Eric van Groot Parys mailde me vandaag een foto van de 'stoep':
Tsjonge, kaplaarzen aan en dames: pumps thuislaten!
maandag, april 28, 2008
Bijna weg
De laatste voorbereidingen doe ik vandaag: koffer kopen, vouchers en papieren printen, laatste check of ik alle afspraken heb gemaakt. En de administratie natuurlijk, nog wat aanmaningen voor de late betalers (grrrr) en het geld van de contante verkopen naar de bank brengen. Dan komt de koerier nog twee pakketjes ophalen en breng ik zelf nog twee bestellingen weg. Vanavond inpakken en morgenochtend pak ik de trein van 07:11 en als alles goed gaat ben ik morgenavond 21:35 in Kaapstad. De weersverwachting is 25 tot 28 graden en zonnig tot en met vrijdag. Op de dag van de braai, zaterdag, is er 30% kans op regen en storm.
zondag, april 27, 2008
Open dagen
Een noodzakelijk kwaad: dweilen om de opslag schoon te maken voor de open dagen. Het knapte aardig op, de vloer is zelden zo schoon geweest. Dat was donderdagmiddag. Vrijdagmiddag was ik er extra vroeg, er zou een klant eerder komen. De deur zwaait open en ik ruik een heerlijke wijnlucht. "Da's gek?" Mijn blik gaat naar achter en wat zie ik? Een grote massa van omgevallen dozen en plassen met wijn.De dweil zal de onderkant van een doos te nat hebben gemaakt en daardoor instabiel. De stapel erop is gevallen en heeft de rest meegenomen. Bij elkaar zo’n 75 dozen wijn over de vloer! Vrijwel alle dozen nat en gelukkig 'slechts' 22 flessen stuk. Grootste slachtoffer: Groot Parys wooded chenin blanc. Met behulp van de klant (dank Rob!) hebben we alles op tijd weer in orde gekregen, maar wat een rotzooi gaf het.
De open dagen zelf waren een groot succes, met hulp van vader, moeder en vriendin hebben we alle klanten goed kunnen helpen. De paar restanten zijn zo goed als weg en zelfs een flink deel van de flessen met aangetast etiket door het ongeluk zijn verkocht. Eind van de zomer nog een keer?
woensdag, april 16, 2008
Fruitsapje
Nou was ik in een vorig berichtje nog vergeten dat ik elke dinsdag 24 wijnen proef voor wijntijdschrift Perswijn. We mochten deze keer ruiken en slurpen van Cru's uit de Beaujolais. Niet helemaal mijn ding, maar de twee Moulin à Vents van Ch. des Jacques waren prima. Erg stevig en houtgerijpt, heel anders dan de zure fruitsapjes die Beaujolais ook wel kan zijn.
Een goede klant wees me op een stuk over Aagje Deken, het restaurant waar we enkele weken geleden een uitstekende lunch genoten: http://www.nhd.nl/nieuws/extra/overdetong/article3377482.ece?secId=559
Een goede klant wees me op een stuk over Aagje Deken, het restaurant waar we enkele weken geleden een uitstekende lunch genoten: http://www.nhd.nl/nieuws/extra/overdetong/article3377482.ece?secId=559
dinsdag, april 15, 2008
South African stars, served on a ‘Platter’
Een lang stuk, als je geen zin hebt te lezen, kijk dan alleen even naar de laatste zin.
By Jancis Robinson
Published: March 31 2008 09:13 Last updated: March 31 2008 09:13
One of the great mysteries of the world of wine is why South African wine is not more celebrated. The best examples offer wine lovers some of the finest value in the world today, yet they remain a secret relative to the wines of, say, California or Australia, even though it is only recently that Australia has made more wine than the Cape.
South African wine producers increasingly need friends abroad. The domestic market has been shrinking. Meanwhile the quality of South African wine, never shameful in a global context even in the shameful apartheid era, just goes on getting better and better as a new generation of wine makers travel, and learn as much as they possibly can from their frequent visitors from foreign wine regions.
Prominent Bordelais who have established a base, a serious label or a major consultancy in South Africa include May-Eliane de Lencquesaing of Château Pichon Lalande (Glenelly), Pierre Lurton (Morgenster), Paul Pontallier of Châteaux Margau (Plaisir de Merle in its infancy), Bruno Prats of Château Cos d’Estournel and Hubert de Boüard de Laforest of Château Angélus (Anwilka), Christian Dauriac of Château Destieux (Marianne Estate), Alain Moueix of Château Fonroque (Ingwe) and Michel Rolland of just about everywhere (Bonne Nouvelle).
Younger South Africans are keen to learn. Alexandre Thienpont of Pomerol’s Vieux Château Certan said after his first visit to the Cape with its exhaustingly curious wine producers, “I’ve never felt more like a lemon being squeezed until my pips squeaked”.
Although all of these French wine producers are best known for their reds, I believe that South Africa is one of the very few non-European wine producing countries with an outstanding track record for white wine production. Chenin Blanc has for long been the country’s most planted vine variety and is still present in the form of ancient bush vines that can yield outstandingly concentrated yet crisp chenins rivalled only by the best of the Loire Valley, while some of the more basic South African Chenin Blanc goes into the world’s best value dry white. One reason South Africa seems undervalued may be that red wines are today so often (unfairly in my view) seen as a country’s calling card but Cape reds have long lagged behind the whites. South Africa’s vineyards were more recently planted with today’s fashionable red wine grapes than happened in most other New World wine producing countries – and as though younger vines were not handicap enough, the country suffers a serious virus problem that afflicts vines for red wines, sometimes preventing the grapes from ripening fully.
South Africa’s best reds are admirable but many of the lesser ones can taste strangely earthy to foreigners. Having gone through a Cabernet Sauvignon phase, South African wine producers and wine lovers themselves are besotted by the grape they call either Shiraz, if made in full-on Australian style, or Syrah if lighter and perfumed à la française.
But at least the South African wine scene is easy for outsiders to understand. I can think of no other country that has a single annual, comprehensive and definitive guide to the wines produced there. John Platter, a foreign correspondent turned winemaker, gave his name to it even though he is no longer involved in the John Platter South African Wine Guide. The pinnacle of vinous fame in South Africa is to be awarded five stars in “Platter”. The 15 tasters who divide all the wines between them for assessment for the guide, generally giving them a one to four-star rating, nominate their very top wines as candidates for five stars. The tasters then get together, taste all of these blind and vote as to whether they deserve the five-star rating or not. Those that miss out on a majority vote are given 4.5 stars. In the 2008 guide a total of 21 wines, including five made in the image of port, are given five stars and 312 are given 4.5.
A couple of weeks ago I tasted a selection of Platter five and 4.5 star-wines in London, and very impressed I was too – especially in view of the retail prices, which are a fraction of what similar quality California wines would cost – and many look very good value compared with their Australian counterparts. Following modern mores, and as is my wont on my website, I gave each wine a score out of 20. I am habitually stingy with points so 17 is a very good mark for me. (For example, I gave a mere 55 out of the thousands of red Bordeaux 2004 a mark of 17 or above.) I tasted a total of 55 five and 4.5 star wines and ended up giving a score of 17 or more to one Chenin Blanc, five Sauvignon Blancs (an impressive total), five Chardonnays, two Sauvignon/ Semillon blends, one Pinot Noir, two Shiraz/Syrahs and a full eight Cabernet Sauvignon/Bordeaux blends, making that 44 per cent of all tasted.
This was all the more impressive in view of the fact that the average (pre-UK Budget) retail price of the Sauvignons was only just over £10 a bottle and the average Chardonnay price was only about £13 for quality that would not be out of place in the Côte de Beaune. In fact, there were a number of wines I would love to see blind alongside their European prototypes, such as both of the Sauvignon/Semillon blends with a fine dry white Graves, and the Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir 2006 alongside (an admittedly more mature) red burgundy.
In general the whites are much better value than the reds, with Simonsig, a five-star regular, still seriously under-charging for its wines. Even Anglo American’s wine estate Vergelegen, whose top bottlings are very expensive, offer others at reasonable prices in view of their quality.
Another great aspect of buying wines from a country that seems, unfairly to me, unfashionable, is that it can be relatively easy to find mature vintages. Waterford Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, for example, is a lovely drink now, beautifully made and already quite complex, but costs only £14.50 a bottle from Berry Bros. Another delicious Bordeaux blend from this particularly successful vintage for South African reds is Buitenverwachting, Christine 2003, which is hardly more expensive.
The top Platter wines I tasted were only a selection. Many of the names emerging via the annual Platter rating process as South Africa’s first growths such as Boekenhoutskloof, Cape Point, De Trafford, Kanonkop, Meerlust, Sadie Family, Steenberg and Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards were not even represented in my tasting. Those who have not yet discovered the joys of South African wine should do so.
By Jancis Robinson
Published: March 31 2008 09:13 Last updated: March 31 2008 09:13
One of the great mysteries of the world of wine is why South African wine is not more celebrated. The best examples offer wine lovers some of the finest value in the world today, yet they remain a secret relative to the wines of, say, California or Australia, even though it is only recently that Australia has made more wine than the Cape.
South African wine producers increasingly need friends abroad. The domestic market has been shrinking. Meanwhile the quality of South African wine, never shameful in a global context even in the shameful apartheid era, just goes on getting better and better as a new generation of wine makers travel, and learn as much as they possibly can from their frequent visitors from foreign wine regions.
Prominent Bordelais who have established a base, a serious label or a major consultancy in South Africa include May-Eliane de Lencquesaing of Château Pichon Lalande (Glenelly), Pierre Lurton (Morgenster), Paul Pontallier of Châteaux Margau (Plaisir de Merle in its infancy), Bruno Prats of Château Cos d’Estournel and Hubert de Boüard de Laforest of Château Angélus (Anwilka), Christian Dauriac of Château Destieux (Marianne Estate), Alain Moueix of Château Fonroque (Ingwe) and Michel Rolland of just about everywhere (Bonne Nouvelle).
Younger South Africans are keen to learn. Alexandre Thienpont of Pomerol’s Vieux Château Certan said after his first visit to the Cape with its exhaustingly curious wine producers, “I’ve never felt more like a lemon being squeezed until my pips squeaked”.
Although all of these French wine producers are best known for their reds, I believe that South Africa is one of the very few non-European wine producing countries with an outstanding track record for white wine production. Chenin Blanc has for long been the country’s most planted vine variety and is still present in the form of ancient bush vines that can yield outstandingly concentrated yet crisp chenins rivalled only by the best of the Loire Valley, while some of the more basic South African Chenin Blanc goes into the world’s best value dry white. One reason South Africa seems undervalued may be that red wines are today so often (unfairly in my view) seen as a country’s calling card but Cape reds have long lagged behind the whites. South Africa’s vineyards were more recently planted with today’s fashionable red wine grapes than happened in most other New World wine producing countries – and as though younger vines were not handicap enough, the country suffers a serious virus problem that afflicts vines for red wines, sometimes preventing the grapes from ripening fully.
South Africa’s best reds are admirable but many of the lesser ones can taste strangely earthy to foreigners. Having gone through a Cabernet Sauvignon phase, South African wine producers and wine lovers themselves are besotted by the grape they call either Shiraz, if made in full-on Australian style, or Syrah if lighter and perfumed à la française.
But at least the South African wine scene is easy for outsiders to understand. I can think of no other country that has a single annual, comprehensive and definitive guide to the wines produced there. John Platter, a foreign correspondent turned winemaker, gave his name to it even though he is no longer involved in the John Platter South African Wine Guide. The pinnacle of vinous fame in South Africa is to be awarded five stars in “Platter”. The 15 tasters who divide all the wines between them for assessment for the guide, generally giving them a one to four-star rating, nominate their very top wines as candidates for five stars. The tasters then get together, taste all of these blind and vote as to whether they deserve the five-star rating or not. Those that miss out on a majority vote are given 4.5 stars. In the 2008 guide a total of 21 wines, including five made in the image of port, are given five stars and 312 are given 4.5.
A couple of weeks ago I tasted a selection of Platter five and 4.5 star-wines in London, and very impressed I was too – especially in view of the retail prices, which are a fraction of what similar quality California wines would cost – and many look very good value compared with their Australian counterparts. Following modern mores, and as is my wont on my website, I gave each wine a score out of 20. I am habitually stingy with points so 17 is a very good mark for me. (For example, I gave a mere 55 out of the thousands of red Bordeaux 2004 a mark of 17 or above.) I tasted a total of 55 five and 4.5 star wines and ended up giving a score of 17 or more to one Chenin Blanc, five Sauvignon Blancs (an impressive total), five Chardonnays, two Sauvignon/ Semillon blends, one Pinot Noir, two Shiraz/Syrahs and a full eight Cabernet Sauvignon/Bordeaux blends, making that 44 per cent of all tasted.
This was all the more impressive in view of the fact that the average (pre-UK Budget) retail price of the Sauvignons was only just over £10 a bottle and the average Chardonnay price was only about £13 for quality that would not be out of place in the Côte de Beaune. In fact, there were a number of wines I would love to see blind alongside their European prototypes, such as both of the Sauvignon/Semillon blends with a fine dry white Graves, and the Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir 2006 alongside (an admittedly more mature) red burgundy.
In general the whites are much better value than the reds, with Simonsig, a five-star regular, still seriously under-charging for its wines. Even Anglo American’s wine estate Vergelegen, whose top bottlings are very expensive, offer others at reasonable prices in view of their quality.
Another great aspect of buying wines from a country that seems, unfairly to me, unfashionable, is that it can be relatively easy to find mature vintages. Waterford Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, for example, is a lovely drink now, beautifully made and already quite complex, but costs only £14.50 a bottle from Berry Bros. Another delicious Bordeaux blend from this particularly successful vintage for South African reds is Buitenverwachting, Christine 2003, which is hardly more expensive.
The top Platter wines I tasted were only a selection. Many of the names emerging via the annual Platter rating process as South Africa’s first growths such as Boekenhoutskloof, Cape Point, De Trafford, Kanonkop, Meerlust, Sadie Family, Steenberg and Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards were not even represented in my tasting. Those who have not yet discovered the joys of South African wine should do so.
maandag, april 14, 2008
Wijn (en bier)
Of mijn leven beheerst wordt door wijn? Ja dat kan je wel zeggen. Vrijdag proefde ik met een paar andere wijngekken 16 jaargangen Mas-de-Daumas door en nog zeker 20 andere wijnen. Tot diep in de nacht ging dat door. Zaterdagavond gaf ik zelf een proeverij, niet in de buurt maar in... Zwolle! Zondag dronk ik zelf een glaasje en vandaag heb ik in Almere meer dan 150 wijnen geproefd voor C1000 voor de halfjaarlijkse kwaliteitscontrole. Straks ga ik op weg naar Maarn voor de 1e voorronde Vinoloog van het Jaar 2008, morgen lesgeven over Vinologie in Utrecht en overmorgen weer 150 wijnen proeven voor C1000. Wat zal ik blij zijn als ik samen met vriendin en twee vrienden komende donderdag in Belfast aankom en we daar aan de Guinness kunnen!
donderdag, april 10, 2008
Eenzaam en alleen
Wat staat daar in de verte?
Is het onze wijnbaby in een mooi houten fust? Eens dichterbij bekijken:
Ja hoor, het is onze shiraz/viognier 2008 in een mooie second fill barrel. Op een ereplekje nog wel. Op zaterdag drie mei ga ik hem terugzien en kan ik hem eindelijk proeven! Mijn vader moet nog even wachten, die is er zondag 18 mei.
Is het onze wijnbaby in een mooi houten fust? Eens dichterbij bekijken:
Ja hoor, het is onze shiraz/viognier 2008 in een mooie second fill barrel. Op een ereplekje nog wel. Op zaterdag drie mei ga ik hem terugzien en kan ik hem eindelijk proeven! Mijn vader moet nog even wachten, die is er zondag 18 mei. woensdag, april 09, 2008
Perfecte score
Wat kan wijnproeven toch moeilijk zijn! En wat is het leuk als je iets helemaal goed proeft. Samen met mijn vader en Wim de Leeuw vormen we team WineMatters en doen mee aan een blindproefwedstrijd: Grand Prix Saint Hubert. Dan proef je 10 rode cépage wijnen en komen er 14 landen/streken bij. Zoek het verder maar uit. Gisteravond hadden we tijdens een oefensessie een perfecte score: land, druif, streek, oogstjaar én producent goed!!! Dat is de eerste keer in twintig jaar dat dat voor 100% lukt. Op 1 juni is de echte wedstrijd, zullen we die gaan winnen?
zondag, april 06, 2008
Lekker lunchen
Tsjonge wat kan je lekker lunchen bij Aagje Deken in Middenbeemster!
Met 27 andere lekkerbekken hebben we de hele middag niets anders gedaan dan lekker eten en drinken.
Wat aten en dronken we? Drie amuses vooraf:
Elgin Vintners Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Elgin met varkensnek van een Iberisch scharrelvarken
Aprilskloof Red Red Wine 2005 Swartland met gazpacho van geroosterde paprika
Grangehurst cabernet sauvignon/merlot 2001 Stellenbosch met kalfsuccade
En de lunch:
Newton Johnson Felicité rosé 2007
én
Springfield Estate Méthode Ancienne chardonnay 2004 Robertson
met rilette van confit de canard
Black Oystercatcher White Pearl 2006
én
Groot Parys wooded Chenin Blanc 2006 Paarl
met op de huid gebakken heilbot
Newton Johnson L’illa Noble Late Harvest 2006
met semi-freddo met nougatine en caramel-schuim
De foto's zijn erbij ingeschoten, neem maar van me aan dat het gezellig was!
Met 27 andere lekkerbekken hebben we de hele middag niets anders gedaan dan lekker eten en drinken.
Wat aten en dronken we? Drie amuses vooraf:
Elgin Vintners Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Elgin met varkensnek van een Iberisch scharrelvarken
Aprilskloof Red Red Wine 2005 Swartland met gazpacho van geroosterde paprika
Grangehurst cabernet sauvignon/merlot 2001 Stellenbosch met kalfsuccade
En de lunch:
Newton Johnson Felicité rosé 2007
én
Springfield Estate Méthode Ancienne chardonnay 2004 Robertson
met rilette van confit de canard
Black Oystercatcher White Pearl 2006
én
Groot Parys wooded Chenin Blanc 2006 Paarl
met op de huid gebakken heilbot
Newton Johnson L’illa Noble Late Harvest 2006
met semi-freddo met nougatine en caramel-schuim
De foto's zijn erbij ingeschoten, neem maar van me aan dat het gezellig was!
zaterdag, april 05, 2008
No pressure
In het persbericht waarmee de achtste editie van de proefwedstrijd Grand Prix Saint Hubert wordt aangekondigd:
"Op de imposante eregalerij van winnende teams treffen we namen als Hugo Van Landeghem (B), Johnny Grootvriendt (B), Cees van Casteren, Louis Janssen, Udo Göebel, Alex Klein, Albert de Jong, Petra de Vries, Gerhard Horstink en Arno Aartsen."
Nou moet ik bijna wel meedoen. Niet alleen de hoofdprijs staat op het spel, maar ook mijn eergevoel, mijn ego en mijn reputatie. Hoge inzet!
"Op de imposante eregalerij van winnende teams treffen we namen als Hugo Van Landeghem (B), Johnny Grootvriendt (B), Cees van Casteren, Louis Janssen, Udo Göebel, Alex Klein, Albert de Jong, Petra de Vries, Gerhard Horstink en Arno Aartsen."
Nou moet ik bijna wel meedoen. Niet alleen de hoofdprijs staat op het spel, maar ook mijn eergevoel, mijn ego en mijn reputatie. Hoge inzet!
donderdag, april 03, 2008
Update
Weer eens een berichtje uit Tulbagh:
Things are still busy in the cellar and yesterday Marius pressed our 2nd tank of Shiraz but we still have our Cab, Mourverdre and Petit Verdot to go - a lot of work...
Eskom's new scheduled power outages which now happen every two days countrywide for several hours and not helping matters!
Gebrek aan elektriciteit lijkt me toch wel erg lastig, zeker in een winery waar vrijwel alle machines elektriciteit nodig hebben, met name koeling!
Things are still busy in the cellar and yesterday Marius pressed our 2nd tank of Shiraz but we still have our Cab, Mourverdre and Petit Verdot to go - a lot of work...
Eskom's new scheduled power outages which now happen every two days countrywide for several hours and not helping matters!
Gebrek aan elektriciteit lijkt me toch wel erg lastig, zeker in een winery waar vrijwel alle machines elektriciteit nodig hebben, met name koeling!
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