Situated 11 kilometres from our house, The Restaurant at Waterkloof Wines is our destination of choice when dining out. This year we have enjoyed Greg’s food on 6 occasions at the restaurant as customers and once as members of their wine club. The wine club event was hosted by Paul Boutinot who refers to himself as the custodian of the estate. Paul explained how he wanted specific factors when choosing where in the world to grow his grapes and make his wines, and I for one am extremely grateful he chose the slopes of the Schapenberg Mountains. These are the mountains I gaze upon from our balcony at home. This post is about my Wine Tasting At Waterkloof experience.
I was invited to a media lunch and it is the first time I have been to Waterkloof as a blogger. This offered up a unique experience for me as part of the day included a cellar tour, something I have not done before. While waiting for everyone to arrive we sat on the balcony overlooking False Bay on the new couches designed by Greg. We were offered the Circumstance Cape Coral 2014 to sip on. This rosé wine is made from Mouvèdre grapes and is naturally acidic with hints of strawberry and a very floral nose, hinting at the fynbos that grows all over the estate. I am currently savouring the 2011 vintage at home, often using it to marinade venison.
The next wine we were offered was the Seriously Cool Cinsault 2013. The term seriously cool relates to the wind and climate at Waterkloof, but to me this is a seriously cool wine and one of my favourites. It is dry with spices and licourice on the palate. Accompanying the wine were ploughman’s platters. These platters are served in the tasting room which is open from 10h00 to 16h30. Wine tastings start from R30 and the platter costs R130 and will easily satisfy two people. It comes with pork terrine, a variety of cheeses including Healey’s Cheddar, chutney, pickles, preserves and olives. Chat to Zandri in the tasting room for more information.
Nadia Barnard, the winemaker and cellar master at Waterkloof, loves the diversity of her work and it shows in her enthusiasm when she talks about what she does at the estate. Nadia showed us around the cellar, explaining in detail the ethos of wine making at Waterkloof. At Waterkloof, each block is separately fermented before blending. About 30% of the wines are barrel fermented and the Rhone varietals are treated differently to the Bordeaux wines. I will go into this in more detail in a separate post as the entire process is extremely interesting.
In the cellar we tasted the Circumstance Sauvignon Blanc 2014 which is grown on the south facing, slightly warmer slope of the Schapenberg. The wine has a very mineral nose and peach on the palate. Our first wine with lunch was the Seriously Cool Chenin Blanc 2014. I love that the label states that this is a wine of circumstance which ties it in to the Circumstance wines. This wine has excellent stone fruit on the nose and a crisp finish and is my second favourite of the whites from the estate. My first being the Viognier which has a lovely lemon hint to it, which we tasted at the One & Only dinner where Ruben collaborated with Greg to showcase Waterkloof.
Lunch was to showcase the spring menu that we can expect from Greg in the coming months, but as it is still not quite spring I expect that some of these dishes will change. Our amuse bouche was seared duck with an Asian broth and radish.
This was then followed by poached marron and langoustine served with a very light fennel panna cotta.
We were then given the maiden vintage of the Circumstance Cabernet Franc 2012 to accompany braised lamb with a hint of Moroccan spices. This varietal is grown on a site which has moderate temperatures and is picked early and then barrel aged for 15 to 18 months. It is full of black pepper on the nose.
This course was followed by a pre dessert and then dessert was served. A pineapple curd with guava foam and avocado ice cream. I ended my afternoon with a single espresso and some petit fours.
I hope that this will encourage you to take a drive to Waterkloof and sample some if not all that they have to offer.
Disclosure: I was invited to attend the media lunch by Random Hat Communications as a guest of Waterkloof Wine Estate. I was not asked to blog about my experience. This post is in line with my blogging policy.
What I blogged:
- one year ago – Kiwi And Orange Sorbet
- two years ago – Berry Tart
- four years ago – Mayonnaise
What a lovely place! I’d truly enjoy such a delicious and enjoyable wine-tasting experience. 🙂
It is such a great place to visit 🙂
What a wonderful day you enjoyed!
Have a happy day Tandy.
🙂 Mandy xo
Thank you Mandy 🙂
What a classy event to attend! As enticing the variety of wines is, I did love the sweet ending the most 😛
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I always love the sweet endings 🙂
Sounds like a great visit, we were given a bottle of Circumstance Sauvignon Blanc the other day, what a treat!
Wow, that was a lovely gift to receive 🙂
those sweet endings look amazing
I love the petit fours!
Looks like you had a fantastic time! Love that place, though wasn’t very impressed with the menu – they don’t really cater much for vegetarians. My dad helped design the building so always feel so proud when we visit (usually during wine festivals for tastings). Your pics are exquisite btw 🙂
Mel, if you speak to Micky when you book they will cater for you. I know that they have regular clients who are non meat eaters. How amazing that your dad worked on the design. Personally, I love it 🙂
This looks like such a delicious little winery. I have never tried their wines but their menu looks so good. You are making me hungry and I just finished dinner..
The food is amazing, and the wines are worth looking out for 🙂
Hi Tandy, dining at the Waterkloof sounds divine. The surrounding area is beautiful, I could get used to that.
We have the most amazing scenery around us Cheri 🙂
Oh, that food looks fab – loved the look of the seared duck and those desserts look amazing! Lucky you Tandy:)
Thanks Rachel, we are very lucky!
What a great experience! That avocado ice cream dish is especially stunning!
I really enjoyed it!
Ooh, Tandy! I love wine tastings such as this. Your sweet endings look all good. I love the styling they did there. Great experience, thanks for sharing!
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
thanks for reading Julie 🙂
That’s 10,800 km for me to visit. LOL!
Looks fabulous, especially those sweet platters, I love how pretty and placed the meal is. Lucky you having this as your local.
Hope you are well lovely one. 🙂
Well worth it LOL 🙂 We are very blessed indeed!
Looks like a delicious meal, I’d love to try the pineapple, guava and avocado dessert.
I hope I get to try it again 🙂
You are just teasing me now. You know how I long to visit this place. I didn’t realise you were only 11 km from it’s front door. Seriously pretty food to go with great wine.
I thought you would enjoy this post Sally. We are so close, which is lucky for us 🙂
Tandy, such gorgeous scenery and the seared duck with Asian broth and radish looks delicious! Looks like it was an enjoyable day out. Hopefully we can make it to South Africa one day!
You will not be disappointed!