I always enjoy meeting the people behind the wine that I drink so it was a real pleasure to meet Tim and Riana (that's them in the picture), two of the team behind Seven Springs wine located in Hermanus, South Africa.
Now Tim has been in the very fortunate position of owning a very successful cleaning business which has allowed him to indulge his real passion and set up Seven Springs wine. Whilst a relatively new vineyard its sauvignon blanc has had many good reviews. However they have also planted chardonnay, syrah and pinot noir and having experienced Tim's enthusiasm I expect we'll be hearing a lot more about Seven Springs in the future.
Riana is the winemaker. She graduated in 2006 and has done vintages in California and The Rhone as well as South Africa. Whilst Seven Springs does not yet have its own winemaking facilities it uses space in another prestige winery where Riana is in the fortunate position of being able to get ideas from others around her who have a few more years experience than she has.
But what about the 2010 sauvignon blanc I tasted? It has clean and fresh aromas of citrus with some apricot fruit. A touch of weight on the palate which is all about the fruit and lemon and lime without a hint of greenness. Rounded, pleasing, fresh and with just a hint of minerality this is a very satisfying wine that manages to straddle sauvignons from New Zealand and The Loire.
I was invited to the launch of The Shortlist range of wines from McGuigan Wines and quite an event it was. Held in the splendid surroundings of The Roof Garden in Kensington Neil McGuigan was in fine form pouring us a sparkling rose wine which he said was a "secret" and telling us all about The Shortlist range and how come Majestic came to take the whole allocation of the wines.
Due on shelf in late May, the premium range has been listed by Majestic with an RRP of £14.99. Majestic has taken on the entire UK allocation of the limited release label in what is one of the largest orders of premium Australian wine ever placed by the retailer.
The highlight of the evening of course was the wines and although there was talk around our table of "ABC" (Anything But Chardonnay) it was the chardonnay that was my favourite. Although slightly buttery it had lovely primary peach fruit aromas and quite a touch of apple on the palate. Creamy but with decent acidity this was quite a match for many Burgundies. Mind you although I say my preference was the Chardonnay, I thought the '05 Riesling we had from the Eden Valley was pretty special too.
I judge at both the IWC and IWSC so know how demanding the competitions are so for Neil McGuigan to achieve both IWSC Winemaker of the Year and IWC White Winemaker of the Year in the same year is an amazing achievement and gives an indication of the exacting standards he works to.
A wonderful evening and I'm sure Majestic will have no problems selling all the allocation.
I went to the Real Food show last week at Earls Court as a guest of Bordeaux wines. The event showcased some of the finest small producers in the country with Bordeaux wines acting as one of the official sponsors for the show. This follows their current advertising theme of "Good food would choose Bordeaux".
I chatted with Michelle who was one of my mentors when I was studying for my WSET Diploma. She was doing a spot on the stage after one of the cookery demonstrations. Her spot was about food and wine matching with her opening question being "How many of you knew that Bordeaux made white wines?" A good question as most people associate Bordeaux with red but the best wine for me on the Bordeaux stand was the Château Doisy-Daëne Sec 2008, a white from Barsac.
I've never been a great fan of white Bordeaux but this has changed my mind. A highly expressive, aromatic and tasty white made entirely from 100% sauvignon blanc, the tasting notes on the Bordeaux stand said The Wine Society sold it. However its not on their web site so I'm somewhat puzzled about that although it appears that Corney & Barrow sell it for around £20 a bottle. Again the tasting sheet on the stand says it was around £14.
The most interesting food for me amongst the many stands with their olive oils, cheeses and meats was the one selling a "spreadable salami" called 'nduja. This can be bought on line at The Taste of Calabria. I had it the same evening and you only need a very small amount to add to a sauce to make it spicy and tasty.
A worthwhile event to visit if you like food and are interested in matching wine to food.
Now Tim has been in the very fortunate position of owning a very successful cleaning business which has allowed him to indulge his real passion and set up Seven Springs wine. Whilst a relatively new vineyard its sauvignon blanc has had many good reviews. However they have also planted chardonnay, syrah and pinot noir and having experienced Tim's enthusiasm I expect we'll be hearing a lot more about Seven Springs in the future.
