Cape Town - It was, simply, the best yet. De Wetshof biennial Celebration of Chardonnay is always an event to relish, as fine Cape chards are lined up, tasted and compared, and others paired with a designer lunch menu.
This year the panel, headed by Dave Hughes, used blind tastings to choose 16 wines from various regions in their goal to identify chardonnay that illustrates site-specificity. The tasting offered ample proof of the panel’s achievement with these wines expressing their place of origin in fine style.
Guest speaker Andrew Jefford, one of the world’s leading wine commentators, was captivating, eloquent and informative, taking his audience on a chardonnay journey from the Burgundian village that lent the grape its name, through the development of the wine in Europe and across the globe to cool sites in Canada and hot parts of Western Australia, where the grapes adapted to soil and climate to produce varying pleasing results.
The chardonnays from Groot Constantia, Cape Point, Vergelegen, Chamonix and Rustenberg wowed, with others offering individual charms. The grapes used were all home-grown, or, as Chamonix winemaker Gottfried Mocke expressed it: “Here, there’s no terroir by truck!”
It was interesting to see how prices varied: R325 for the Jordan Nine Yards chardonnay 2013 to a modest R55 for Kranskopf chardonnay 2012.
A further delectable lineup of chardonnay awaited guests in the marquee for lunch; a meal in which chef Garth Stroebel created courses featuring ingredients from the same region as the chardonnays which with they were paired. Thus, the starter of smoked river salmon trout with avo, fromage blanc and micro greens complemented two Franschhoek labels – Môreson and La Motte – along with a French Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet.
Renowned chef-cum-restaurateur Luke Dale Roberts was awarded the Golden Vine, De Wetshof’s recognition of chefs that have helped our cuisine reach stellar heights – just a fortnight ahead of his triumph as the Test Kitchen took top honours in the EatOut Restaurant Awards.
In fact everyone – from winemakers to industry role players – benefits from De Wet hospitality in hosting this celebration.
Local chardonnays top the list
Cape chardonnays came under scrutiny at the annual Christian Eedes Chardonnay Report. This, the fourth assessment, saw 60 wines judged by a three-strong panel. Establishing the best area for local chardonnay was a key point of debate. While Elgin and Hemel-en-Aarde are traditionally regarded as prime districts, this year seven out of the top 10 came from Stellenbosch.
The top 10 chardonnays for 2014 are:
Hartenberg The Eleanor 2012 and Uva Mira 2013, both rated five-star
Chamonix Reserve 2013
Eikendal 2013
Grand Vin de Glenelly 2013
Haskell Anvil 2012
Longridge 2013
Newton Johnson Southend 2013
Paul Cluver 2013
Stellenrust Barrel Fermented 2013
For more details, visit www.winemag.co.za.
Best of the best reap their rewards
The Diners Club Winemaker of the Year Awards were presented at a Franschhoek function recently. The category judged was white blends and Jacques Erasmus of Spier was the winner for his Spier Creative Block 2 2014. Steenberg merlot 2012 served its winemaker JD Pretorius well, as it won him the title Young Winemaker of the Year – the category being red wines. Among their prizes are air tickets to the US , accommodation and unique trophies.
Both winners qualified with more than one wine, as Jacques had two in the finals and JD had three.
Weekend Argus