Stellenbosch Wine Route in One Year 2011 - The Maiden Voyage

Inspired after a week of presenting wine tastings, I decided to indulge my own addiction to holding the glass at its base ever so pretentiously.  My goal for 2011 is to visit ALL the wine farms on the Stellenbosch Wine Route.  So far, I have a detailed schedule containing 151 farms to be visited every second Saturday (and certain Sundays).  Four or five farms are visited during one tour.  I evaluate the wine in a straightforward, almost oversimplified fashion, seeing as I am still learning: appearance (out of 3), nose (7), and palate (10).  I make notes while tasting just to see how the often perplexed tasting facilitator, if that is what they/we are called, changes his or her attitude from unwisely condescending to politely engaging and informative... maybe hoping that some exposure might aid in a tongue-stuck-out escape from the shackles of working on a Sunday until 5pm, but alas.

The ideal is not to endlessly, and often so unfairly, ostracise wine estates in an attempt to sound, oh, so very clever and informed.  Why do critics so often mistake nastiness and malevolent ejaculations of over saturated pessimism for intelligence?  I embark on this perusal of what is hidden in my backyard not to prove myself as an accomplished (also confused often with "snotty") wine writer, but to enjoy myself and learn in the process.  Hence the fact that I will only be writing about the highlights of my tours, in other words, I will be writing about how much I enjoyed the tour and not about how I managed to bullshit myself into believing that I am blessed with a palate of such fine grace and nanotechnological splendour that no substance in the world can ever satisfy my advanced, futuristic gustatory needs.  If you want to find out where not to taste wine (because visiting a wine farm with slightly inferior wines would of course lead to inevitable, apocalyptic disaster!), you can follow the elegant, but lonely writers of the Platter... 

I will thus present to you the highlights of my first tour of the year on the 9th of January 2011.  Wine estates/farms, carefully chosen in order not to arrive at dead man's door on a cloudy Sunday, included four venues: Kleine Zalze, Blaauwklippen, Dornier, and Peter Falke. 

Bravely ignoring the obvious risk of being trampled to death on the estate, Kleine Zalze delivers a tangy, clove-infused, lightly-wooded 2009 Shiraz-Mourvèdre-Viognier which can serve as good follow-up after shamelessly indulging in their fruity, please-do-not-refrain-from-using-in-a-picnic-punch 2010 Gamay Noir.  This Gamay Noir is ideal for a surprising variety of meals and it is best to be imaginative and allow your creativity to soar while exploring the easy-drinking qualities of the red berry flavours this wine possesses.  I can imagine the spicy SMV going superbly with a cinnamon-infused Moroccan dinner. 

With the exoticism of North African cuisine still in mind, you can inventively combine your tagine with Blaauwklippen's not to be scoffed at red 2006 Zinfandel where the nose is tricked to incline towards Port-style wine. With hints of the expected sultana taste on the palate, the wine is still surprsingly dry and smooth.  Enjoy Blaauwklippen's 2006 Cabriolet with its tobacco and cherry flavours after dinner while smoking some hubly.  The 2006 Barouche's Malbec nuances creates the link to the next stop on my tour as a disctinct rum flavour surprises the palate.

With the legend of Cocoa Hill enriched with pirate mythology, Dornier's tropical, subtly sweet 2009 Donatus White (Chenin Blanc and Semillon blend) accompanies the associations with the farm aptly.  The raspberry and tobacco nose of the 2007 Donatus Red (Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc) with its complex and well-sustained finish is enough to cure any Calico Jack from an unhealthy rum obsession.  That is if Mr. Jack has been ruthless enough a pirate to afford this rather pricey item. 

If you are not scared of weird and colourful inanimate objects sprawled Dr. Seuz-style on a lawn with intimidating silver things and stuff glaring at you while intrusive pop music plays unabashedly over the high fidelity speakers, then you might enjoy the expensive tasting at Peter Falke.  Two vastly different-looking Blanc de Noirs (2008 and 2009), await you with hints of candy floss and caramel, reminding you of the very 'kermis' the surroundings seem to emulate.  The "Signature"-range includes a full-bodied, complex pepper, tobacco (I might have been smoking too much), and clove possessed 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon which  causes an ambivalent moment of wondering whether you should put the glass down, or just risk driving home inebriated.

Overall, a good experience with variety and interesting, diverse personalities around every corner.  In my inexperience I have not yet learned how to spit properly (or at all for that matter), so I promise to keep you posted on my next tour, but now I seriously have to take a little nap.

Find out more about the "Stellenbosch Wine Route" over here.