{"id":81842,"date":"2016-10-22T00:05:13","date_gmt":"2016-10-21T22:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=81842"},"modified":"2016-10-27T11:07:10","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T09:07:10","slug":"tasting-of-impressive-single-vineyard-arendsig-hand-crafted-wines-at-openwine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/tasting-of-impressive-single-vineyard-arendsig-hand-crafted-wines-at-openwine\/","title":{"rendered":"Tasting of impressive single vineyard Arendsig Hand Crafted Wines at OpenWine!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"Every week OpenWine Taste Pair Shop<\/strong><\/span><\/a> hosts a wine tasting of one of the wine brands which they stock in their Wale Street\u00a0tasting venue. The tasting is short and sweet, lasting one hour. This week I attended the tasting of Arendsig Hand Crafted Wines, my first exposure to its wines.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The tasting was conducted by winemaker Lourens Van Der\"image\" Westhuizen, after we were served a glass of the Arendsig Sauvignon Blanc 2016 (R115) as a ‘palate cleanser<\/em>‘, distribution agent Siris Vintners’ Harriet de Villiers told us.<\/p>\n

Arendsig is a very principled wine estate, and does not enter its wines for evaluation in the Platter’s South African Wine Guide. \u00a0Lourens did not want to elaborate about this topic too much, but it appears that there is a perception, coupled with past experience, that wines from Robertson are discriminated against. The difference in Platter and Robert Parker ratings for the same wines is a further reason.<\/p>\n

Arendsig has a unique style of winemaking, with minimal interference in the winemaking process, and the wine estate wants to keep it this way. Wines are made from single vineyards with ‘unique soil, climate and location<\/em>‘. \u00a0Natural yeast is used during fermentation, eliminating the use of enzymes. Maturation ‘takes place in neutral vessels to bring through the unique vineyard characteristics<\/em>‘ specific to the site, its website informs.<\/p>\n

Lourens introduced himself and the wine estate, saying that Arendsig is a family-owned farm. He studied winemaking, making his first wine in 2004. His focus is making single vineyard wines. Wines are made under the Arendsig (grapes grown on their wine estate) as well as the second label Inspiration (grapes bought in) brands. Given that Robertson has had a ‘cheap and cheerful’<\/em> reputation, his focus has been to show the quality of the wines which can be made in the area. He said that he has \"image\"‘terroir in his wines<\/em>‘, with minimal interference, allowing spontaneous fermentation. French oak wooden casks are used to preserve the freshness of white wines. All the Arendsig wines have wax closures. The winery uses half the sulphur that it has used to in the past. Lourens raved about the fantastic 2016 vintage. He makes no Reserve wines. He praised the ‘revolution<\/em>‘ by the young winemakers, making more Cinsaut and Grenache. He likes the trend to wine bars, such as OpenWine. (photograph of owners Marta Gobbo and Raphael Paterniti). \u00a0OpenWine stocks five of the eight Arendsig wines.<\/p>\n

Chardonnay grows very well in Robertson, and Pinot Noir is increasingly being grown in the region too. Lourens said that it is a myth that Pinot\u00a0Noir needs a cooler climate. \u00a0It does however need a bigger difference between day and night temperatures. Arendsig \"image\"makes no blends, keeping varietals separate.<\/p>\n

We tasted the following Arendsig wines<\/span>:<\/p>\n

# \u00a0 Sauvignon Blanc 2015 (R115)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lourens told us that he has moved to a riper style of making Sauvignon Blanc.<\/p>\n

# \u00a0 Chardonnay 2015 (R115)<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the last four years Lourens has changed the style of his wine from creamy and heavy to ‘something more elegant’<\/em>, he shared. A total of 12000 bottles has been produced.<\/p>\n

# \u00a0 Viognier 2015 (R135)<\/strong><\/p>\n

A total of 1000 vines was planted in 2002. They used to make a natural sweet wine with it, but it was inconsistent in its quality. Now they make 2100 bottles of Viognier, being skin-fermented but the stalks are separated from the skin. It has orange peel on the nose, and is a good food-pairing wine, \u00a0Lourens said.<\/p>\n

# \u00a0 Chenin Blanc Inspiration 2015 (R135)<\/strong><\/p>\n

A total of 2500 bottles was ‘crafted<\/em>‘ for this vintage, from 27 year old vineyards. Half of their grapes are harvested early, with a low sugar content, and sent to the local co-operative. The balance is used to make their own wine, being harvested as ripe as possible. Some botrytis grapes give the wine honey tones. They leave the wine on the lees for nine months. Lourens has made this wine in a different style, to distinguish it from his Chardonnay and Viognier. They have achieved great success from this block.<\/p>\n

# \u00a0 Grenache 2016 (R115)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This wine is a Beaujolais-style wine, drunk young, and used in France to make Ros\u00e9. It gives a lot of fruit, and they drink it chilled on a hot summer’s day. It spends three months in old barrels, and is one of their most successful wines, being their most profitable. It has cherry and pepper on the nose. Ten percent of the wine is made with whole bunch fermentation, to achieve freshness. Arendsig is the only Grenache producer in Robertson. From grapes at Fraai Uitzicht Lourens makes 3000 bottles, which are sent to Germany.<\/p>\n

# \u00a0 Shiraz 2015 (R115)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is Lourens’ favorite, made from a vineyard facing the afternoon sun. It is a warmer site, with more robust soil. It is elegant, and has tobacco and raspberries on the nose. It is smooth, and quaffable. It can be kept for 5-6 years.<\/p>\n

# \u00a0 Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 (R115)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a plummy and pleasant wine, made from a 16 year old single vineyard, giving spice and mint too.<\/p>\n

# \u00a0 Cabernet Sauvignon Inspiration 2015 (R135)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This wine gives musk and earthiness on the nose. ‘It is not everyone’s cup of tea’<\/em>, Lourens admitted. Grapes come from McGregor, from a 27 year old vineyard belonging to a friend, which Lourens helped revive. It receives minimalist attention.<\/p>\n

What makes the Open Wine tastings interesting is the personality of the wine estate and of the winemaker or marketing representative come through in the one-hour tastings. It is an excellent way of experiencing the wines in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

Arendsig Hand Crafted Wines<\/strong>, Robertson. Cell 084 200 2163 \u00a0 www.arendsig.co.za<\/strong><\/span><\/a> \u00a0 Twitter: @ArendsigWines Instagram: @ArendsigWines<\/h4>\n

OpenWine Taste Pair Shop<\/strong>, 72 Wale Street, Cape Town. Tel (021) 422-0800.www.openwineza.co.za<\/strong><\/a> Instagram: @openwine_za<\/h4>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog:\u00a0www.whalecottage.com\/blog<\/a> Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: click here<\/a>\u00a0Instagram: @Chris_Ulmenstein<\/strong><\/h3>\n

C<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every week OpenWine Taste Pair Shop hosts a wine tasting of one of the wine brands which they stock in their Wale Street\u00a0tasting venue. The tasting is short and sweet, lasting one hour. This week I attended the tasting of Arendsig Hand Crafted Wines, my first exposure to its wines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[3,124,34768,19],"tags":[22741,32366,32378,34771,34769,34770,34544,25578,34542,2789,34543,11833,433,12356,5692,1528],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t