From the Durbanville Wine Valley, just a 20 minute drive from Cape Town City.
TASTING NOTES:
This is a rich and complex wine. Durbanville’s typical dusty, herbal notes are well supported by red and black fruit with a hint of spice and vanilla and cigar box notes. The medium-bodied palate shows Cabernet’s cooler flavours including spearmint, red berries and plum, supported by a bright line of acidity. Well–integrated élevage in French oak and fine, soft tannins make for a rounded, seamless finish. Accessible now but will be even better in 3 to 5 years. Allow breathing time for the wine to open up or decant an hour before serving. Enjoy with grilled lamb, hearty vegetable stews, risottoor beef carpaccio with parmesan shavings.
Cellar door price: R120
HISTORY 0F GROOT PHESANTEKRAAL
One of Durbanville’s oldest farms, the heritage that is Groot Phesantekraaldates back to 1698 when Cape Governor Simon van der Stel granted the land to its first owner, Captain Olof Bergh of the VOC (whose name lives on as one of the Cape’s rare aged brandies produced by the solera method).A story of improbable love, triumph and perseverance is woven into the farm’s history. Olof Bergh’s heart was captured by the beautiful Anna de Koning, daughter of a freed slave in the Jan van Riebeeck household. Anna and Bergh married in 1676 and together they farmed the land now known as Groot Phesantekraal. After her husband’s death, she became a wealthy widow, inheriting Groot Constantia. Thanks to her intelligence and beauty, she became a distinguished member of the Cape of Good Hope elite.
Records show that by 1756 some 40 000 vines had been planted on Groot Phesantekraal. In 1759 the property was sold to the Louw family and later purchased by Arend Brink in 1897. Primarily devoted to mixed farming (grains, cattle and sheep), fourth generation current custodians André (Oubaas) and Ronelle Brink planted vineyards covering 50ha of its 840ha expanse in 1996.
