My First Wine Tasting Experience

“Thrill your taste buds” was exactly what I intended to do when I ventured off to Stellenbosch on the 14th August 2010, to experience an unforgettable wine tasting first. My first stop was JC Le Roux, home of sparkling wines and the first cellar devoted solely to the production of sparkling wines in South Africa. This is where I was introduced to a range of “bubbly”and my favourite aspect was being able to taste 5 different wines paired up with a range of delectable nougat and fudge. This was definitely a great enjoyment for the ladies and one that deserved to be savoured.
Our tour guide explained the process of how exactly the wines were made, bottled, rotated into a specific angel and stored. This was indeed a timelessly process and here the saying that goes good wine takes time was in order.

We were also shown the process of “le sabrage” which means opening a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine with a sabre and how it was originally done years ago to signify the celebration of a ceremonial occasion. That also signified the end of our tour at JC Le Roux, our next farm was Berg Kelder which was only 10 min away and was sure to be another fascinating experience.

Our tour began inside the Berg Kelder cellar which is where we were given an introduction into where the wines originated from. Something interesting I learned was that a Pinotage 2008 or Cabinet 2005 means that the grapes were picked in that year and went through a process of stomping, being placed in wood and simply waiting. Red wines indeed had a more complicated process but it is important to note that the older the year on the bottle, the better the taste of the red wine. Wines that seem to overwhelm your taste buds means that the wine is young and was not in wood for a very long time.

At Berg Kelder we also tasted 5 types of wines, 2 being red, the other 2 white and a delicious dessert wine. All of these wines had their unique taste and texture and by smelling it you were able to identify a series of elements. Wine is a personal thing because every individual taste and smells something different, but after our tasting at Berg Kelder my senses seemed to have shut down, luckily I had a designated driver who was able to get me home safely.
After our visit to Berg Kelder it was off to Franshoek where the weather was amazing, the air was clean and the feeling of tranquillity had me feeling like I wanted to stay there all day.