The Nederburg Auction is one of South Africa’s most prestigious wine events and having one of your wines as part of the line-up is a huge thumbs-up. Yesterday we heard the good news that our Baccarat 2005 was selected to be featured at the event in September!

We’ve always believed that this Bordeaux-styled blend is one of the  most under-rated Reds in the Stellenbosch region and although it always does well in Platter’s and in other wine competitions, the price of under R200 per bottle from the tasting room, doesn’t truly reflect its quality.  In the immortal words of one of those international sales guru’s:  “This wine really over-delivers on the price!”

The tasting room currently has the Baccarat 2008 for tasting and sale, so make a point of trying it when visiting.

Avontuur’s cosy tasting room.

Winemaker Jan van Rooyen is celebrating the South African cricket team’s fantastic performances against the opposition by using an anology to that sport, passionately supported by SA fans, for his tongue in cheek 2013 harvest report.  For more in his own words, read on….

“On 4 Feb we tossed the coin and decided to send Hennie and his team to field first with the Chardonnay coming from block E5 to open our innings for 2013 and on that same day we klapped some more Chard from C5 as well as Pinot Noir for Vintner’s Blend from E2. We ended the day on 16.8 T and 991 kissies – not bad for the first day ?

On 5 Feb we ventured further down the order and the second white grape to come in to the batting crease of the cellar was our SBL from D5 to be followed by SBL C3 and Chenin from B3 over the next few days

Our cellar scoreboard reached the first 50 Ton mark on 12 Feb after more Chard, P.N and SBL dropped into the cellar and by Friday 15 Feb all the SBL was off the field

On Monday 19 Feb the white grape innings closed when the last of the chard came in from DA1 and the River blocks

The very next day we followed-on to the reds in all earnest as we klapped the whole Merlot innings over 2 days and in the process (on 20 Feb) the scoreboard showed our first century @ 111.849 Tons !!

On 21 Feb, with the grand total on 117.316 tons, after the last of the Merlot, our grape innings was interrupted/declared/put on hold and we went for a P-interval (P is for pumping-over-and-pressing-the-reds !!)

The next day of intake was 4 March for Cab Franc, followed by Shiraz, Ruby Cab and Pinotage – the latter coming in to face the pace of Goggie (Bradley) and myself on 12 March and at the same time to push our score over the 150 mark to 153.091 NOT OUT !!

Freshly harvested Red grapes

To date all the Shiraz is in the cellar and 3 blocks of Cab Sauv is done too.  We hope to be finished after the Easter weekend, and I can only say that the quality from the field has been great so far with no fielding errors.  We have good, clean and healthy grapes giving me lovely flavours in the cellar – many thanks to the coach and her team…

We often have visitors to the tasting room who would really enjoy watching the shadows fall over the terrace and paddocks in the late afternoon at Avontuur, with the impressive backdrop of the Helderberg mountains making it a definite “Kodak” moment!  Now you can on a Wednesday and Friday evening, when the tasting room stays open till 18h00 (Usually closes at 17h00).

Plan your route through the winelands so that you end up with us – and even stay for dinner in the restaurant after your tasting experience. We look forward to seeing you!

There’s not much we can do for you on the  “formal” side of things onValentine’s Day itself as our restaurant is fully booked for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but don’t despair.  For visitors to the winelands on Thursday, especially if you’re with your loved one,  our tasting room offers a free tasting for 2, and some loving treats, with compliments from the Avontuur team.  A glass of bubbly or two would be just the way to start off your day!

And don’t forget the special on our Chardonnay Reserve, Luna de Miel 2010 (Honeymoon in Spanish – for those of you who don’t know yet) where we make up a 3-pack of this perfect foodie wine to take home at only R280. (Normally you would pay quite a bit more than R300!)

We look forward to sharing your day on Thursday.

Celebrate your love of wine with a combined cellar tour and tasting experience at family-owned Avontuur Estate daily (except weekends) at 10h00.

The cellar tour takes in the production and maturation cellars and ends off with a wine tasting of 5 wines in the cosy tasting room or outside on the sunny terrace.  This short introduction to the workings of a medium-sized winery is sure to be popular amongst visitors.

The tasting room is open daily.

A maximum of 10 visitors can be accommodated at one time, and the cost is R30 pp which includes the wine tasting. The tours are available from Monday-Friday and depending on the interaction with the group, the duration is 20-30 minutes.

Depending on available staff, the tour can be presented in English, Afrikaans, German or Portuguese. Although pre-booking is not required, if planning a group visit or requiring the presentation in a particular language, a phone call to +27 21 855-3450 or winery@avontuurestate.co.za will ensure a smooth visit.