#winetasting on Thursday with Bellevue Wine Estate and CT Wine Tastings hosted by Peter Gouws.
The group met at Cape Diamond Boutique Hotel the entire bar was booked for the event which was well atended and the tasting table was filled to capacity.
Winemaker Wilhelm Kritzinger took us through a blind tasting of 7 of the Bellevue wines where guests had to guess (say that a few times!) what the wine was before the bottle was unveiled and the story behind the wine was told. It was a lot of fun, and there was a lot of guessing and second guessing, sniffing, swirling and a little bit of spitting. The experts at the table were the ones whose private cellars showed a decent amount of (ab)use, including yours truly who got 5 of the 7 right. No prizes for the winner except bragging rights and Jeanne took the honours in the middle section of the long table. It’s a great and fun way to discover new wines and meet new people.
The estate is best known for its Pinotage, and boasts its origin back to the first ever Pinotage produced in SA. I enjoyed the Pinotage, but preferred the Tumara blend and the Malbec.
Get hold of Peter Gouws and ask him to add you to the wine tasting WhatsApp group – tell him I sent you. They hold one of these every two weeks – just enough time to recover inbetween events.
From Peter Gouws’ post on the same event:
What a special tasting we had with Bellevue Wine Estate on Thursday evening. Super wines and incredible people – what more can one ask for? Several new faces and a special welcome to Adam talks Food & Wine for joining us. We often end up at the same functions and for once we enjoyed the evening together.
Few will argue that the Reserve Pinotage was phenomenal, but the Reserve Chard and Tumara (Bordeaux blend) were also so special. The Sauv Blanc was very typical, with guava and lemon grass on the nose, lovely wine. Very interesting Rose, 90+% Chardonnay and the balance Petit Verdot. A different take, but I’m sure many will love this wine. The Cinsaut is clearly influenced by the terroir, with hints of fynbos and other floral tones. Malbec maybe a touch atypical with a bit more earthy tones than the average, but a beautiful wine. Thank you Bellevue and Wilhelm Kritzinger for the special evening, and last but not least, Dawid Botha and Cape Diamond Hotel for your hospitality and fabulous venue.
