Recently I had the opportunity to present a small range of Doolhof wines to the VATS tasting club in Johannesburg. The tasting was the result of a chance meeting with Bernd Sonnenberg, Chairman of the Club in the Doolhof tasting room last September, which Dennis Kerrison, owner of Doolhof followed up with an offer to do a tasting for the club. I was asked to do the tasting and did a bit of research about the club which came as a surprise.
The club was started in 1987 as a wine tasting event and have been tasting wine just about every Tuesday for the past 20 years. Visit www.vats.co.za for more details about the club. I found the wine knowledge of the members exceptionally good and their ability to judge wine on a 20 point scale after giving very succinct and accurate descriptions of the wine. The tasters are also brutally honest and do not hold back on pointing out faults ore shortcomings in the wine.
Herewith are extracts of Bernd’s September notes and comments on the Doolhof wines he tasted then -
Last year in September I went on my annual wine tour. My most noteworthy discovery was a farm that took me quite frankly by complete surprise. I was surprised by the friendliness, the excellence in service and wine quality.
It is probably the easiest farm to find in the Cape, just follow Church Street to its conclusion in the mountains behind the beautiful town of Wellington. At its end is a gorgeous farm called Doolhof, named after all the little valleys that form a maze at the edge of the mountain.
I arrived on a rainy day to find a farm with green pastures and newly planted vineyards. Once I found the tasting room, I was greeted with a stunning view, with a warm and cosy tasting room. The lady who ran the tasting room brimmed with friendliness and eagerness. They have a unique way of labelling the stem of each wine so that you know exactly what’s in each glass.
After the tasting, I sat back and started to decide what I should take back to my tasting back in Riebeek-West at the end of the week. I had already decided on the first day that I was going to show the people I had started to meet, that the wines of the area were exceptional. That I was going to host a tasting of the best I had found along the way, at the end of my stay. I had an immediate problem, what to take. I had not tasted the Minotaur and thus decided that that was a must, along with my 17.5, 18’s and 19 scores. Whilst debating my purchase, the owner Dennis and the manager Daan on the table opposite from me asked me what I felt about the wines from Doolhof. I have never scored so many wines so high at an estate tasting, and I said so. Both Dennis and Daan then told me all about this lovely estate, their problems with marauding monkeys harvesting most of the Chenin Blanc. They further told me about their lovely accommodation on the farm, their planned weekends and lovely restaurant.
In conclusion Doolhof is a wine farm, a stunning place to stay and a culinary experience. That’s exactly it, an experience of note! It’s not far off the beaten track, roughly 50km’s from Stellenbosch. Definitely not a place to miss if you love South African wines and want to taste some of the best wines the Cape has to offer!”
Then here are the notes and scores for the tasting in Johannesburg in June 2010.
This tasting was held at the Bryanston Country Club, in the bowling facility and was presented by Daan Coetzee. The wines were tasted in the following order and the resultant scores are reflected:
1. Signatures Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Colour – Light green. Nose – Herby, guava & grassy. Palate – Crisp acids, grassy, citrus, with a guava finish. Vats average score – 15.71;
2. Signatures Chardonnay (Barrel fermented) 2008
Colour – Green-gold. Nose – citrusy,butterscotch, lemon and lime. Palate – Crisp acids, lemon & lime, with a lingering butterscotch finish. Vats – 15.81;
3. Signatures Merlot 2006
Colour – Dark inky black, with red rim. Nose – Chocolate, caramel and black fruits. Palate – Crisp acids, lots of black fruits, firm chalky tannins, with a chalky finish. Vats – 16.19;
4. Malbec 2008
Colour – Dark inky purple, with a red rim. Nose – Sour cherries, with choc and berry fruit, white pepper and nutmeg spices, with cedar. Palate – Crisp acids, firm tannins, white pepper, gamey, with black currants and cherries. Vats – 16.24;
5. Shiraz 2006
Colour – Dark black, with a purple rim. Nose – Black currant, chocolate and caramel. Palate – Crisp acids, firm tannins, black currants, caramel, with lingering black fruit finish. Vats – 17.19;
6. Minotaur 2007
Colour – Dark inky black, with purple rim. Nose – Sour cherry, chocolate and black fruits. Palate – Crisp acids, with firm but silky tannins, black fruits, with chocolates, lingering sweet black fruit finish. Vats – 17.14.
This was an excellent, well presented tasting with high scoring wines. The Shiraz 2006 was the second most highly scored wine tasted by Vats in 2010, with the Cederburg Generations Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, beating this wine with its 17.33 average. That also makes the Minotaur the third most highly scored wine by VATS in 2010.
Tags: reviews, wine clubs