Paarl Pleasures
“Come! I am tasting the stars!” Dom Perignon exuberantly proclaimed on tasting his first bottle of champagne. I was lucky enough to sip on a glass or two of Avondale's Brut Method Cap Classique, while brand manager Madeleine Jordaan gave me the run down on the estate's policies of organic and bio-logic wine farming. I can just imagine Dom's enthusiasm had he sampled this yeasty chardonnay-based bubbly, alive with citrus notes.
Avondale are market leaders in the trend towards organic wine production. For owner and viticulturist Johnathan Grieve, organic is not just a buzz word or latest trend, and he has taken this school of thought even further to create the concept of bio-logic farming. The key to this according to Grieve, is in the soil, which is rejuvenated using cover crops. “We do not feed the vine, but rather the system and the soil life, which in turn feeds the vine and maintains perfect balance.” he says. This practice, along with their rather quirky pest control methods, means that top quality wines are produced in a sustainable way, free from chemicals, pesticides and artificial fertilizers.
Avondale has a 'work force' of 100 ducks who control the snails on the entire farm. Each year, the farm adopts a batch of day-old ducklings, and rears them until they are around two months old, when they are trained to start work as snail-terminators. The ducks are housed in a converted reservoir, where they sleep at night. The 'duck-mobile' arrives each morning to fetch the ducks, who enthusiastically walk the ramp of the tractor-pulled trailer, ready for their snail feast. Patrolling systematically through the vineyards, no snail escapes the beady eyes of this nature approved and target specific pest control team. Backing up the infantry on the ground are an air-force unit of predatory wasps, that are released to destroy the mealy bug, and two strains of natural bacteria combat downy mildew and worms.
The fact that Mother Nature approves these farming methods is evident in the quality of the wines produced at Avondale. Particularly notable is the Camissa Syrah 2005. 100% shiraz, and matured for 16 months in French oak, this wine is well balanced, spicy and intense in colour. The Owl House Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 is a full berry-flavoured wine, which lends it name from the breeding owl pairs on the farm. Several owl houses have been erected in the vineyards to encourage breeding barn owls.
If you plan a day or two exploring the Paarl wine route, then definitely worthy of a mention is Fairview. Fairview cannot be classified as an estate, as not all their grapes are grown on the grounds where the wine is produced. In no way does this deter from the quality of the wines in the Fairview portfolio. In fact the opposite is true, as winemaker Charles Back is not restricted to cultivars grown on the farm, and can choose the best grapes available from different growing regions. Three ranges are on offer for tasting: The Fairview range, including a limited release selection; Goats Do Roam range, and the newly introduced La Capra collection.
Knowledgeable staff, obviously passionate about the products on offer, will talk you through a tasting session. My favourite of those tasted was the Primo Pinotage – a spicy wine with notes of dark chocolate and vanilla, part of the limited release selection. To introduce their new La Capra range, Fairview has a fantastic value for money offer: Buy any six bottles of this range for R200, which works out to a mere R33 a bottle, for an excellent quality wine. I did take advantage of this offer, several times over.
No visit to Fairview would be complete without sampling some of their award-winning cheeses, and a cheese and wine paring option is available in the tasting room. The Goats Do Roam range of wines, with their tongue-in-cheek names, honour the goats of Fairview and the iconic goat tower that stands at the entrance. The farm has a resident herd of some 600 goats, whose milk is used in the making of the cheeses. An old maturation cellar has been converted into a restaurant known as The Goatshed. The menu is Mediterranean inspired, making use of the farm's cheeses, and allows for both indoor and outdoor dining.
There is a reason why Noble Hill is rated at the second best wine farm in South Africa, on Spit or Swallow, a website respected by wine critics and connoisseurs for its honest and straight shooting opinions. My view is that the energy and passion portrayed by Kathleen Tillery and her wine-making son Kristopher is so contagious, it seems to be absorbed into the wines by osmosis. Kristopher enthusiastically showed me around his cellar and maturation room, clambering over barrels in search of the right one from which to draw some still fermenting wine. He pulled the plug on a barrel of his private collection merlot, placed his ear to the hole, and excitedly said “Yip, come listen here, this one's bubbling away!” Tasting wine directly from the barrel was a new experience for me. Although the wines were very young, and not as sophisticated as that matured and bottled, there was something quite special about sampling early in the process, before the flavours are complex, and trying to predict the potential. I was surprised at how smooth the wine was, considering it has only been on oak for a month; I was expecting a lot more tannins. Kristopher explained that this was because only run-off juice and a light hand pressing meant that no pips were crushed, which hold the harsher tannins.
Moving on to the tasting room, I asked Kristopher if I could try his favourite wine. Not being able to choose only one, he brought to the table a Shiraz Mourvèdre 2006, and the1674 Signature blend 2005. Tasting both, I could see why he couldn't select one as his favourite. The Shiraz Mouvèdre is a dark, full-bodied, spicy wine with cassis notes, ideal for a winter's evening. Kristopher has perfected a Bordeaux-style with his 1674 Signature Blend 2005 – rich, smooth and chocolatey.
Of the many wine estates I have visited, Noble Hill impressed the most. From the immaculate gardens that lead to the dam, to the sophisticated yet offbeat tasting room, attention to detail is evident. The Latin inspired Cosecha restaurant overlooks the dam, and lends itself to relaxed, lazy afternoons. Farm fresh Latin flavours are brought to the Cape, and a pepper and chilli garden supplies the highly spiced menu. The feel of the restaurant is a fusion of Latin and African style, with leather armchairs and Nguni hides on the floor giving an African feel, and a wall of cacti-filled terracotta pots adding a Latin splash. Glass panels allow the breeze through in summer, where temperatures are known to exceed 40° C, and large gas heaters warm in winter. Sit in the restaurant, or choose a classic or Mediterranean-influenced picnic basket to enjoy in the garden.
Each year, Noble Hill produces a small batch of olive oil, under the label 'Virgin Territory'. A gift pack of flavour-infused oils has also been introduced, and if you can't make it to the farm, the range is now also available at Melissa's food shops in Cape Town. The bottles can be refilled at Noble Hill, should you need a good excuse for a lunch outing.
It is impossible to truly experience the Paarl wine region in one day. Paarl is one of the oldest towns in South Africa, steeped in heritage and tradition. It therefore seems fitting to stay at the Grand Roche Hotel, which has a history dating back to 1717, when the land was granted to Hermanus Bosman. Over the years, the homestead grew, evolved and changed ownership, and in 1953 after a fire, it was rebuilt as a Victorian Manor House. In 1991, it was transformed into a luxury hotel, and restored to its original Cape Dutch grandeur.
Two years later, this fastidious restoration was acknowledged, and the Grande Roche Hotel was declared a national monument.
In 1995, the Grande Roche was awarded Relais Gourmand status. This double accolade recognises an establishment which combines the cuisine of a Relais Gourmand with the comfort of a stay. Restaurants or hotels which provide their guests with cuisine of the highest quality, together with exceptional service are rewarded with this label by Relais & Châteaux. Grande Roche is still the only hotel in African to be honoured with this award. Since 1999, the hotel's Bosman's restaurant, has won the American Express Platinum Fine Dining Restaurant Award every year, and currently has executive chef Roland Gorgosilich at the helm.
Rather than select from the a la carte menu, experience the full range of the chef's talents, by selecting one of the set menus – Harmony of the South, Vegetarian, or the Tasting Menu. Each menu offers 5-7 flavour-intense courses. The Harmony of the South choice includes trio of ostrich, shellfish broth, kingklip in biltong dust and a nut-crusted springbok loin. Choose from an impressive wine list to compliment the meal, or enjoy a cigar from a selection that would impress Fidel Castro.
Breakfast is a rather grand affair. Indulge in champagne and oysters under the chandeliers of the elegant restaurant, or select from the abundant buffet. I chose to savour a flaky butter croissant with Fairview cheeses, as I soaked up the sun on the patio overlooking the vineyard; the Paarl Valley in the distance. As I sipped my morning coffee, I reflected on my Paarl gastronomic experience, and these wise words by Ernest Hemingway came to mind: "In Europe we thought of wine as something as healthy and normal as food and also a great giver of happiness and well-being and delight. Drinking wine was not a snobism, nor a sign of sophistication, nor a cult; it was as natural as eating and to me, as necessary."
Rose-Anne Turner - as written for Explore Africa - issue 27
Avondale are market leaders in the trend towards organic wine production. For owner and viticulturist Johnathan Grieve, organic is not just a buzz word or latest trend, and he has taken this school of thought even further to create the concept of bio-logic farming. The key to this according to Grieve, is in the soil, which is rejuvenated using cover crops. “We do not feed the vine, but rather the system and the soil life, which in turn feeds the vine and maintains perfect balance.” he says. This practice, along with their rather quirky pest control methods, means that top quality wines are produced in a sustainable way, free from chemicals, pesticides and artificial fertilizers.
Avondale has a 'work force' of 100 ducks who control the snails on the entire farm. Each year, the farm adopts a batch of day-old ducklings, and rears them until they are around two months old, when they are trained to start work as snail-terminators. The ducks are housed in a converted reservoir, where they sleep at night. The 'duck-mobile' arrives each morning to fetch the ducks, who enthusiastically walk the ramp of the tractor-pulled trailer, ready for their snail feast. Patrolling systematically through the vineyards, no snail escapes the beady eyes of this nature approved and target specific pest control team. Backing up the infantry on the ground are an air-force unit of predatory wasps, that are released to destroy the mealy bug, and two strains of natural bacteria combat downy mildew and worms.
The fact that Mother Nature approves these farming methods is evident in the quality of the wines produced at Avondale. Particularly notable is the Camissa Syrah 2005. 100% shiraz, and matured for 16 months in French oak, this wine is well balanced, spicy and intense in colour. The Owl House Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 is a full berry-flavoured wine, which lends it name from the breeding owl pairs on the farm. Several owl houses have been erected in the vineyards to encourage breeding barn owls.
If you plan a day or two exploring the Paarl wine route, then definitely worthy of a mention is Fairview. Fairview cannot be classified as an estate, as not all their grapes are grown on the grounds where the wine is produced. In no way does this deter from the quality of the wines in the Fairview portfolio. In fact the opposite is true, as winemaker Charles Back is not restricted to cultivars grown on the farm, and can choose the best grapes available from different growing regions. Three ranges are on offer for tasting: The Fairview range, including a limited release selection; Goats Do Roam range, and the newly introduced La Capra collection.
Knowledgeable staff, obviously passionate about the products on offer, will talk you through a tasting session. My favourite of those tasted was the Primo Pinotage – a spicy wine with notes of dark chocolate and vanilla, part of the limited release selection. To introduce their new La Capra range, Fairview has a fantastic value for money offer: Buy any six bottles of this range for R200, which works out to a mere R33 a bottle, for an excellent quality wine. I did take advantage of this offer, several times over.
No visit to Fairview would be complete without sampling some of their award-winning cheeses, and a cheese and wine paring option is available in the tasting room. The Goats Do Roam range of wines, with their tongue-in-cheek names, honour the goats of Fairview and the iconic goat tower that stands at the entrance. The farm has a resident herd of some 600 goats, whose milk is used in the making of the cheeses. An old maturation cellar has been converted into a restaurant known as The Goatshed. The menu is Mediterranean inspired, making use of the farm's cheeses, and allows for both indoor and outdoor dining.
There is a reason why Noble Hill is rated at the second best wine farm in South Africa, on Spit or Swallow, a website respected by wine critics and connoisseurs for its honest and straight shooting opinions. My view is that the energy and passion portrayed by Kathleen Tillery and her wine-making son Kristopher is so contagious, it seems to be absorbed into the wines by osmosis. Kristopher enthusiastically showed me around his cellar and maturation room, clambering over barrels in search of the right one from which to draw some still fermenting wine. He pulled the plug on a barrel of his private collection merlot, placed his ear to the hole, and excitedly said “Yip, come listen here, this one's bubbling away!” Tasting wine directly from the barrel was a new experience for me. Although the wines were very young, and not as sophisticated as that matured and bottled, there was something quite special about sampling early in the process, before the flavours are complex, and trying to predict the potential. I was surprised at how smooth the wine was, considering it has only been on oak for a month; I was expecting a lot more tannins. Kristopher explained that this was because only run-off juice and a light hand pressing meant that no pips were crushed, which hold the harsher tannins.
Moving on to the tasting room, I asked Kristopher if I could try his favourite wine. Not being able to choose only one, he brought to the table a Shiraz Mourvèdre 2006, and the1674 Signature blend 2005. Tasting both, I could see why he couldn't select one as his favourite. The Shiraz Mouvèdre is a dark, full-bodied, spicy wine with cassis notes, ideal for a winter's evening. Kristopher has perfected a Bordeaux-style with his 1674 Signature Blend 2005 – rich, smooth and chocolatey.
Of the many wine estates I have visited, Noble Hill impressed the most. From the immaculate gardens that lead to the dam, to the sophisticated yet offbeat tasting room, attention to detail is evident. The Latin inspired Cosecha restaurant overlooks the dam, and lends itself to relaxed, lazy afternoons. Farm fresh Latin flavours are brought to the Cape, and a pepper and chilli garden supplies the highly spiced menu. The feel of the restaurant is a fusion of Latin and African style, with leather armchairs and Nguni hides on the floor giving an African feel, and a wall of cacti-filled terracotta pots adding a Latin splash. Glass panels allow the breeze through in summer, where temperatures are known to exceed 40° C, and large gas heaters warm in winter. Sit in the restaurant, or choose a classic or Mediterranean-influenced picnic basket to enjoy in the garden.
Each year, Noble Hill produces a small batch of olive oil, under the label 'Virgin Territory'. A gift pack of flavour-infused oils has also been introduced, and if you can't make it to the farm, the range is now also available at Melissa's food shops in Cape Town. The bottles can be refilled at Noble Hill, should you need a good excuse for a lunch outing.
It is impossible to truly experience the Paarl wine region in one day. Paarl is one of the oldest towns in South Africa, steeped in heritage and tradition. It therefore seems fitting to stay at the Grand Roche Hotel, which has a history dating back to 1717, when the land was granted to Hermanus Bosman. Over the years, the homestead grew, evolved and changed ownership, and in 1953 after a fire, it was rebuilt as a Victorian Manor House. In 1991, it was transformed into a luxury hotel, and restored to its original Cape Dutch grandeur.
Two years later, this fastidious restoration was acknowledged, and the Grande Roche Hotel was declared a national monument.
In 1995, the Grande Roche was awarded Relais Gourmand status. This double accolade recognises an establishment which combines the cuisine of a Relais Gourmand with the comfort of a stay. Restaurants or hotels which provide their guests with cuisine of the highest quality, together with exceptional service are rewarded with this label by Relais & Châteaux. Grande Roche is still the only hotel in African to be honoured with this award. Since 1999, the hotel's Bosman's restaurant, has won the American Express Platinum Fine Dining Restaurant Award every year, and currently has executive chef Roland Gorgosilich at the helm.
Rather than select from the a la carte menu, experience the full range of the chef's talents, by selecting one of the set menus – Harmony of the South, Vegetarian, or the Tasting Menu. Each menu offers 5-7 flavour-intense courses. The Harmony of the South choice includes trio of ostrich, shellfish broth, kingklip in biltong dust and a nut-crusted springbok loin. Choose from an impressive wine list to compliment the meal, or enjoy a cigar from a selection that would impress Fidel Castro.
Breakfast is a rather grand affair. Indulge in champagne and oysters under the chandeliers of the elegant restaurant, or select from the abundant buffet. I chose to savour a flaky butter croissant with Fairview cheeses, as I soaked up the sun on the patio overlooking the vineyard; the Paarl Valley in the distance. As I sipped my morning coffee, I reflected on my Paarl gastronomic experience, and these wise words by Ernest Hemingway came to mind: "In Europe we thought of wine as something as healthy and normal as food and also a great giver of happiness and well-being and delight. Drinking wine was not a snobism, nor a sign of sophistication, nor a cult; it was as natural as eating and to me, as necessary."
Rose-Anne Turner - as written for Explore Africa - issue 27