Fairview La Capra Goat Run

 - MORE TRAIL RUNNING ON PICTURESQUE FARMS

This Saturday is the La Capra Goat Run at Fairview Wine Estate - well it starts at Fairview and ends at Spice Route.  I'm not sure if there are many entries left, but even if you're not running it is bound to be a festive morning in the winelands.

A 5km vineyard walk, an 8km trail run and the 15km for the mountain goats! Our goodie bags came with a bottle of La Capra Malbec and some delicious Fairview Brie Cheese.  Fairview has some fantastic wines which we have previously had the pleasure of tasting together with their cheeses in the Master's Tasting - Fairvew Master's Tasting .

But they also have the more fun and relaxed La Capra brand which is popping up in all sorts of places and becoming quite popular.  I'm very excited to test my complimentary bottle after the race.  La Capra is a range of 10 different single varietal wines made in a fruit-forward style lending themselves to early enjoyment and relaxed dining with very fruity and fresh flavours.  They've done a great job with the labeling too causing them to stand out from the crowd.

The Goat Run starts at Fairview and ends at Spice Route which means there will be beautiful views along the way up the mountain and past the Paarl Rock.  With all the activities (see my previous post - Spice Route) at the Spice Route farm, there will be more than enough entertainment after the race.  Charles Back really has done a superb job of managing and developing the two farms, their brands and their success. 

If you haven't been out to Fairview or Spice Route, it is definitely worth the trip.  Fantastic wines at both farms as well as loads of other tasting opportunities namely, chocolate, cheese, beer and grappa - you could spend all day there!

The DV chocolates are absolutely delicious, I'm excited to try out the new patisserie that has opened and might sneak in a beer after the race before stocking up on some wine.

We actually had a beer tasting party (with a range of craft beers) last weekend for a friend's birthday and the CBC Lager was definitely voted as one of the favourites.

What are your weekend plans?  What are your weekend wines?


FAIRVIEW WINE ESTATE
Suid-Agter Paarl Road, Suider Paarl
Take the Paarl Main Road / Franschhoek turnoff off the N1, turn right under the highway and look for the Fairview signs.
Tel: +27 21 863 2450

SPICE ROUTE WINERY
Suid-Agter Paarl Road
Same directions as above just a little further down the road.
Tel: +27 21 863 5200

Spice Route

 - A DEFINITE FAVOURITE!


Being right around the corner with a beer & biltong bar which now stays open until 8pm (most farms close at 5pm) we do tend to frequent this lovely farm, and always take visitors with us!
We actually first tasted the Spice Route Chenin Blanc in the Cayman Islands (see previous Wine with dinner post).

The view from the wine tasting area is just spectactular, from the vineyards and farms below to the Stellenbosch mountains & valley on the left and all the way to Table Mountain in the distance.  You can just about spend an entire day at thus farm with all the different options (we almost did).

Grappa tasting & the pizzeria - I went for a birthday lunch this year.  It was horrible weather, but cosy inside with the fireplaces.  We sat on the Grappa tasting side, took our own wine and had fantastic pizzas, delicious thin crust pizzas, specifically the Giorgio, Parma ham & Rocket and also the Flammkuchen (Tarte Flambe, which is a thin crust pizza with cream cheese, onions, bacon and garlic).  A lovely afternoon in the cold and wet weather.

DV Artisan Chocolate - There is a great chocolate tasting experience here and a lovely espresso bar.  You can actually see where the chocolate is being made, taste the cocoa beans and the variety of chocolates from different regions in the world.  Excellent chocolate and delicious tasting!

CBC Brewery  - A glass wall is all that stands between you and the brewery if you enjoy seeing the full process and watching all the machinery in action.  The beer making methods and information is all artistically captured on the walls.  I have not actually done at tasting at the brewery, but I have enjoyed a few IPAs and Pilsners with a bowl of biltong at the adjacent Biltong & Barley.

Glass Studio - A must see.  The creations are amazing and they are often busy at work melting and molding the glass, which is quite amazing to watch.

Restaurant - A delicious menu which I have yet to taste.

Wine Tasting - Definitely one of the most enjoyable wine tasting experiences there is.  The TRHs are very knowledgable and friendly, the wines are superb, the view is amazing.  There have even been some birthday or bachelorette wine tasting parties at the tables on the lawn, which are a great idea.


My wine notes below...

SPICE ROUTE SAUVIGNON BLANC
This was definitely the best WHITE of the day.  It had a nose of apples and pineapple with a very crisp and fresh taste, some gooseberry flavours coming through.  The winery notes mentioned grapefruit and floral notes with tropical fruit, fresh cut grass and green tea flavours.
A very nice wine.

SPICE ROUTE VIOGNIER
Originally from the Rhone Valley, this varietal is usually blended with RED wines.  It has a lovely vanilla nose.  It is a very smooth wine to drink, with a full ripe fruit flavour and has a similar finish to a RED wine, which seems strange, but believable given the blending information.  I definitely agree with the winery's notes about and elegant length finish.  Not my first choice of wines, but interesting and enjoyable.

SPICE ROUTE CHENIN BLANC
I thought this wine had a slightly fruity and soft rose nose, almost like the smell of the make-up and perfume combination a older aunt might have.  It definitely had a CHENIN finish in the taste, that slightly more asyn taste than a Sav B.  I could taste pears, with some peaches and apricots.  Having spent time on barrels, there is a slight wooded taste to the wine, like the spiced apple flavours mentioned in the winery's tasting note.

SPICE ROUTE MOURVEDRE 2009
As our well informed tasting room assistant taught us, the Mourvedre is the light baby sister of a Shiraz.  It is a Spanish grape with a French name.  It is spicy but less bold than a Shiraz.  It smells slightly sweet, but spicy and light.  I noticed it has quite hectic legs, and on tasting you get the tannins at the back of your throat.  A very nice fruity wine with a smoky finish and an apt description of a younger Shiraz.  A very enjoyable RED wine.  I definitely agree with the wild herb and smoky aromas in the winery's notes.

SPICE ROUTE PINOTAGE 2010
The varietal created with Pinot Noir and Hermitage (France).  Apparently this wine can be kept for almost 10 years.  I did not think it was amazing, more of an easy drinking pizza wine.  "A lekker kuier wine" as someone else at our table described it.  It is definitely a lighter Pinotage with not such strong coffee and chocolate flavours, a lot more fruity, maybe a little too fruity.  The winery accurately describes it has have a subtle spice with raspberries and plums.  Not my favourite Pinotage, personal preference.

SPICE ROUTE CHAKALAKA 2010 (Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan, Petit Sirah, Grenache, Tannat)
Chakalaka is a spicy African relish made from a blend of a number of ingredients.  In the same way, they say, this wine being a blend of 6 wine varietals is a similar spicy blend of African flavours.  It is very dark in colour and has a definite spicy, smoky clove nose.  It is a solid wine.  Having both the robustness of the Spanish varietals and the softer effects of the French varietals, this blend is excellent.  It has a delicious flavour of plums, sweet oak and spice.  With all the flavours, I would agree that this wine can be paired with just about any food.  A lovely blend!

SPICE ROUTE FLAGSHIP SYRAH 2007
Fantastic wine.  A Syrah is the same grape as a Shiraz, but the wine has been made using old world style (the grapes being of Persian origin) wine making techniques, whereas a Shiraz is made using new world techniques.  The old style creates a smooth, less robust palate.  This wine has spent 20 months in French oak.  It smells of liquorice and white pepper with a hint of cedar wood coming from the oak.  It is a medium bodied wine with a lovely combination of fruit and spice flavours.  A fantastic wine, no need to pair with anything it can definitely be enjoyed by itself.










 

Wine with dinner - Primitivo & Chenin Blanc

Bon Vivant, a kitchen store on the island, had cooking classes from time to time.  Sushi making and champagne tasting, Canape making lessons, Mediterranean platter ideas etc.  We signed up for the pizza making and wine evening.  It was fantastic, we had to make our own dough in groups of four and then split the dough to roll out a pizza base each.  While the dough was rising Chef Lloyd then demonstrated how to make your own homemade tomato sauce to use as the base on the pizza.  Also while waiting for the dough to rise, the wine rep, who had made a concerted effort to seek out and find suitable wines to pair with our homemade pizzas, poured us each a glass of WHITE. He asked for our comments and thoughts around the flavours, what varietal we thought it was and which region in the world we thought had been produced it - the questions made for some interesting conversation, a great idea for wine club.
Once rolling out our pizza bases and lathering them in tomato sauce we topped them with our personal preferences from the array of choices, roast chicken, brie cheese, parma ham, rocket, caramelised onions and more.  Again, interesting to see all the different combinations that people come up with.
While the pizzas were in the oven cooking our wine rep filled our glasses with a RED wine and continued with the same discussions and questions posed regarding the WHITE.

Once revealing all the answers to us we were allowed to continue drinking our preferred of the two wines together with our homemade pizzas.  Chef Lloyd also quickly whipped up a tiramisu for us for dessert. 
What a fantastic evening, and who knew homemade pizzas are actually not that difficult to make.  A great way of combining interactive cooking lessons with wine tastings.

My wine notes below...
(Bearing in mind most of the opinions were noted prior to knowing any information about the wine or even seeing the label.  So none of our notes could be swayed by the "typical" characteristics of a wine.)

WHITE
WINE:  Spice Route Chenin Blanc
VINTAGE: 2009
PRODUCER:  Spice Route
REGION & COUNTRY:  Swartland, South Africa
RECOMMENDED BY:  Blackbeards wine sommelier
PLACE TASTED:  Bon Vivant pizza making class.  Delicious pizzas with awesome Chef Lloyd

APPEARANCE:  More golden than a Sav B, but not as dark as a Chard.
NOSE:  Fruity like pears and baked apples, a hint of cloves in the nose too.
TASTE:  Delicious
FINISH:  Smooth and easy drinking
OVERALL IMPRESSION:  Light and crisp, a GREAT white wine.  I chose to have this rather than the RED with my pizza.
OVERALL VALUE:   5 out of 5

RED
WINE:  Primitivo (the same grape as a RED Zinfandel)
VINTAGE: 2010
REGION & COUNTRY:  Italy
RECOMMENDED BY:  Blackbeards wine sommelier who mentioned it is a good pizza wine
PLACE TASTED:   With pizza at our cooking class
 
APPEARANCE:  A rich RED colour, not your dark and thick hue.
NOSE:  Slightly spicy, a bit of cherry
TASTE:  Buttery and fruity with a slight spice.  It tastes like it needs to sit for a year or two.
FINISH:  A bit watery, not a lot of tannins
OVERALL IMPRESSION:  A bit too Pinot-Noir-ish & Cote du Rhone-ish for me.  Not as "whole" as a Cab Sav or Merlot.  Having said that some of those in the class who were more familiar with American wines seemed to enjoy it quite a lot, as well as those who had travelled to France and enjoyed a genuine Cote-du-Rhone.
OVERALL VALUE:  3 out of 5

We actually wanted to look up the Spice Route farm when returning home to South Africa  after we enjoyed this wine and evening so much.  We thought we would need to make a trip up the West Coast into the Swartland, but in fact, while the grapes are all grown there the farm and tasting room are actually based just outside Paarl.  This farm is definitely one of our favourites with the beautiful views and number of different activities available.  My notes from our numerous visits have been documented in another post.