People say, to fully understand a fine glass of wine, do it over a very intimate moment. A friend and I jotted down to the Western Cape, in South Africa, and what we saw and experienced was beyond expectation. We had an appetizing Donkiesbaai 2013, Pinot Noir red wine that we had spared for the past five years.
On the nose, the Donkiesbaai 2013’s red and black cherry, a pretty floral note reminiscent of roses and a hint of spice. It’s full but balanced – a dense core of fruit, really lovely acidity and fine but still grip tannins. It’s still extraordinarily primary but there’s a proper sinuosity about it – not sweet and soft like so many of its peers. Well worth the R200 a bottle asking price.
It isn’t something we normally do, but we wanted to taste and see why some people would save their wines over a period of time. Haven’t you ever wondered why someone would save wine and only drink it after a few years?
Reaching our final destination after the great choice of a long road trip from Johannesburg to the Western Cape region, which, I should recommend to some people. It took us over 10 hours to finally set foot in the province. We reached our destination, the beautiful vineyards at the Le Franschoek hotel and spa. Even though the drive from Johannesburg to Western Cape was a long an arduous trip, it was certainly worth it. The anticipation of wanting to reach our destination and needing to get out of the cramped car was relentless. Having reached the majestic coast of the Mother city, where we wanted to open our fine five years experiment pinot noir red wine which we had kept from five years ago. Our plan was to open it on a fine picnic moment and just span away with our livelihood.
Pinot noir red wine is freshly fermented from the burgundy, middle of France, taken from the Vitis Vinifera. It is a perfect getaway wine that offers that indescribable feeling, which is letting go of the hard office work. The wine taste like a sweet melody, that slowly slithers with a tune. A fine over kept red grapes, strawberries and even cranberries. A sweet, tender and sour over-spoilt red grapes to be precise and that slowly blends perfectly with the last minute sort of goat cheese. It is a cool climate styled and a little brighter. It commonly goes well with salmon, chicken or even pork. The flavours that it gives are beyond possible and seductive to say. When it comes to the aroma, more like the lightest earthly smell.
With the Pinot red wine, it is already a dry wine and most people tend to ask for less fruity in flavour because it tends to be incorrectly described as sweet. I should say that the most fascination thing about this is the unusual, typical and large aroma. The shallow texture that just explores in your taste buds, giving you all different imaginations. The wine for me I should say tasted like a brand new leather furniture, together with the extreme intensive smell.
Experts would say that the wine does not usually age well, but one thing you can be certain with is that the wine is perfectly fermented and with over time the wine gets this extensive kickback sour-sweet after taste.
Even though there are other red wines that are good for your body and ageing, like the Merlot and the Cabernet Sauvignon, my friend and I wanted to opt for the most affordable wine and definitely good for the skin feel. The Pinot noir is great variety and very light in to stomach, and was first fermented in the 12th century. The wine was made from the thin strips of the grapes and that it has this translucency colour. How it tastes, smells and feels you usually need to swirl it around.
The have a very strong kickback of a more bitter taste before they are fermented. It can turn into a champagne after a while. As this wine ages, the Pinot has the potential to develop more rite and blatant aromas that contribute to the complexity of the wine.
There’s something about this wine that makes you want to just sit at this one spot on the ocean seashore and just gulp love for a peaceful moment. I should say, even though I have tasted a lot of wines, but I have never come across a fine wine that stayed for five years untouched. Call it crazy, but I say “a glass of wine with cheese” why not?
