Wednesday 21 May 2014

It's that time of year


Wine Village is once again proud to host the 17th Hermanus Wine and Food Festival, one of South Africa’s Top 10 Wine Festivals. This is a celebration of great wines from the Elgin to Elim region. It is a true country festival where you will experience more than 320 impressive wines.

The Elgin to Elim region has grown to more than 80 wine producers in 2014. From Ataraxia to Zoetendal encompasses a wine region full of wine gems. Present will be giants in the wine industry such as Hamilton Russell, Creation and Domaine des Dieux.

Wine Village has more that 1 600 carefully selected South Africa wines on its shelves and offer daily, 7 days a week, free tastings of at least six wines. Wines are shipped to every continent on earth, even to Antarctica.

In the Food Marquee, our local chefs, cooks and yummy food creators will take you on a culinary experience. Specialities of our region include lip smacking snacks to gourmet meals on the go. The Professors and Gypsy Jones will keep you entertained with their rich sounds. The Festival promises to be a delectable journey in the presence of great music, friends and wine.

Entrance to the Food Marquee is free whilst entrance to the Wine Tent, where more than 300 wines are on show, is R120 per person. This includes a wine glass and an information booklet on all of the producers. As always, children are more than welcome and will be entertained in the special activity center where they can play and partake in activities for free while you explore the offerings on show.

The Hermanus Wine and Food Festival promises to be a wine experience where you will meet new friends, discover new wines and find that whales are not the only reason for people visiting Hermanus. Savour local flavours at the Hermanus Wine and Food Festival 2014! All the wines will be available for purchase at cellar door prices. The Festival is proudly presented to you by Wine Village. Diarise 8, 9 and 10 August 2014. Visit www.hermanuswineandfood.co.za for more information.

Join us for a fine wine time.


Wednesday 7 May 2014

Charming Chardonnay


Chardonnay is one of the most versatile grape varietals in the world, as well as one of the most planted. This was the theme of the Hermanus Wine Club and was presented by Reino Thiart from Whalehaven Wines.
    The evening started off with a rosé from Whalehaven wines. The winery is the third oldest in the Hemel en Aarde and had its first vintage in 1994. The cellar is situated at the very beginning of the Hermanus Wine route but the farm is situated in the Somerset West area, near the Hottentots Holland Mountains. It is a difficult area in which to grow grapes. The rosé is made from pinotage and “the wine is made for itself, I don’t use the runoff to make my rosé” states Reino.
    Bouchard Finlayson Sans Barrique, the first and only unwooded chardonnay, sources its grapes from the Villiersdorp area. Chardonnay is one of the most neutral of the varietals, and picks up the flavours of barrels and soil very easily. “Chardonnay loves wood, they are best friends.” It is difficult to make a Chardonnay that did not spend time in barrels to have the same full bodied flavours and can become a “thin” wine if not handled properly. “The Sans Barrique spent more time on the lees in order to bulk up” says Reino.
    Weltevrede Place of Rocks Chardonnay was the second wine of the evening. The winery is in the Roberston region. The vineyard is planted where broken shale rocks are found. There is marmalade on the nose and is intense and focused. The acidity of the wine is mellower and is buttery, round and has fatness of a Chardonnay which has spent time in barrels.
     The two Chardonnays from Whalehaven Wines were done as a vertical pairing. The 2012 Chardonnay was the first time that Reino had been able to source wine from the Hemel en Aarde and he states that the grapes are from the Upper Hemel en Aarde area. The previous vintages’ grapes were sourced from the Elgin region. The two wines are vastly different, which goes to show that the climate and soil does make a difference when it comes to wine. The 2011 Chardonnay is more fruit driven than the 2012, and could spend more time in barrels. The barrels for both wines were 50% new French oak where the 2011 spend 14 months in barrels, the 2012 spend a total of eight months in barrels; otherwise “the wood would've overwhelmed the wine”. The Elgin sourced 2011 contained more fruit flavours, including that of pineapple, which is rare in a Chardonnay. The 2012 has got more minerality and can be described as burgandian in style. The 2012 Whalehaven Chardonnay will be released mid to end of 2014. Whalehaven has won a Taj Hotel Classic Wine trophy for the 2012 Chardonnay. 
     Sumsaré from the Robertson area is the newest cellar in the line-up and is the only wild yeast Chardonnay. The wine opens up in the glass, which indicates that it is a good idea to decant it. The bottles are hand labelled and R2 from every bottle sold will be donated to the Wilderness Foundation Rhino Protection Initiative to help protect rhinos from poaching. The wild yeast is produced from the natural yeast found on the skin of the grapes.
    Durbanville Hills Rhinofields Chardonnay was the final wine of the evening. The wine is well integrated with balance between the fruit, barrel and lees contact. The wine is slightly sweeter as it was allowed to hang longer on the vines and botrytis, found in Noble Late Harvest, started to set in. The label is named after the Renosterveld fynbos which the winery is conserving. The Rhinofields Chardonnay was one of the top 10 Chardonnays in the World.
    The Chardonnays on taste was from vastly different climates as well as styles, which goes to show that Chardonnay is versatile but Reino believes that “Chardonnay should be made in a style supportive of the grape.”
     The next wine club will take place on Tuesday 3 June and the theme is the wines from Kranskop. Guests are welcome to join for the evening at R30 per person.