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Cape Argus Tonight, 11 January 2007

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Down the hatch: so much more than just a drink

One of the great delights of living here in the Cape is the ability to be actively involved in the production of wine.

Most winemakers are all too happy to have wine-lovers involved in their productions. Many of the products we buy regularly are remote from their sources. Eggs come in neat little styrofoam trays that have nothing at all to do with live, clucking hens. Meat arrives on the supermarket shelf in clear, cling-wrapped package that is completely unconnected to pastures and grazing cows or sheep.

Wine too, can seem like just another product in a fancy package unless we take the trouble to follow its fascinating journey from vine to glass. And the only ones who can do that regularly are those of us who live close to the winelands.

The farmers on the Simonsberg Mountain slopes near Stellenbosch have made it particularly easy for wine lovers to get out and smell and taste – the vines this year. On February 17, when the harvest is in full swing, several farms will present a grape-tasting day. Participating farms include the likes of Delheim, Muratie, Warwick, Kanonkop and Morgenhof.

Each farm will host a small group of wine lovers for a tasting of their grapes, and then of the wines that were made from these grapes. Is there a similarity in flavours? The currently available vintage will be presented, and the guests will also be offered a sneak preview of the 2007 vintage - still in barrels or tanks.

Winemakers and viticulturalists will be on hand to provide plenty of information and answer any questions.

The tastings will be followed by a lunch on the farm. The grape settings at 10am (for 10:30) and details and bookings can be made by emailing simonsberg@ananzi.co.za or by calling Nora on 021-888 4600.

Or you can have a look at their website for more details on the area and the farms, http://www.simonsberg.net

One of the nicest examples of good wine packaging I have seen recently if the four-bottle sampler produced by Vrede en Lust. It consists of four 275ml bottles packed into a neat little carrying box. The contents are two bottles of 2003 Simond, which is a Merlot/Shiraz blend; 2005 Karien, a white blend of Chenin Blanc and Semillio; and a bottle 2004 Berb, a dry rose blended from Shiraz, Cinsat and Merlot.

And - thank goodness - all are fitted with screw caps.

They give buyers the chance of tasting range of wines in the leisure of their own homes, without any pressure from the sales people.