink...

The aptly named Real McCoy is a real Riesling

The Jordan's form part of the group Just Riesling who fought to call Riesling Riesling instead of Weisser Riesling

This is because of a mix up back in the day, here in SA we were calling a different grape (Crouchen Blanc) Riesling, so when guys like the Jordan's started planting Riesling they were told to call it Weisser Riesling. They fought and they won.

If it says Riesling on the bottle it is now the good stuff.

This Riesling is an off dry style and the grapes used to make it come from the highest, coolest vineyard in Stellenbosch.

After the Riesling warm up we tasted the rest of the wines in pairs

The first pair were Sauvignon Blancs

The Jordan Sauvignon Blanc 2012: Fresh guava, passionfruit, sweet red pepper, with a silky mouthfeel which peaks mid palate.

The Outlier 2012: This Sauvignon is barrel fermented and spent 8-9 months in barrel. This wine has a richer nose, its fuller on the palate, fresh & screams for seafood.

With each pair of wines, Gary showed us the rocks which are found in those vineyards

The Sauvignons are grown in 600 million year old granite (above)

The second pair of wines tasted were Chardonnays:

Jordan Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2011: This wine is rich, smooth, silky, full and balanced

with apricots, baked apple and citrus on the palate.

Jordan CWG Auction Reserve Chardonnay 2011: This is an extension of the famous Nine Yard Chardonnay. This wine is the best three barrels of that single vineyard. This Chardonnay is mineral and silky, it feels alive on your tongue, its creamy and fresh and flippin' awesome.

The Chardonnays are planted in reflective white quartz (above)

The final pair of wines were reds:

Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon 2009: Fermented in tank, then spent 19 months in barrel.

This Cab is fruity and spicy with cedar hints. This wine has soft tannin and a juicy freshness.

Jordan Syrah 2009: This wine spent 16 months in barrel. Its red fruit, pepper and spice with a eucalyptus hint.

The reds each spent three weeks with the grape skins in the tank with the juice,

this is where the reds get their colour, most of their flavour and their tannin.

Look how happy the tasters were

I host two complimentary tastings a week

Every Tuesday and Thursday a winemaker presents his/her wines to us

Booking is essential

RSVP gemma@gabrielcollective.com and follow me on twitter for updates @andUnionWine

Cheers!

What you missed - Louis Nel wines

2012-11-09T02:36:00.000-08:00

Louis has made wine at Vergelegen, Warwick & Hidden Valley & he now makes his own wines

On the 8th of November Louis presented five of his own wines to us

Louis started off the tasting by stating that " vineyards have personality"

He then went on to say that grapes are the most important thing in the winemaking process

"Grapes, grapes, grapes, if the grapes are great you can make good wine with very little winemaking knowledge & if the grapes are crap, even a good winemaker cant make a great wine"

In his own words "the range is eclectic just like the winemaker"

Louis' mother likes to claim that she is the reason her son has been making wine for 20 years.

When Louis was little his Mum was baking him a Birthday cake, she did not have any food colouring for the icing so used red wine instead, she reckons Louis has been hooked on wine ever since:)

Louis' wines are all treated individually from winemaking style to label design

Here are my notes on the wines we tasted

Buckleberry Sauvignon Blanc 2012 - This is the first vintage of this wine, its lively, zesty & zingy. It is bursting with tropical fruit & gooseberries & almost sparkles on your tongue its so fresh

& bright like its label

Louis Savignon Blanc 2012 - This is Louis' "classy" Sauvignon its floral with fresh cut herbs on the nose, this Sauvignon is so flinty its almost smokey

Collaboration Cinsaut 2011 - This unwooded red is the perfect Summer red. It smells like black winegums, raspberries & strawberries. It is dangerously easy to drink & should be served chilled. Simply delicious.

Black Forest 2011 - This blend of Shiraz & Merlot smells like chocolate & cherries, hence its name, this wine is smooth with a light smokiness on the palate

Louis Cab Merlot 2008 - This blend is grippy & juicy. Its full of mouth watering red fruit with tomato leaf & a faint eucalyptus note.

I host 2 complimentary tastings a week

Every Tuesday & Thursday a winemaker presents his/her wines to us

Booking is essential RSVP gemma@gabrielcollective.com

Follow me on twitter for updates @andUnionWine

Cheers!

#MarvelousWineSafari

2012-11-02T01:40:00.000-07:00

On the 2nd of December (thats a Sunday)

We will be embarking on our second Wine Safari

A seat on the bus will cost you a mere R250

For that you will get the following awesomeness:

Collected at & Union at 9am

Breakfast beer

Driven to Mulderbosch

Private tour with Adam Mason (the winemaker)

Tasting of the wines plus some tank & barrel samples

Lunch prepared by Peter Templehoff (yum)

A tasting of the Marvelous wines with Peter & Adam (above)

Driven back to & Union when all the above has been completed

Check out the last Wine Safari so you know what to expect

http://www.andunion.com/wine/index.php?id=7313780852978093996

I only have 12 spaces available so you have to prove that you are fun if you want to join us

You have to tweet me @andUnionWine with a fun pick of you & wine & include #MarvelousWineSafari & @MulderboschV
The 12 most fun looking peeps will be notified as they win a spot
Good luck
Cheers!

What you missed - Dornier

2012-10-26T04:38:00.003-07:00

On the 25th of October Jeanine Faure presented Dornier wines to us

Jeanine is the wine maker at Dornier which is situated in Stellenbosch

Dornier is a family owned and run boutique winery

There are 3 ranges of wine in their portfolio

The 1st is the Coaco Hill range, the 2nd is the Dornier Range & the 3rd is the premium Donatus range

We tasted wines from each range

The wavy shape at the bottom of the label is the same shape as the winery

We tasted the Coaco Hill Chenin, the Dornier Chenin, the Dornier Semillon & then a blend of all three

Here are my tasting notes

Coaco Hill Chenin 2012: Made from 12 year old estate grapes, unwooded, tank fermented with 6 months lees contact, fruity, smooth, long finish, natural fresh acidity

Dornier Chenin Blanc 2012: Made from bought-in 30 year old bush vines from the Swartland, unwooded, great texture, silky, rich, apricots, tropical fruit with a mineral feel

Dornier Semillon 2011: Hay, honey, really rich, full, barrel fermented & aged in barrel for a year, peaches, stone fruit, did I mention its rich?

Dornier Donatus White 2010: A blend of the above three wines, 76% Chenin (half Coaco Hill & Half Dornier) all barrel fermented, toasty, honey suckle, apple tarte tatin

The only red of the evening was the Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Jeanine explained that Dornier make their reds to age

This 6 year old wine is drinking beautifully, the tannin is integrated with the fruit and spice resulting in a smooth red that you don't have to age yourself

I host 2 complimentary tastings a week

Every Tuesday & Thursday a winemaker presents his/her wines to us

Booking is essential RSVP gemma@gabrielcollective.com

Follow me on twitter for updates @andUnionWine

Cheers!

What you missed - Longridge

2012-10-25T05:39:00.003-07:00

On the 23rd of October we tasted Longridge wines

Jasper is the winemaker & he presented the tasting
Longridge is situated on the slopes of the Helderberg Mountains in Stellenbosch
Longridge focus on natural farming & winemaking,
you can call it Organic or Biodynamic but they call it natural:)

In the vineyards, ducks eat the snails & no pesticides are sprayed
In the cellar, the wines go through natural fermentation & no enzymes are added

We started of the tasting with a glass of the Longridge Chenin Blanc 2010

SA is the country with the most Chenin planted

Chenin is our proudly SA white

This wine is lively & fresh with a roundness to the mouthfeel

2 vineyard blocks are used to make this wine

1 block is 30 years old & adds concentrated fruit & a fullness to the wine

The other block is a newer block which adds fresh, clear, vibrant fruit to the wine

This Chenin tastes like melon, apricot, litchis & apples

The second wine tasted was the Chardonnay 2009

This Chardonnay is rich, silky & toasty

It has the texture & flavour of lemon meringue

Its a full bodied Chardonnay with a linear, lemon acidity which leaves the wine feeling fresh

We tasted three reds from Longridge, here are my tasting notes:

Merlot 2008: Voluptous, smooth, chalky tannin, no green, juicy, mouth watering

Merlot is a tough grape to grow & work with in SA & this is a great example

Cabernet Sauvignon 2008: Dry, elegant, perceived lightness due to freshness in wine,

still needs a few years in the bottle to soften the tannin further

Pinotage 2007: Juicy, plump, dark, spicy, If you do not usually drink Pinotage, this is the wine for you. No road-kill banana & no tinny taste just pure fruit & spice:)

I host 2 complimentary tastings a week at & Union

Every Tuesday & Thursday a winemaker presents his/her wines to us

Booking is essential RSVP gemma@gabrielcollective.com

Follow me on twitter for updates @andUnionWine

Cheers!

What you missed - Vondeling

2012-10-19T04:18:00.002-07:00

On the 18th of October Matthew presented the boutique wines of Vondeling to us

Matthew is the winemaker at Vondeling which is situated in the Voor-Paardeberg in Paarl

This historic farm was granted to Swedish immigrant Oloff Bergh by Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel in 1704.

The original Farm House was built in 1750. The farm has a three-centuries-old winemaking tradition dating back to the early 1700’s

The Vondeling labels are simple & elegant & marked with a 'V'

Matthew said that everyone sees that 'V' as something different

So I asked my tasters what they saw:

Bottom of Africa

Vines

Antlers

Dancers

Fingers walking

Back to the wines, these wines completely over deliver for their price

You won't be disappointed in a bottle of Vondeling

One taster asked how the farm keeps the prices so low

Matthew says " I used to spend R60 000 a year on yeasts and R80 000 a year on enzymes,

so I took my winemaking back to the basics.

All of the wines are now fermented with their wild yeasts only

and no enzymes or fancy equipment is used. Its a very natural process"

The wines we tasted range from R55-R115 & we tasted some of the flagship wines

Here are my tasting notes on the wines

Sauvignon Blanc 2012: Lively, zesty, linear, passion fruit & grapefruit.

This wine has a balanced acidity that is not sharp due to extended lees contact

A truly delicious Sauvignon

Chardonnay 2009: Toasty, caramel, silky, fresh, citrus, slightly floral

A favourite amongst international tasters

This wine is available at & UNION

Babiana 2009 (flagship white) : Complex, silky, elegant, ginger, peaches, white flowers, almost creamy mouthfeel.

Named after a flower that only grows on the mountain in Paarl

This was the favourite white of the tasting

Baldrick Shiraz 2011: Yes thats a Black Adder reference:) Blue fruit, red fruit, light spice & violets

As with all of the wines this wine is incredibly fresh

Aged in 2nd 3rd & 4th fill barrels

Erica Shiraz 2009: Again named after a flower that only grows on the farm & flowers at night

This Shiraz is rich, savory, dark, silky & full with plums & fresh herbs

The tasting room at Vondeling will be up & running in November

Do yourself a favour and go and taste these wines

Look how happy it made these guys....

I host 2 complimentary wine tastings a week

Every Tuesday & Thursday at 6pm a winemaker presents his/her wines to us

Booking is essential

RSVP gemma@gabrielcollective.com & follow me on twitter for updates

WineGem out!

What you missed - The Winery of Good Hope

2012-10-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

On the 13th of October Angela & Jacques presented 5 wines to us at & UNION

This range of wines is known as The Winery of Good Hope (TWOGH from now)

Jacques is the winemaker & Angela represents the brand in SA

The wines we tasted range from R55-R110
A rainbow of wines....

We started with the unwooded Chardonnay 2011 which is a great example of the grape.

This wine did not go through malolactic fermentation & it did not see a barrel

What we tasted was a true expression of the variety

This wine is fresh, crisp & tart with a zingy finish

It tastes like marmalade & lemon & lime & it feels like lemon sherbert on your tongue

The next wine tasted was the Chenin Blanc 2011 which is also unwooded

The grapes that make this wine are grown on bush vines

That means they are not trellised or trained and grow naturally as a small gnarly bush

Bush vine grapes receive filtered sunlight which produces the fresher citrus notes

Trellised vines are more exposed and the grapes are riper, showing more apricot notes for Chenin

This wine is fresh with hints of pineapple, grapefruit, citrus & green apples

Then we moved onto the reds

We tasted the Pinot Noir, Pinotage & Shiraz all are 2011

Here are my notes on the wines

Pinot Noir: Light smokiness, savory, subtle, elegant, chalky tannin, sour cherries, 5 spice, strawberries, & blueberries with earthy notes

Pinotage: 47 year old bush vines, juicy, loaded, berries, cherries, saline on the palate almost salty with a savory metallic finish

Shiraz: Fresh, pink pepper corns, meaty, mouthwatering, dry, spice, paprika, elegant

with violets on the palate

Jacques & Angela hosted a cool tasting & the wines were a hit

Look how happy the tasters were....

Look how much wine they drank, check out those tongues.

Its not their fault, they were over served:)

I host 2 complimentary tastings a week

Every Tuesday & Thursday at 6pm a winemaker presents his/her wines to us

Booking is essential RSVP gemma@gabrielcollective.com & follow me on twitter for updates @andUnionWine.

Cheers!

What you missed - The Foundry

2012-10-12T05:12:00.000-07:00

On the 11th of October we tasted wines made by Chris Williams

Chris is the winemaker at Meerlust but he also makes his own range of wines named The Foundry

Chris buys in his grapes and does not have his own tasting room or winery

It was a real treat to be able to taste these wines as Chris only makes 2000 cases in total

We tasted the wines with Rachel, who represents The Foundry

We tasted the full range: Grenache Blanc 2011, Roussanne 2011, Viognier 2010 and the Syrah 2007

as well as a cheeky little 2005 Syrah (for educational purposes)

All of the wines are Rhone style wines (all of the varieties originate from the Rhone region in France and the Rhone region is famous for these varieties)

Most of the grapes used to make these wines were grown in Stellenbosch

These varieties are usually found in blends but Chris shows off their individuality

All of the wines are single vineyards and are single varieties which means that if it says Viognier on the bottle its 100% Viognier in the bottle. Here in SA you are allowed to add up to 15% of another kind of grape without stating it on the label. Chris does not blend his wines.

The Grenache Blanc is fresh, crisp and lively on your tongue, it tastes like lemon creams

The Roussanne smells like greengage, peaches, fresh corriander and pears

It tastes like all of the above with a fine green tea tannin

Very different and completely delicious

The Viognier is fresh and mineral with a citrus, peach, apricot and floral nose

Then we tasted 2 vintages of the Syrah, the 2005 and 2007

The 2005 is drier in style and more tannic, it is a bigger Syrah than the 2007 and it was aged in old Cabernet Sauvignon barrels.

The 2007 was aged in older Pinot Noir barrels and is lighter and more feminine.

This wine has a clean savory finish that makes your mouth water for more

Here are my happy tasters who were over-served :)

I host 2 complimentary tastings a week

Every Tuesday and Thursday at 6pm a winemaker presents his/her wines to us

Booking is essential RSVP gemma@gabrielcollective.com and follow me on twitter for updates @andUnionWine

Cheers!

What you missed - Lemberg & David

2012-10-10T06:27:00.000-07:00

David Sadie is the winemaker at Lemberg Estate

Lemberg is situated in Tulbagh & there are 8.5 hectares under vine

The small boutique cellar was built in 1978

We tasted 2 reds & a breakfast wine from Lemberg

To get our taste buds going we needed a white wine so David presented one of his own wines first

The David Aristargos 2011 is a blend of Chenin, Roussanne, Viognier & Grenache Blanc

The individual components are barrel aged and blended just before bottling

This wine is unfined and unfiltered

This wine is mineral with great texture, it feels alive on your tongue

It is fresh, floral & perfumed

It smells like apples, fresh herbs, yeast & pears

Delicious & only three barrels were made

David makes his wines in a very natural way with no added enzymes or acid etc

The same goes for the Lemberg wines he makes

Not only are the Lemberg wines made in a natural way (Sulphur being the only additive) but the

packaging is also intelligent: the bottles are recycled, the labels are tree free & they use natural wax to seal the bottles:)

We tasted the Pinot Noir 2011 as our first Lemberg wine of the evening

This is the only Pinot Noir produced in Tulbagh

This wine was aged in older French oak for 12 months

From a warmer area this Pinot is quite dark, it looks like black cherry juice

This Pinot shows the more feminine side of Pinot, its floral, fruit forward, juicy & accessible

It is red fruit on the palate with a soft spicy finish

The next red was the Spencer 2010 which is 100% Pinotage & the main focus at Lemberg

This wine spent 19 months in 1st 2nd & 3rd fill barrels

This wine is smooth, elegant & once again accessible now

Unfined & unfiltered this Pinotage has a chalky tannin

The final wine of the evening was the Lemberg Surin 2011

This is a vine dried Sauvignon Blanc

Most people drink these style of wines with dessert, I prefer them for breakfast:)

David pinched the stems of these vines so that the bunches dehydrate on the vine

This concentrates the flavours

David presses these grapes 6-8 times to get as much juice as possible

The grapes then spent 1 year on French oak

This wines is litchi, honey & papaya with a fresh acidity which lifts the sweetness in the wine

It comes in a 375ml bottles so pop in a straw a slurp away:)

These guys did....

I host 2 complimentary tastings a week

Every Tuesday & Thursday at 6pm a winemaker presents his/her wines to us

Booking is essential RSVP gemma@gabrielcollective.com & follow me on twitter for updates @andunionWine

Cheers!

South African winemaking terms made easy

2012-10-05T07:12:00.001-07:00

Acid - the tart/tangy/fresh/sour tastes in wine
Acidification - adding acid to the wine to increase 'freshness'
Alcohol - aka ethanol, the thing in wine which makes you feel lekker
Anthocyanins - The stuff in the grape skin that gives red wine its colour and some of its tannin
Aroma - the smells that are unique to that specific variety if you are being fancy, otherwise its the term for the group of smells in a wine
Barrel fermentation - fermenting the wine in barrels instead of stainless steel tanks. If the barrels are new the integration of oak flavour is better than if the wine is put in new oak after fermentation.
Batonage - stirring the wine to mix the lees (which sits at the bottom of the tank or barrel) back into the wine This creates a creamy mouth feel, used mostly for white wines.
Biodynamic wine - wine produced using principals of biodynamic farming
Bleeding Vine - Sap and water being expelled from a pruning cut, this happens in early spring and is usually a sign of good health in the vine
Botrytis - this virus pierces grape skins, this causes berries to raisin, resulting in dehydrated grapes with extremely concentrated flavours. These berries are usually picked and turned into dessert wines.

Bouquet - the smells produced by fermentation and aging of the wine if you are at a posh tasting, otherwise its the name for the group of smells in your wine
Brettanomyces - aka Brett is a wine flaw which smells like plasters (band-aids), antiseptic or barnyard
Canopy - the parts of the vine above the ground including trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruit (grapes)

Canopy management - When you shape the vine for optimal growing

Cap - the skins and stems of grapes, if left on, will float on the fermenting juice, this layer is known as the cap
Carbonic maceration - whole grapes are fermented in a carbon dioxide rich environment before they are crushed, The tannin in the skin does not escape into the wine because the skins aren't smashed so the wine is fruity with a lower tannin
Carotenoids - colour in skin of green/white grapes (not a lot)
Chaptalization - adding sugar to grape juice to be able to produce more alcohol, usually done in cooler countries because less sun=less ripe fruit=less sugar=less alcohol
Clone - a vine that has developed differently from other vines of the same variety
Co-fermenting - fermenting two or more varieties together instead of doing it separately and blending the finished articles ie Cab and Merlot
Cold fermentation - to produce wines of maximum freshness the fermentation is long and cold
Cold stabilization - after fermentation you store the wine at a near freezing temperature to separate the tartrate crystals, if this is not done 'wine diamonds' can form in your wine (they are harmless).
Cordon - the 'open arms' of a vine which extend from the trunk and carry the fruit
Cork taint - corked wine, it smells mouldy and like wet cardboard. It has nothing to do with pieces of cork in your glass. Real term is TCA
Crushing - when berries are squeezed to break their skins resulting in pulp
Cultivar - word often used here in SA instead of variety
Destemming - when the stems are separated from the berries, stems add more tannin to the wine
Dormant - the time when not much is happening in the vine, after harvest when the leaves fall off until spring, the vine is sleeping because its winter
Drip irrigation - literally controlled watering of a vine drip by drip
Dry - A term used to describe a wine thats not sweet.
Fermentation - In wine terms the process of yeast cells eating the sugar in grape juice and turning it into alcohol and carbon dioxide
Filtering - finishes clarifying the wine as well as removing any excess particles that could make the wine unstable. You don't want your wine to start fermenting in the bottle
Fining - clarifying the wine, which also removes some tannin. Egg whites, fish bladder, bulls blood, bentonite & gelatin are a few of the products used to do this. These products do not remain in the wine, they form a sediment which is filtered out of the wine before bottling
Fortified wine - wine which has high alcohol grape spirit added before or after fermentation
Grafting - since Phylloxera the only sure way to grow vine is by grafting them (literally sticking them) onto Phylloxera resistant roots ie American rootstock
Harvest - the picking of the grapes
Lactic acid - richer and more buttery then malic acid
Lees - the creamy yeast cells which are dead after fermentation that sink to the bottom of the wine whilst it ages, this gives the wine a creamy texture if it is regularly mixed up into the wine
Lekker - the way you feel when you drink vino
Maceration - the colour if a red wine comes from the grape skin not the juice, tannin and most of the flavour also comes from the red skins. Maceration is the skin contact the juice receives, even after fermentation. it is rare for a winemaker to use this technique with white wines.
Malic acid - a tart tasting acid, like green apples
Malolactic fermentation - a second fermentation most red wine goes through to convert malic acid into lactic acid which gives wine a fuller mouth feel. Winemakers choose wether or not to let their white wines go through Malolactic fermentation aka Malo
Mercaptans - a wine flaw which smells like burnt rubber or cooked cabbage
Meso-climate - describes the climate of a specific area ie a vineyard
Methoxypyrazine - the grass, herbaceous, green smell associated with Sauvignon Blanc & Cabernet Sauvignon
Micro Climate - the unique climate of a vine
Micro-oxygenation - Introducing large quantities of oxygen to your wine, it mimics the effects of slow barrel maturation in less time and for less moolah then oak barrels
Must - the juice, skins and pulp of crushed grapes that will go on to become wine
Nitrogen - a vital nutrient needed for the development of a yeast cell
Noble rot - see Botrytis
Oxidative winemaking - allowing oxygen contact with your fermenting wine. It results in a nutty character, if not controlled the wine can become oxidized which is a fault
Oxidized wine - spoiled wine which smells like walnuts and cooked fruit
Phylloxera - a minute insect that lives underground and kills vines by attacking their roots
Pigeage - French term for manual or mechanical punch down
Pressing - separating the juice or wine from the grapes and skins
Primary - the smells derived from the variety
Pruning - the trimming of the vines, mostly done in winter when the vine is asleep
Pump over - when you pump the juice from the bottom of the tank back over the cap of grape skins floating on top
Punch down - when you push the cap of grape skins back down into the underlying juice to extract more colour and flavour
Pyrazines - compounds in grapes which give the aroma and flavour of green pepper and grass found in red and white wines
Racking - when they scoop the wine off of the less, now they have just juice
Reductive - allowing no oxygen contact with your fermenting wine, the exact opposite of oxidative winemaking. It can results in flinty, struck match and other sulfur smells
Remontage - French term for pump over
Residual sugar - sugar left in the wine after fermentation is finished
Ripeness - in grapes its when the grape has reached a happy balance between sugars and acids
Secondary aromas - smells derived from the fermentation and maturing process
Stuck fermentation - when the yeast cells die before fermentation is complete, main causes of SF are excessive temperatures or nitrogen deficient grapes.
Sulphur - used as a disinfectant in the winery and added to wine and freshly picked grapes as an anti-oxidant
Tannin - what causes the dry, puckering feeling in your mouth when you drink wine, especially red, essential for aging wine
Tartrate crystals - aka wine diamonds can form in wine, they are harmless and look like clear sand particles
TCA - Trichloroanisole the real term for cork taint
Terroir - French for soil
Tertiary aromas - smells derived from bottle aging
Trichloroanisole - aka TCA scientific term for cork taint
Variety - type of grape ie Sauvignon Blanc, Pinotage or Shiraz
Veraison - when grapes ripen and turn either red or 'white' from their original green
Viniculturist - wine maker
Vinification - the process of turn grapes into wine
Vino - another name for wine
Vintage - the year the grapes were picked and processed
Viticulturist - person who grow and looks after the vineyards
Volatile acidity - a wine flaw which smells like nail varnish remover
Wine - the best stuff in the world
Yeast - a single cell organism that loves to eat carbohydrates (sugar), yeast cells are on our skin too
Yield - the amount of grapes a vineyard can produce per hectare

Sterhuis Viognier

2012-10-05T02:01:00.000-07:00

This Viognier is full, rich, silky & decadent

It was fermented in French oak barrels

This wine is elegant & well balanced

It has a perfumed nose of frangipani & peaches

This wine is good for your soul

Cheers!

Longridge Chardonnay 2008

2012-10-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

Check out our Chardonnay of choice for Summer

The Longridge Chardonnay 2008 is full bodied

It has a silky smooth mouthfeel

This wooded Chardonnay is peaches & dried apricots on the palate with a citrus finish

We serve this wine by the glass at the moment so pop in & give it a try

Cheers!

Simply White

2012-10-04T07:33:00.004-07:00

We have a new wine on our list for Summer

Simply White by Vins d'Orrance is a blend of Chenin Blanc & Viognier

This unwooded white has a silky mouthfeel because it was left on the lees

It has aromas of honeysuckle, tropical fruit & orange blossoms

If you don't know what any of that smells like, pop in, buy a glass & stick your nose in it:)

Cheers!