To Covent Garden for an intimate evening of wine tasting hosted by Nederburg, the South African winery lauded as a top producer of noble late harvest and Cabernet Sauvignon wines https://nederburg.com/our-story/
Nederburg is located between the Berg and Palmiet rivers in Paarl and one of South Africa’s most awarded wineries, with a prize-winning pedigree that stems from a culture of innovation and disciplined attention to detail. The wines they produce in the Western Cape are refreshing and richly fruited with bold flavours and structure. Their hallmark combination of contemporary, vibrant flavour and classical structure blends, I believe, the best of both worlds – the New and the Old
Their Cellar-Master, Andrea Freeborough, made the time to take me through an impressive variety of the delicious wines on display that expressed both balance and complexity including: Gewürztraminer, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon wines and interestingly a Rhône blend with a fascinating story I want to share with you. This wine is part of their Heritage Heroes range and is named “Motorcycle Marvels”
The motorcycle marvel was Günter Brözel, Cellar Master at Nederburg between 1956 – 1989. He was the first in South Africa to produce a noble late harvest made from botrytised (noble rot infected) Chenin blanc, back in 1969 – amongst a range of innovations he introduced to the South African wine industry – which went on to help him earn the coveted Robert Mondavi Winemaker of the Year award. He used to race around the wine estate and the vines on his vintage 1954 BSA motorcycle, dispensing advice and instructions – hence the name given this exciting blend of Shiraz, Cinsault and Syrah. Sounds a cool dude right…?!
Nederburg can trace its origins back to the late 18thcentury but that hasn’t stopped them being at the forefront of development in the South African wine industry. It is arguably the closest South Africa has to a significant New World vertical wine company like Penfolds, Catena and Conch y Toro, which all produce a range of bespoke wines together with interesting blends. Yet the breadth of wines at their Paarl vineyards has not been at the expense of quality. Tim Atkin MW – notable South African wine expert – features 9 Nederburg wines that have scored 90+ points, in his 2018 Special Report on South African wine. Decanter, Robert Parker, Wine Spectator + IWSC have also heaped praise and awards on the wines Nederburg produce in the Western Cape
Current cellar-master Andrea Freeborough (who took on Günter Brözel’s mantle) says: “It’s daunting but also hugely inspiring to follow in the role of someone as iconic as Günter. He has always been an outstanding personality in local winemaking – as much for his technical prowess and his vision as for his absolutely uncompromising stance on what constitutes quality. The cellar team at Nederburg is incredibly proud of the recent accolades earned. It encourages us to aim even higher in producing wines of distinction and keeping Nederburg’s reputation intact as one of South Africa’s most awarded names in wine”
Nederburg wines are distributed in the UK on trade by Matthew Clark www.matthewclark.co.uk and also available through Tesco & Sainsbury
The evening was faultlessly arranged by specialist wine pr company Clementine Communications and both Deniz and Mathilda ensured all who attended got a chance to meet with the Nederburg team www.clementinecommunications.com
Fuseblower 