The von Arnim family were early pioneers with Patriarch Achim having produced his first Cap Classiques in the early 1980s.
Later came the blend. The Haute Cabrière Chardonnay Pinot Noir 2016 being the current vintage available. The wine is hugely successful both in the supermarket shelf and in many fine restaurants around the country, and indeed at the fame Haute Cabrière Restaurant itself where chefs Nic van Wyk and Westley Muller create magic with the marriage of food and wine.
The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the two grapes grown on the Haute Cabrière Estate high up on the Franschhoek Pass. Chardonnay provides the windfall citrus elegance while the Pinot Noir offers layers of flavour, intensity and richness.
It looks like
The wine is bottled under screw cap in a Burgundy shaped bottle. In the glass, it is a gem bright pale gold with lime green flashes when help up to the light.
It smells like
A generosity of fruit. Ripe white fleshed peaches, red berries.
It tastes like
From entry, through mid-palate and well into the aftertaste, the fruit is crisp and zesty. It has a feel of ripe winter melon, litchi with the citrus squirt at the end.
It’s good with
A great glass as a sundowner sipper. Excellent ‘made for food wine’. It is able to match full flavoured dishes and especially Oriental dishes. Alida Ryder’s Vietnamese Prawn Salad with Soy Lime Dressing, is a perfect dish for this wine. Click here for her recipe.