Think of the Durbanville wine region and sauvignon blanc tends to be the first wine that comes to mind.
The leading lights of Durbanville winemaking mostly hang their hats on sauvignon blanc.
The variety does well in their hot, dry climate, countered by cooling ocean mists and sea breezes and generous winter rainfall — producing cool-climate, minerally wines with fruit purity that are considered SA benchmarks of sauvignon blanc.
Of course, Durbanville does plenty of other wine varieties well, and one pointing the way to Durbanville beyond sauvignon blanc is Groot Phesantekraal, where syrah and chenin blanc take centre stage.
They produce sauvignon blanc as well, of course, including the Platter’s 4.5* wooded Marizanne Sauvignon Blanc, and highly-rated cabernet sauvignon and pinotage, but winemaker Richard Schroeder is particularly proud of his syrah and has a passion for chenin.
Winemakers, or perhaps their marketing copywriters, are known to wax lyrical when describing their wines, finding relatable, sometimes weird, comparisons to capture the flavours and character.
But, Schroeder’s description when it comes to his Estate Syrah 2023 is spot-on when you experience the wine for yourself.
“When I think of Syrah, I always imagine silk — supple, taut, and elegant, light but substantial with a quiet strength that bounces back and endures.
“I always have the idea of silk in my mind when making syrah.
“I search for those same supple, taut, yet yielding qualities. That same elegant vivacity and longevity.
“That image inspires our winemaking and I believe you will sense it in the wine,” he said.
He’s right too — the wine, an Investec Trophy Show winner with 97 points, and a Winemag Shiraz Report Top 10, is super silky, so dark red that it’s almost black but with bright burgundy flashes, a sensory experience that evokes images of waves of rippling dark red silk, soft and sensuous with inner strength.
Asking the ridiculous question of what would this glorious silk fabric taste like, the answer is intense, tiny ripe blackberries and blueberries, woven with black pepper, fennel, woody herbs like sage, with fynbos aromas.
Plush opulence balanced with a core of chalky acidity for a wine of backbone, structure and ageability.
Anna de Koning Chenin Blanc 2024 delivers another silky, smooth, creamy experience in a 4.5* wine, textured and complex from time fermenting and maturing on the yeasty lees in a combination of French oak, clay amphorae and concrete vessels for seven months.
An enticing light gold, richly aromatic, the nutty, ripe nectarine, honey and jasmine notes would be almost dessert-like, but the wine is dry and the creaminess lifted by bright citrus acidity and flintiness, a tangy finish that demands diving in for another sip to re-experience the richness.
Complex, elegant, deeply delicious, not demanding of food but would certainly do well with Asian-inspired dishes featuring spices such as star-anise, cardamom, cinnamon and a touch of heat.
Groot Phesantekraal is also a great place to visit — a historic, working family farm, in the hands of the Brink family for four generations, brimming with rural charm, warm hospitality and heritage, with a gorgeous farm-to-table restaurant blending Cape heritage and contemporary style.
The Durbanville wine region is a great option for wine lovers visiting Cape Town with not much time to spare — one minute you’re on a congested highway or surrounded by endless townhouse complexes and office blocks, the next you’re in a pastoral setting of farmland, centuries’ old manor houses, rolling hills covered in vineyards and, as the road twists and turns through the Tygerberg hills, views alternating between mountains and sea.
There’s much to explore — a dozen or so wine estates all in close proximity, from historic multi-generational farms to cutting-edge contemporary operations.
There are loads of great food options from fine dining to country kitchens, with picture postcard views across the sea to Table Mountain, along with live music events (De Grendel hosted a concert by the Gipsy Kings earlier in November), mountain biking, and — believe it — even game-viewing safari experiences a stone’s throw from the city.
Definitely worth looking out for on a visit is the newly released Discover Durbanville Pinotage 2024, a collaboration of 11 of the region’s winemakers (including Groot Phesantekraal) who contributed fruit and participated in the final barrel selection, with the wine made at De Grendel.
Beautifully packaged in a magnum in a presentation box, it’s available at selected tasting rooms in the valley and at https://durbanvillewine.co.za/shop/ — a great gift or memento of a wine tour.
Preston’s Main Road, Walmer, stocks the full Groot Phesantekraal range, with the core collection of sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc, syrah rosé and cabernet franc on special into December at R80, and the upper-level wines available too, at farm prices.
The Estate Syrah is R180 and the Anna de Koning Chenin R265.
The Herald
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