White Blends

At its most basic, vintners blend wine made from different grapes in order to add more complexity to the flavour and texture of a wine. The goal of blending wine made in different vintages is more to balance out the flavour characteristics. 

Some wine blends are made from classic recipes handed down from generation to generation. Other vintners create brand new blends in an attempt to produce a new and exciting wine that has flavour characteristics like nothing else on the market.

Many wine growers in South Africa have been dedicated to producing just a single varietal of white wine, such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. The expertise which is put into producing these wines has allowed the wine industry in South Africa to flourish, but for many wine experts, it is the white wine blends that the country produces which really show the stand-out talents of its wine makers. White wine blends are more difficult to produce than those of red wine, simply because of the more delicate nature of the wine, and the risks of marring the colour through over-blending.

There are perhaps two distinct white wine blends that South Africa is producing, and which are worth exploring further.

The first is a classic blending of Sauvignon Blanc with Semillon, which is then fermented before being matured in barrels made from French Oak. The strength of the Semillon, undercut by the fruit-bearing intensity of the Sauvignon Blanc, provide an elegant and well-rounded white wine blend that grows in complexity as it matures. This wine is a classic, and there is no real change from age-old traditional methods of manufacturing this blend.

The other white wine blend is a little more of a surprise package, and revolves around the blending of Chenin Blanc with a number of different varieties from the Rhône region. These wines can include Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Viognier, and Rousanne. Part of the reason for this mix is the large amount of white wine which has been produced by the Swartland area. Not all of it has been suitable for single-varietal wines, and so good blends have been produced in order to absorb the wine lake. These are usually very good white blends, such as the Palladius wine, which used slightly mature Chenin grapes with a mixture of white wines, although it is very costly. Another, Sequillo, is a mix of Chenin, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, and Viognier.

  

Those of you who know the wines of Adi Badenhorst, will agree with me that his white blend, A.A. Badenhorst is truly unique. The blend contains Chenin Blanc, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Verdehlo and Chardonnay!  

Making wine is an art and it is amazing to be able to admire and enjoy our own winemakers living out their passion!

#Chardonnay

The Hermanus Wine Route is famous for its award winning Chardonnay's...Hamilton Russell, Bouchard Finlayson, Ataraxia and Creation to name but a few!

The Chardonnay grape is thought to have originated in Lebanon, and in France Chardonnay became the only grape allowed to be grown in Chablis, Burgundy.

These white Bungundy wines were well enjoyed, and the grape is also used in sparkling wines and Champagne. The perfect South African example is Genevieve MCC which is 100% Chardonnay:-) Simply put...an amazing bubbly!

Winemakers love Chardonnay because the vines are easy to grow, and have a high yield. Wine drinkers love Chardonnay because of the wide variety of flavours it can take on.  Depending on where it's grown and how it's fermented, wooded or unwooded. Typical flavours are apple, tangerine, lemon, lime, melon, and oak.

Brandy

A little bit of information about brandy for those of you who want to sound very clever at the next social event:

The name brandy comes from the Dutch word brandewijn, meaning "burnt wine." The name is apt as most brandies are made by applying heat, originally from open flames, to wine. The heat drives out and concentrates the alcohol naturally present in the wine. While brandies are usually made from wine or other fermented fruit juices, it can be distilled from any liquid that contains sugar. All that is required is that the liquid be allowed to ferment and that the resulting mildly-alcoholic product not be heated past the boiling point of water. The low-boiling point liquids distilled from wine include almost all of the alcohol, a small amount of water, and many of the wine's organic chemicals. It is these chemicals that give brandy its taste and aroma.

It is unknown when people discovered that food could be converted to alcohol through fermentation. It appears that the discovery of fermentation occurred simultaneously with the rise of the first civilizations, which may not be a coincidence. At about the same time that people in Europe discovered that apple and grape juice, both containing fructose, would ferment into hard cider and wine, people in the Middle East discovered that grains, which contain maltose, would naturally ferment into beer, and people in Asia discovered that horse milk, containing lactose, would naturally ferment into airag. The first distilled liquor may in fact have been horse milk brandy, with the alcohol separated from fermented horses' milk by freezing out the water during the harsh Mongolian winter.

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog!

First of all a little bit more about the Wine Village.

The Wine Village opened its doors in 1997 and quickly became one of the country’s Top Ten Wine Shops.

It is the first and last stop on the route up the Hemel-en-Aarde Road.  This gives wine lovers a one-stop indulgence in wine browsing and tasting in an atmosphere of serene bliss. The largest collection of South African wines under one roof is elegantly displayed in neat, inviting rows, grouped according to cultivars, styles, new innovations and bargains – a wine library ready to be lovingly browsed and selected.

We are a great team of wine lovers and for those of you who are not familiar with the Wine Village team...let me introduce them to you.

Paul and Cathy are a power couple, the ultimate husband and wife team who started it all...and run the show! Paul, the owner, will always be ready with the next amazing story and his knowledge of wine is something to write home about. Cathy does it all! A multi tasker, driven person who manages the team with passion...and persuasive looks:-)

Hester, is the first person you will probably see as you walk into the shop. She has been with the Wine Village for more than 10 years and with her extensive knowledge of wine, she is always ready to assist and recommend wine that will suit your taste and pocket:-).

Foreman and Ruan are always ready with a smile to assist customers in the shop and at the tasting counter.

Karien is our accountant who keeps the wheels turning, the wine flowing, the lids on the pans...and by the way, is Paul and Cathy's daughter in law. 

Rozanne manages the conference centre and the extensive wine database of over 7000 wines.  Apart from sales and administration she writes the blog and updates our social media and website.

Wine is our passion, our love and we feel very strongly that life is too short to drink bad wine! In the same breath I want to open the topic about the quality and price debate.
Good wine does NOT have to be expensive. And why are you buying the wine, is it to savour and enjoy with a special dinner, or are you and your friends around the fire enjoying an easy drinking red blend? This is a major difference between a R50 and a R150 bottle of wine. This of course excludes those really special wines of Anthony, André, Kevin, Eben to name but a few.............we have them all and then some.  Please join us for a free informative fine wine time!