Koelfontein- Ceres

So todays post is the first outside the Winelands District, it is about a farm just outside Ceres, just before the start of the Gydo Pass- Koelfontein.

Now you might be thinking, "what in the world is a wine estate doing out there?", but if you consider that Tulbagh (some of the best red wine comes out of this little town) is just over the mountain, it might make a bit more sense. These two towns have quite a lot of history, but is slightly later than the history seen in Stellenbosch, but interesting nonetheless.

The first inhabitants of this area was the KhoeSan. In 1729, the first European transversed the Witzenberg Range and settled in the area. Various mountain passes were built and the route from the Cape to Kimberley (diamond mines) passed through Ceres and was therefore an integral part of this trade route.

Koelfontein has been owned by seven generations of the Conradie family who first bought the farm in 1823 from the widow of the original owner. Daniël Jacobus Conradie and his wife raised their 14 children in the first building on this farm (now the wine tasting venue). As with most farms of the 19th century, the farm was divided up between sons with Francois Conradie inheriting the land on which the vineyards are located today. In addition to vineyards, there are fruit orchards from which the fresh and dried fruit are sold.

As mentioned, the tasting venue is the original homestead of the Conradie's. It is also a museum and houses original antiques from the 19th century, including wine bottles! This estate focuses on two varietals, Chardonnay and Shiraz. Both of which have won multiple awards. If you have have read my blog before, you would have picked up that I like wooded Chardonnay and Koelfontein's does not disappoint. There are notes of butterscotch and pears on the palate. 2013 was a good year but for me, the 2014 has more depth. I have previously had the opportunity to taste the 2009 Shiraz; spicy with full body, just what a Shiraz should be! They are now selling their 2011/2012 vintages.

                               

This is definitely a farm with a difference! Wonder through the tasting room and look at the history in the walls while sipping an excellent wine or sit under the oak tree and watch over the sheep roaming ahead. 

Stellenbosch Kloof Wineries

Okay so todays post is an amalgamation of three different wine estates, all on the Stellenbosch Kloof Road just outside Stellenbosch. We visited Jordan, DeWaal and De Morgenzon. 

The road up to these wineries is worth a mention; one of the prettiest drives you can take. Sparkling dams on the one side and lush green vineyards on the other. Oh, and theres a ton of lavender, but I'll mention that a bit later....

The entire region that these three wine farms are located in, was originally called Uiterwyk ("outskirts"); they are actually located on the old wagon trail from Cape Town to Stellenbosch. A Dutch settler, Dirk Coetzee initially rented  this land in 1682 to have a space for his cattle to graze and the land was given to him in 1699 by Willem van der Stel (Governor of the Cape at the time). In 1864, Uiterwyk was given to Tielman de Waal who then split the land into three farms (DeWaal, Jordan and De Morgenzon). Jordan and De Morgenzon was given to his eldest son, Pieter and he was the winemaker at DeWaal.

DeWaal was the first wine estate on this road that we visited. This wine estate really does value and display their farms history everywhere! As you drive in, the old Cape Dutch style buildings are gorgeously restored and date back to the late 18th century. Tielman offered the DeWaal estate to his second oldest son (C.T de Waal) who was interested in wine making, but he decided to become an academic (Why?!) at Stellenbosch University and was the first person to make Pinotage wine from the hybrid Prof. Abraham Perold made between Pinot Noir and Hermitage.

This was obviously music to my ears when I heard this and thought, "Great, I feel like some rich, dark, oaked, flavourful Pinotage" but unfortunately, times of changed with regards to how South African wine-makers make Pinotage. It has unfortunately gone from a South African classic, heavy wine (which in my opinion, was absolutely unique!) to more like a Pinot Noir, eew! I must say though, they do have a Pinotage made in the "good old way" but it wasn't available for tasting (might be a good sign?). So, I did not enjoy DeWaal's Pinotage (2015) that I tasted, but their Cabernet Sauvignon (2014) was surprisingly good; full-bodied, smokey, cherry flavours. And as a side note, there roof top deck is an interior designers dream!

Okay so moving down the road to De Morgenzon ("the morning sun") (the wine estate known for playing music to their vines- a bit of a gimmick in my opinion). This farm is honestly breathtaking!!!! Oak trees, roses, fynbos, green green grass, lilies in the dam, bright blue petunias, old Cape Dutch style buildings, what more can you ask for? Needless to say, I took too many photos! The have a 2,4,6, or full wine tasting option. We opted for 6 wines and started with the DMZ Chenin Blanc, then the DMZ Chardonnay and then the Maestro White Blend (5 different varieties of which Roussanne and Charndonnay make up ~50%) which was our favourite. We moved on to reds and had the Reserve Syrah and the the Maestro Blue and Maestro Red (the latter was our favourite, full-bodied, flavourful and yet crisp- Bordeaux style). This wine farm recently won the award for the best Chardonnay in South Africa, this specific wine (2016) is not available for tasting as there are only ~1000 bottles left (eek) but to be completely honest, I would want to taste it before spending R350 on a 2016 Chardonnay (my personal preference). 

Alright, so the last wine estate on the Stellenbosch Kloof Road is Jordan, In my opinion,  if you do something well, stick with it and perfect, it but it seems as though Jordan is branching out into too many fields. Restaurant, bakery, winery, tours, accommodation mmmmmm.....So I should warrant that statement by saying that the estate is beautiful, the restaurant serves amazing food and their bakery is stocked with mouth-watering pastries (so almost a home run) but in my opinion, the wine is lacking as well as the whole wine tasting experience. The young lady who was guiding us through the wine tasting got lost half way through and was not sufficiently informed. However, we did enjoy the Riesling (crisp, fruity and refreshing) as well as the spicy 2015 Prospectors Syrah. 

So, the Stellenbosch Kloof road has some great wine estates, definitely worth a trip and added on to some great wines, there is a lavender farm in between DeWaal and De Morgenzon that you should definitely visit; organic, all natural soaps, candles, oils etc (spent too much money there).