For a couple of weeks now we were invited to taste the Elegantly Elgin Wines at a tweet-up event at Caroline’s Fine Wine Shop hosted by Karen Glanfield aka KGB Wine.

We were very impressed with the quality of wines coming from the area, since for me, the Elgin area was just a place where mostly apples and Appletizer came from, with Paul Cluver being the only wine producer in the area. We would wizz past Elgin on our way to the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and missed out on some fantastic producers that are just a hop jump and a skip away from where we live.

Well,  the good news is, there is a wonderland of wines to explore if you take the time to turn off at the Viljoenshoop Road.

Since Elgin has only been declared a wine ward in 1990 and the wine route only been established since 2012, many of the farms are only open by appointment. However, the they started the Elgin Valley Wine Route Open Day where all the producers opens their doors and offer their best produce to the public on the first weekend of every month.

Almenkerk Wine Estate

Our first stop was Almenkerk Wine Estate and there was quite abuzz with pottery, oysters, lunch, boules and wine tastings. This 100 hectare farm, with only 14 hectares under vines and 4 hectares under apple orchids.
Established in the early 2000′s the first vintage was released in 2009. Almenkerk Wine Estate is a visually stunning farm, and has beautiful views of the Elgin Valley and the surrounding mountains and the wines were superb. Two ranges of wines, The Almenkerk Flagship Range and the Lace by Almenkerk Range.

The Flagship range consists of a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Syrah.

The entry level,  Lace by Almenkerk consists of a Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Rosé and a Vineyard Blend.

All the white wines were superbly well balanced with great acidity and mineral notes. The reds are powerful but focused and elegant.

 

Belfield Wine Farm

Belfield Wine Farm is a tiny boutique wine producer with a lot of character and charm. Only 5½ hectares in size with a total production of 14,000 bottles annually.

“Belfield is a family owned and run wine estate situated in the heart of the beautiful Elgin valley.” 

The farm is beautiful with exquisite gardens. The tastingroom (an old horse stable)  is built from koffie klip, an iron rich rock which makes up a basis of the soil type on the Belfield Wine Farm.

 

Meeting Mike, Mel and Alister Kreft was an absolute delight. Mike is a farmer at heart, a former protea farmer, he is a man of the earth.

With only three red wines under their portfolio, the Aristata (Merlot-led blend Bordeaux Blend), the Magnifica (Cabernet Sauvignon) and the Syrah, you can taste that these wines were carefully crafted, this is wine making that starts at the vine. With full phenolic ripeness, the wines are full flavoured but still retain a freshness that lingers and lingers.

A quick walk through the cellar you will see that it is indeed a very small hands on style of wine making. The wines are honest, not trying to be boastful or show stopping, just solid good wines with great balance, healthy acidities and lower alcohols.

 

Corder Wines

Off the beaten track lies Corder Wines, a 39 hectare farm with 14ha under vines with a 20,000 bottle production.
The portfolio consists of a Corder Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Chardonnay and a Shiraz. The entry level wines, are the Yellow Lorry (Sauvignon Blanc) and the Red Lorry (Shiraz) that are made as the more easy drinking “balcony” style wine.

It was surprising to learn that they harvest their Sauvignon Blanc grapes almost a month after the Stellenbosch Valley. Understandably due to the cooler climate and “softer sun” exposure gives the fine a full fruit character, without sacrificing the freshness. The Sauvignon Blanc is racy with loads of granadilla and limes with a welcoming heavy mineral tone.

The Viognier was one of my favourites, since it looks like they really pushed the envelope on this wine. Late picking, natural barrel fermentation and maturation for one year under new and second fill French and American Oak. Generally I would have thought that would be too heavy on the oak which will cause the Viognier to become too oily with petroleum notes. However it was full, creamy and complex with still plenty of freshness.

 

Charles Fox Estate

A great way to end a phenomenal day in the Elgin Valley was with some delicious Method Cap Classique Wines produced by the Charles Fox Estate. 33 hectare farm the vines were planted in 2007, the cellar in 2010 and the first vintage was released in 2012.

Two MCCs grace the portfolio with a Brut made from 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Meunier as well as a Brut Rosé made from 95% Pinot Noir and 5% Pinot Meunier. Both wines matured for 2 years in their under ground cellar.

The Pinot Meunier adds to the complexity of the blend with layers of fruit, making the wine more accessible.

A quick tour to the cellar we had the rare chance to see the bottles of bubbly maturing away on the lees under the ±7 bars of pressure. We also came to learn that they specifically graft their root stocks with Champagne clones. Even though it is not the focus of the Charles Fox Estate, they also produce a dry Rosé and a straight Pinot Noir. The Pinot Noir being quite savoury and lingering.

————————————————————————————————————–

To conclude: the wines from the Elgin Valley are all produced from slow ripening grapes, due to the cooler climate which makes it ideal for maximum phenolic ripeness without developing too much grape sugars, thus the wines are slightly lower in alcohol, balanced with great acidity and elegant.

We were surprised with the quality of wines from our tweet-ups at Caroline’s Fine Wine, astounded with the hands-on family approach to the wine making, and we were blown away with the hospitality we received at all the wine farms.

We are looking forward to delve again into the Elgin Wine Valley to explore more of the exceptional wine offering they produce. You should too.