Week 4 and we’re on to Vrede en Lust, with two lovely blends the Cotes de Savoye and White Mischief open from Thursday:
“Whilst they may claim a heritage that extends back to 1688, the real story here began in 1997 when Dana Buys, in partnership with his brother Etienne bought this stupidly beautiful estate between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. When the neighbouring farm of Wolve Kloof came onto the market shortly thereafter Dana scarcely hesitated before adding that to the family property portfolio and, in so doing, restoring the boundaries of the property as they had existed in 1783. Subsequently, they have acquired 57 hectares in the slightly cooler climate of Elgin where the focus is on Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Pinot Noir.
Winemaker, Susan Erasmus has developed a broad but uniformly impressive range covering a wide range of styles from just off-dry Riesling to a strikingly good Bordeaux blend – Boet Erasmus; this latter wine is one of three from the estate to find its way into the 2017 SA Top 100.
85% of the estate’s wines are currently sold on their domestic market – here’s hoping that we can tweak that number and see sales in the UK reflecting the quality and value on offer.”
You really should have been there………………
There are tastings and then there are tastings and last month we served up the most phenomenal Italian Masterclass in the company of Michael Palij, Master of Wine, who steered us through some of his most recent discoveries (notably a Sardinian quartet which provided all the evidence you need of the revolution taking place in the island’s vineyards and cellars).