The Wine Girl Cape Town
Menu
  • About
  • SA Wine Farm List
    • Best for food
    • Best for views
    • Picnics
    • Kid Friendly
    • Modern Farms
    • Best Value
    • Historic Farms
    • Best for white wines
    • Best for red wine
    • Best for MCC / Sparkling
    • Best for art
    • Best Fire Places
    • Wine farms with Hotels
    • Wine farms with Spas
  • Wine News
  • Wine facts
  • Featured Wines
  • PR & Advertising
  • Contact
Menu
Nederburg Noble Late Harvest wine South Africa

Nederburg Noble Late Harvest

Posted on Dec 7, 2018Feb 18, 2019 by TheWineGirlCapeTown

What a treat it is to enjoy some excellent Noble Late Harvest wines over the Christmas period. You can sip on them, pour them over your ice cream or what I recently discovered, is to add them to tonic water for a delightfully delicious pool side refreshment. When one thinks sweet wine in South Africa, many would recommend Klein Constantia Vin de Constance but this wine is around R1000 a bottle – so if you are looking for a more budget friendly version, then Nederburg is the way to go…

Nederburg The Winemasters Noble Late Harvest 2017; made from a blend of Chenin blanc (48%), Muscat de Frontignan (30%), Grasă de Cotnari (18%) and Rhine Riesling (4%);  is an elegantly styled and aromatic natural sweet wine with sumptuous fragrances of pineapple, litchi, apricot, tangerine, honey and dried peach. The palate, where sugar and acid are in perfect harmony, is luscious but refined with delicious dried fruit and vanilla spice notes.

Grapes for this wine were sourced from trellised vineyards in Durbanville and Paarl, and cooled by morning mists and afternoon winds. The vineyard canopies are kept well-aerated to ensure no adverse infections result during humid spells.

While Nederburg has established an unassailable reputation for excellence across its range of red and white varietal and blended wines, there is one style in particular that is virtually synonymous with the famous Paarl winery. Say noble late harvest and the chances are most wine-loving South Africans will immediately think of Nederburg.

The winery pioneered the style in 1969 when Günter Brözel, Nederburg cellar-master from 1956 to 1989, made the first wine in South Africa with grapes affected by noble rot or Botrytis cinerea, the fungus attacking grapes under a very specific set of climatic conditions to produce richly-scented, honeyed, complex wines of remarkable longevity.

Noble rot grows in moist, humid conditions, often brought on by summer rains, followed by moderate temperatures and enough of a breeze to ensure good air circulation through the vine canopies. The noble rot literally feeds on the juice of the grapes and concentrates not only their sugars, but their acids and flavours.  One of nature’s miracles, it depends on a pretty exact sequence of events – a few days, at most, of wet weather and then sunshine – to produce wines of luxurious depth and sweetness.  Wet weather, followed by extended cold temperatures, insufficient air movement through the vines, and high humidity or too hot weather, can turn the noble into sour rot, rendering the grapes worthless and totally unusable for any wine at all.

As the prevailing legislation did not permit for the making of natural table wines with more than 30 grams per litre of residual sugar, the authorities of the day agreed that Brözel’s noble late harvest debut in South Africa could be sold on auction only to members of the trade carrying a liquor licence. And so it came to pass that the Nederburg Auction was established in 1975 as a channel to sell the wine that Nederburg called Edelkeur.

Although the legislation has since been changed to allow for the unrestricted sale of noble late harvest wines, Edelkeur is still made for sale exclusively on the annual auction at Nederburg.  However, the winery offers a variety of noble late harvest wines, including the delicious and much-acclaimed The Winemasters version that is available on the open market.

Since taking over as cellar-master of Nederburg in 2015, Andrea Freeborough and her team have shown great dexterity in making noble late harvest wines, augmenting the award-winning tradition created by Brözel, as well as Razvan Macici, who headed up the cellar from 2001 until 2015. She says her conversancy with sweet wines was shaped by these two trailblazers.

Freeborough is currently assisted by white-winemaker, Elmarie Botes; as well as assistant white-wine maker, Jamie Fredericks; and their dessert wines continue to excel.

  • nederburg sweet wine
  • Nederburg dessert

Throughout the year, they learned that Nederburg’s The Winemasters Noble Late Harvest 2017 had emerged as a top performer in the noble late harvest or dessert wine category at prestigious competitions locally and abroad.  In fact, this wine is Nederburg’s most extensively awarded of the year.  Awards during 2018, for the 2017 vintage, include:

  • 2018 Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards: Platinum medal (96 points)
  • 2018 Tim Atkin South Africa Special Report: 93 points
  • 2018 Veritas Awards: Gold medal
  • 2018 Winemag.co.za Sweet Wine Report: 91 points
  • 2018 International Wine & Spirit Competition: Gold medal
  • 2018 Top Wine SA: Top 10 SA Unfortified Dessert Wines from 2008 to 2017; Hall of Fame (non-vintage specific)

Enjoy Nederburg The Winemasters Noble Late Harvest 2017 with rich liver pâtés, pancakes served with orange and honey, other desserts, cakes, pastries and tarts.  It’s also delicious served with blue cheese, especially Roquefort.

Available from liquor outlets across South Africa, the wine retails for around R110 per 375ml bottle. 

Interact with Nederburg on social media using the hashtags: #OnceUponaNederburg #Paarl #NobleLateHarvest #CapeWinelands #Awards

Nederburg is a leading example of the country’s wine excellence and innovation. Ranked amongst the top 50 most admired brands in the world by Drinks International, Nederburg has won many leading international and local wine titles and awards over the years. These include most successful South African producer at the International Wine & Spirit Competition, Platter’s South African Wine Guide ‘Winery of the Year’, and Diners Club ‘Winemaker of the Year’, amongst others.  

With a proud history dating back to 1791, the winery is dynamic, forward-thinking and progressive.  Its highly sophisticated cellar is designed to produce a multi-tiered range of contemporary wines that combine rich fruit flavour with classic structure.  The wines range from exclusive, micro-edition offerings for the connoisseur to wines styled for everyday enjoyment.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • WhatsApp
  • Email

Related

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Instagram post 18084720178188611 Pop the Rosé! Tomorrow’s a public holiday which often means that most wineries will be closed. 🥺 Comment below if you know which wineries are open. For now I’m having a nice wine night in 😉💕
#lanzerac #winegirl #pampertime #metime #girlsjustwannahavefun #roseallday #girltime #bathtime #luxliving #luxurylifestyle #southafrica #luxuryhomes #bathroom #decor #winelife #winelover #drinkwine #rosé #bath #bathroomdecor
Instagram post 17857809472641970 Have yourself a Moët little Christmas! 😜 #moetmomentct @moetchandon
Instagram post 17846602813799612 Can I take your order? 😃 🍷 What’s your favourite Wine bar? 
#winegirl
Instagram post 18044292169211063 On a spur of the moment spree, I ventured into the Breedekloof Wine Valley, about an hour’s drive out of Cape Town, on a late Sunday morning when I discovered that Kirabo Private Cellar was one of the only cellars open. Thanks to Google! Winery 117 of 800! .
.
.

Kirabo Private Cellar is a family-run grape farm going back 6 generations! It was only in 2009 that the family decided to make their own wine and today even make their own beer called Broer Beer. There are 5 wines available for wine tasting at R5 a glass with some pretty good servings. They only produce red wine such as Merlot, Shiraz, Petit Verdot, a Barrel’s End blend and Cupcake (off-dry) all barrel matured and handcrafted. @kirabo_cellar @breedekloof_wine_valley #kirabocellar #kiraboprivatecellar #breedekloof #breedekloofvalley #breedekloofwinevalley #breedekloofwines #sawine #wosa #southafricanwines #satourism #tourcapetown #wine #winefarm #winefarmcapetown #winefarmsouthafrica #capewinelands #explorebreedekloof #explorecapetown #winegirl #winery #winerysouthafrica #southafricanwinery
Instagram post 17843937388823170 MCC fever! Get ready for the @franschhoek_sa #capclassiqueandchampagnefestival 2019 happening this weekend 🥂🍾
#capclassique #bubbly #sparklingwine #champagne #champagnelife #champagnelover #sawine #wosa #southafricanwine #winelife #winegirl #winetime #franschhoek #franschoek #franschhoek_sa #franschhoeklife
Instagram post 17872849252497845 Happy world Carménère day! This is a one of a kind for South Africa, only 700 bottles of this baby were produced and for only R120 a bottle, it’s a real steal! .
.
Lozärn Wines comes from the Robertson region and are the champions of the carménère grape variety on home soil. In 2012, winemaker Salóme Buys-Vermeulen was enjoying a fine Chilean carménère with husband, Sybrand and a friend. She says it “was love at first sip”. This moment led to her planting a carménère vineyard in 2014. From this block Lozärn Wines produced the first single-varietal carménère in South Africa. The Carménère Rosé 2019 has just been released to market. .
.
Enjoy notes of candyfloss, strawberries and Pink Lady apples. “It’s a wine for the setting of the summer sun; pair with prosciutto, Brie and tapas, and good company,” says Salóme. Carménère Rosé 2019 (R120.00) are available through www.lozarn.co.za as well as specific outlets.

@lozarnwines 
#CarménèreMonth #CelebrateCarménère 
#CarménèreEducation #CarménèreAwareness

Hi I’m Leanne!

Hi fellow wine lovers! I’m Leanne, and I started out on this challenge in June 2016 to be the first woman to visit and blog about all 800 wine farms in the Western Cape. Read more...

Search

What’s news & #Trending

  • Stellenbosch Wine Routes supports #SoberStellies

    Stellenbosch Wine Routes supports #SoberStellies

  • Popcorn and Wine Pairing for just R55 in Stellenbosch!

    Popcorn and Wine Pairing for just R55 in Stellenbosch!

  • Anna Christina, Limited Release MCC of Stellenbosch, South Africa

    Anna Christina, Limited Release MCC of Stellenbosch, South Africa

  • Dress in all white at the 2020 Franschhoek Summer Wines

    Dress in all white at the 2020 Franschhoek Summer Wines

What’s in my glass…

  • Add some sweet sparkle with De Krans Moscato Perlé

    Add some sweet sparkle with De Krans Moscato Perlé

    Dec 12, 2019

Winemaker News

  • Meet Simon, Winemaker of Louisvale Wines

    Meet Simon, Winemaker of Louisvale Wines

    Dec 12, 2019

Categories

Thanks for visiting!

  • 95,566 hits
©2019 The Wine Girl Cape Town
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.