Greetings from a new member (Charl Theron)

Bertie Horak · February 08, 2009, 01:38:45 PM

Yes Spier is a huge tourist attraction now, but in 1984-5 there was only parking for about 10 cars under a few palm trees and a single room for wine tasting, nothing like today with cheetahs, vultures, restaurants, shows, picnic spots, rolling lawns, dams, etc. They had the best fruity "soetwyn" in a fat, round bottle then.

Charl Theron · February 08, 2009, 01:56:45 PM

Tassenberg (Tassies) put a lot of students off wine when they left Varsity, hehe. A pity. It was cheap to be affordable for students, and sometimes nasty too (high acidity to make it - almost - undrinkable). Then the next year it was a softer, mellower wine. In those decent years, many a student would regard it the best student wine...ever. Depending on your year(s) at Stellenbosch varsity of course!

It wasn't the supposed "vintage variation", but more a case of estate/wine farm variation. Tassies was then a "lucky packet" scenario more often then not wrt its contents.

Nowadays, if you look carefully, you might spot the "imported from Argentina/Chile/wherever, bottled in RSA" fine print on the label. But then, I bet it also introduced a lot of newcomers to good wines.

Charl Theron · February 08, 2009, 02:10:11 PM

Quote from: DUNJA WRBKA on February 08, 2009, 06:54:15 AM
Talking of Spier Wines....

One year whilst down in the Cape I went to Spier Wine Farm for lunch and thereafter visited the shop to buy some wine to bring back to Pretoria. I bought a few bottles, thinking I was getting a real good deal only to find when I got home and was walking through our local Pick 'n Pay that the same bottles were at least R5 cheaper a bottle...

Grrrrrr Learn't a valuable lesson that wine farms are only for tasting the wine but the actually purchase thereof I should do at Pick 'n Pay / Checkers Hyper Stores...

Cheers!

Hello Dunja,

An unpleasant surprise, no doubt. But then, an ex-wine merchant like me, flatly refused to stock estate wines in our wine shop then (it was situated between Oom Samie's Shop & De Akker Pub in Dorp Street, Stellenbosch) knowing the farms sell it cheaper on their estate to the tourist/public. It made no business sense for us merchants to promote/stock/sell/advertise a winery's produce when customers/public can buy it cheaper at the respective farm producing them. So a lot of wineries since the late 1980's decided to "protect" their wine merchants by selling at farm prices, which usually will be more expensive (or roughly the same) as prices in retail shops. And obviously retail prices differ too, depending on their mark-up policy and margins.

This was the days before big Pick and Pay's were allowed to have liquor licenses, one of the reason we eventually got out of the wine merchant market a few years ago. The pits was when we realised that Pongrasz was selling 28% per bottle cheaper (markup was included; imagine the real discount!) at the big chain store down the street compared the producer's price given to us. The producer refused to give discount to small merchants as they don't take the necassary volume. So the wine-selling-playing-field was becoming forever altered & stacked against the small independent wine stores/merchants. The same route was followed earlier wrt to meat - you dont see the small, independent, qualified butcher anymore that marbled the meat to YOUR specification. People want one-stop-shopping; we are following the 1960's retail model of the USA .... blindly, at the cost of work creation.

Sure, it all means cheaper prices for Joe public, but we closed down a wine business that had permament staff, which you cannot say were counterbalanced by the big retails shop employing even a single person on floor - I have not seen any to date - to advise you on what wines to buy at the wine sections. Short sighted indeed.

Also, the really scarce and beautiful wines are often not well represented/stocked by these big chain stores, as some charge a stocking % fee (for shelve mileage). Small producers cannot afford it. There ARE exceptions, of course.

georgswa (Georg Ruf) (RIP) · February 08, 2009, 02:39:00 PM

Talking about wines, favorite subject

The Tassenberg was my daily dinner wine......cheap and drinkable

On better occasions the Shiraz, Pinotage for heavy meals and sometimes a rose.

SA Wines have become popular with tourist visiting the cape. The result is, wines used to be offered here when about 3-4 years old, now you get young wines, not ideal for SA wines, they should be stored a long time....
Chile and Australia wines resemble in taste.

Different to French reds which i prefer now, but still like the SA wines. The wines today are not matured enough, that could eventually be a downfall in the future

Some few weeks ago i had a Shiraz that i kept here from 1979 when i left Nam. So 30 Years.....was still ok, but i advise 10-15 years. Still have a few old wines in the cellar, must use them up now before they turn bad.

If properly stored 30 years is ok

Diana Rudd (Boehme) · February 08, 2009, 06:53:14 PM

My wine of choice......Nederberg Baronne or their Duet. Some very nice wines under the "Odd Bins label"

Michael Alexander · February 08, 2009, 06:55:00 PM

... and there I thought it might be a plain old papsak!

SandyB · February 08, 2009, 07:00:06 PM

Papsak .. drink the contents then blow it up to save you from drowning in the pool .. but then again I recall I did a good job of retrieving that last full beer lying at the bottom of town pool .. and was good enough to share it out

Alfred Boehme · February 08, 2009, 08:18:16 PM

Quote from: Michael Alexander on February 08, 2009, 06:55:00 PM
... and there I thought it might be a plain old papsak!

and I thought a bottel kaalgat was your wine Mike

Charl Theron · February 08, 2009, 08:30:38 PM

Quote from: SandyB on February 08, 2009, 07:00:06 PM
Papsak .. drink the contents then blow it up to save you from drowning in the pool .. but then again I recall I did a good job of retrieving that last full beer lying at the bottom of town pool .. and was good enough to share it out

Hehe, touche! Good one!

SandyB · February 08, 2009, 08:41:52 PM

Charl I have good memories of going to a party where there where blown up papsakke floating idly in the pool .. that was before pool noodles came out .. as for the retrieving the beer it was early hours of morning misadventure at reunion ,, i thought i was being good citizen by removing the supposedly empty can .. only to find it was full .. oh joy .. a bit more to sup and fuel our alcoholic craziness ...

Charl Theron · February 08, 2009, 08:44:24 PM

Quote from: Diana Rudd (Boehme) on February 08, 2009, 06:53:14 PM
My wine of choice......Nederberg Baronne or their Duet. Some very nice wines under the "Odd Bins label"

My "favourite" changes every year as I discover a new wine. Currently my favoutite red blend tipple is this one: www.de-toren.com/fusionv.htm :-)

And I'm partial to Shiraz, especially from this winery: www.vergelegen.co.za/Wine_1020201000_119_Shiraz+2005.htm. In my humble opinion, one of the best winemakers in South Africa the last decade - Andre van Rensburg - resides at the latter estate. Their Vergelegen Red (www.vergelegen.co.za/Wine_1020201000_121_Vergelegen+Red+2003.htm each year is a model of consistency the last 6 vintages. This wine puts some French First growth's to shame at a fraction of the cost.

Andre is either "loved or hated" in the wine trade, 'cause he shoots from the hip, being a very straight talker. In our first international wine Tri-Nations competition in 1994 between Aus. & NZ we came stone last with various wines submitted for judging, the panel being of international renown that officated over the result. Most SA wineries competing in this competition complained that the playing field were not even, that SA had not had the time etc. to really fine-tune their wine making expertise. Valid concerns, but Andre was streets ahead of the slow changing South African wine industry.

Andre's wine, the Stellenzicht Syrah 1994 (he was one of the first to call Shiraz on the label by its proper Persian name) trashed then the most famous shiraz in the world at that time, the Penfold Grange. He's comment to the complaining SA farmers was thus: "This is the international market. Adapt or die. If you want to grow cabbages, then do so."

I love that! :-)

Prost!

SandyB · February 08, 2009, 08:50:47 PM

I do a lot of wine shopping at LCD .. they carry a lot of export over runs at reasonable prices ... have found some gems .. my all time favourite is Shiraz cos of the spicy undertones .. found a good blend yesterday .. a mix of shiraz and two ( I have forgotten obscure names ) but i'm back there on monday to snaffle a few more bottles ... unfortunately screwcap .. but then I can live with that ..

Charl Theron · February 08, 2009, 09:10:27 PM

Quote from: SandyB on February 08, 2009, 08:50:47 PM
.. found a good blend yesterday .. a mix of shiraz and two ( I have forgotten obscure names ) ...

Probably Mourvedre, Grenache, Petit Verdot or even the Italian Sangiovese cultivars? These cultivars seem to be SA winemakers favourite blending partners with Shiraz of late.

SandyB · February 09, 2009, 10:04:21 AM

Petit Verdot .. thanks .. was a bit brain dead last night .. result of having had to finish off month end reports .. seems to dull my brain facts , figures and the prospect of work on monday morning ..

Diana Rudd (Boehme) · February 09, 2009, 10:12:44 AM

Quote from: Diana Rudd (Boehme) on February 08, 2009, 06:53:14 PM
My wine of choice......Nederberg Baronne or their Duet. Some very nice wines under the "Odd Bins label"

I'm not a wine fundie by any means and if in doubt revert back to the above two always nice can't go wrong. Another very nice wine is Fairview's Solitude Shiraz and Rooiberg Winery's 2006 Shariz.