The Road Less Traveled

Sorting and Destemming
Kleine Vine, Tulbagh, ZA
February 20, 2025

 After boarding our tour bus yesterday, we proceeded to a winery along a long unpaved and rough road. It was the road less traveled. The climb up the mountain to the vineyard was interesting and long. Along the way we passed a massive ostrich farm.  

2016 Semillon
February 20, 2025

It was a fantastic visit to a winery where we were met by the winemaker Wynand Grobler. We enjoyed a short few hours with him and the staff as we toured the winery and discovered how a gravity feed system works. We witnessed sorting and destemming and getting the grapes into the fermentation vessels. It was quite a process.

During the visit we enjoyed four excellent wines, a 2024 Grenacle Blanc, a 2023 

The Scenery I Enjoyed During Lunch
Rijk's Wine Estate, Tulbagh, ZA
Febraury 20, 2025

Semillon, a 2022 Cisaut, and a 2022 GSM names TMV. All exhibited excellent balance and complexity in accordance with the grape varieties. As a bonus, we tasted a 2016 Semillon from 120 year old vines. It was superior in all respects.

From there we headed off to Rijk's Wine Estate in Tulbagh for another great lunch. It was a two course lunch with wine. The wines were the Private Cellar C Henin Blanc 2023 and the Private Cellar Pilotage 2021. Both wines were perfect matches for the courses and highlighted the continuation of excellent wines we have been sampling from South Africa.

The final stop of the day was at Saronsberg Wine Cellar. It became a very hot 102 degree day, but we survived and enjoyed wines at a table under some large oak trees. A light breeze kept us from expiring for heat exhaustion as we sampled some very nice wines beginning with a 2024 Brut, followed by 2024 Sauvignon Blanc, a 2022 Viognier, a 2022 Seismic which is a blend of the big 5 Bordeaux grapes, a 2022 Shiraz, a 2021 Shiraz and finally the Full Circle 2022 which is a great Rhone style wine. All of these wines offered something special and were very enjoyable., The price points were superior and I bought some of the Viognier and 2022 Shiraz. 

All-in-all it was another great wine tasting day in South Africa. I continues to be exposed to creative winemaking and of course an organic and biodiverse approach. 

We returned to the Royal Hotel in Riebeek Kasteel for the evening. Today we depart for the Stellenbosch wine region! More fine wine awaits!

Today is forecast to be cooler than yesterday! That is a plus. 

-- Bob Doan, Riebeek Kasteel, South Africa