South African Wines Part Nine: Spotlight on two Boutique Wineries

Eagles' Nest

I didn't have a lot of time in Cape Town to do any real widespread wine-tasting so I chose instead to concentrate on two small boutique wineries. Eagles' Nest in Constantia and Altydgedacht in Durbanville.

I had overlooked Eagle's Nest in the past in favor of the more famous Groot and Klein Constantia estates, Steenberg and Constantia Uitsig. That was a mistake; it shouldn't be missed!

High up on a sunny northern-facing hill above the Constantia Valley, the wines are grown on some of steepest vineyards in South Africa and as a result, have a distinct character all their own. Fruitier and spicier, Eagles' Nest creates their fair share of award-winning wines. Their Viognier is notable and often sold out and their Sauvignon Blanc shows classical aromas of  melons, pineapples and guava with hints of green peppers. One review I read said that in some vintages, it is like burying your nose in a big green pepper!

I tasted seven wines at Eagles' Nest. The Sauvignon Blanc, the Viognier, their Little Eagle label Rose and Little Eagle Red, a Merlot and a Shiraz.

The 2010 Merlot and the 2012 Shiraz in particular seemed to benefit from the mountainous cool climate. Violets and dark berries, velvety tannins. I bought two of each.

I also bought two of the 2013 Little Eagle Reds. Not only is it enjoyable to drink but 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the wines under the Little Eagle label are donated to an eagle conservation trust called the Western Cape Raptor Research Program. 100%.

I had read about Altydgedacht in a wine blog I follow. There are over 600 wineries in the Western Cape and I have no hope of visiting them all before my time in South Africa is up. But when an interesting one comes on the radar, I make a note. The blogger, Christine Andrews, named Altydgrdacht one of her "Top Ten Wineries in the Western Cape."

Altydgedacht was originally named Tygerberg and was granted by Governor Simon van der Stel in 1698. It was one of the early wheat, wine and stock farms established in the days of the Dutch East India Company, to supply their ships sailing to the East.

Altydgedacht, Afrikaans for "Always on my mind," has been owned by the Parker family since 1852 and is presently farmed by 5th generation brothers, John and Ollo. In particular, their great-great-grandfather Robert Parker, nicknamed "The Builder", is credited with creating the noted wine estate you see today.

Once again seven wines for a tasting, but this time I got to choose from ten different varieties and blends. I really liked both the 2014 Weisser Reisling and the Gemurztraminer that I tasted. On the drier side, they were extremely pleasant to drink and I might have bought a few bottles on the spot if it weren't for the fact that we are long on whites back at Valley Lodge. Instead, I picked up and marked up an order form for future shipping.

I did however pick up a few of their Robert Parker Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (2012) and Merlot (2013) for Vince to taste. We can theoretically buy all of Altydgedacht's wine offerings at Makro and Bootleggers back in Joburg (if they are not sold out first), but the Robert Parker Reserve wines are only available from the estate itself. I wanted Vince to taste them because I have a feeling we will be ordering more of those shipped as well.

huge roses too!

Altydgedacht is also the pioneering producer of Barbera in South Africa, having introduced the variety here. Their Barbera is sold in magnums which I certainly didn't want to hand carry back to Joburg. More shipping!

The restaurant Eat@Altydgedacht was open for lunch and I was hungry when I was there. So ...

The butternut soup was excellent and they offer a wide range of home-cooked pot pies and a 'Barbera burger' along with some tempting home-made puddings.