South African Wine Information Centre
Bubbly
 


» Ridgeback Wines   +27.218698068     www.ridgebackwines.co.za     tasting@ridgeback.co.za
latest
 
Celebrating unique handcrafted wines

contact us
  Ridgeback Wines
Phone +27.218698068
Fax +27.218698146
eMail tasting@ridgeback.co.za
URL www.ridgebackwines.co.za
Address Langverwacht Farm
P.O. Box 2076
Windmeul
Paarl
7630
South Africa

follow us on twitter
join us on facebook
in the news » Celebrating unique handcrafted wines
published on: 01 June 2012      source: Carla van der Merwe
 
This month we look at wines that were made in small quantities, either from boutique cellars, single vineyards or garagiste winemakers. The six wine farms that we chose to focus on are Edgebaston, Chabivin, Jacobsdal, Remhoogte, Ridgeback and Jordan.
Edgebaston

Edgebaston wines are made by David Finlayson on the Finlayson family farm in Stellenbosch. The farm comprises 29 hectares of which 22 hectares are under vine. Eleven different cultivars are planted on Edgebaston, including Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc and Shiraz. The Edgebaston Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 is made from two outstanding clones of Cabernet Sauvignon planted as "Mother Blocks" for the South African vineyard industry due to their suitability to the deep red clay soils on Edgebaston. To view David talk about the Edgebaston Cabernet Sauvignon, please click here. To view images from the farm, please click here.

Chabivin

Hendrik Snyman is the winemaker at Chabivin Champagne and MCC House. Chabivin first started producing MCC's in 2009 and Hendrik uses his international knowledge to produce world class bubbly. The unusual Chabivin MCC NV goes against convention and is made from Semillon rather than the traditional Chardonnay and Pinot noir cultivars. Chabivin is situated on the Blaauwklippen road and is open for tastings and sales. To view Hendrik chat about his MCC please click here and to view images from the farm please click here.

Jacobsdal

The Dumas family has been making wine on the estate for three generations. Present owner Cornelis Dumas makes wines together with his son, Hannes who will eventually take over the reins. The family believes in producing wines that are truly handmade. Wines like their Jacobsdal Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 are made using natural yeast. The grapes are sourced from dry land bushvines that are between 11 and 16 years old. To watch Cornelis explain their winemaking principles please click here. To view images from our visit please click here.

Remhoogte

Family owned Remhoogte has a total of 33 hectares under vine. The oldest vineyard on the farm is the 25 year old 2ha block of Chenin blanc vines that is used to produce the Remhoogte Honeybunch Chenin Blanc 2011. The low yielding single vineyard "Honeybunch" Chenin walked away with a gold medal at Wednesday's (30 May) Old Mutual Wine and Trophy Show Awards. To view winemaker Chris Boustred explain the wine, please click here. To view images from the farm please click here.

Ridgeback

The 62 hectare boutique farm of Ridgeback is situated roughly 10km's from Paarl. The tasting room is serenely set with a view of the small dam that houses 25 species of waterfowl. Ridgeback's quaint facilities and children friendly atmosphere was a real joy to visit. The Ridgeback Cabernet Franc 2008 is a delicious full bodied wine with notes of plum and blackcurrant. To view winemaker Toit Wessels discuss the wine please click here and to view some photos from our visit please click here.

Jordan

Family owned Jordan is run on the principle that good wine is made in the vineyard. The vineyards are therefore carefully managed and the success of the estate can clearly be seen in their recent win of two trophies at the Old Mutual Wine and Trophy Show for Chenin blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Prospector Syrah 2008 is also a fantastic wine crafted from a single sea facing vineyard. To watch Gary Jordan talk about the history behind the Prospector Syrah please see the box below and to view images from our visit please click here.

Remember to check out our June, Small is Beautiful pressroom for more unique and handcrafted wines this month.
 
 
Comments comments be the first to add a comment COMMENTS add a comment

The article above is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike License
You may copy, re-use or re-print any of this information as long as wine.co.za is quoted as source.
Any statements made or opinions expressed are the legal responsibility of the AUTHOR,
and do not necessarily reflect the views of WineNet (PTY) Ltd. or its sponsors.

This article has been read 5659 times.