‘Legendary status’ in both the wine and sporting arena are hard earned mantras. Today I had a great tasting with one of the biggest legends of Springbok rugby, Schalk Burger Senior, who’s estate also makes some very fine wines.

We have sold his Welbedacht Estate wines on and off for several years but it’s always good to see Schalk Snr in person. Much of the banter and stories are not repeatable in public but I did finally get the full, detailed story of the day he threw the Tesco wine buyer off the farm. I was in tears as Schalk retold the story…. and a great one it was! 

Preston Haskell III, (on the left), a Handford local, popped in and joined our tasting.

Wellington is not exactly a cool area, but when you have circa 164 hectares of “estate” classified fruit to choose from, you will undoubtedly be able to produce some very smart wines. We tasted the whole estate range today as well as the lovely premium No.6 red blend. 

As I explained to Schalk, I am not a pure Merlot type of guy, but his Estate 2012 Merlot was very fresh, pure, vibrant and elegant. Indeed classy.

I’ve always been a fan of Schalk’s Cricket Pitch Bordeaux blend, and today the 2013 showed ample elegance, complexity and lovely freshness. As for the No.6… I remember buying and selling the maiden 2005 vintage, so it was fun to taste its successor, the 2006. 

Tasting Note: Eminently rich, opulent, luxurious wine that at already 10 years old is still a mere infant in nappies. The nose is packed with dark earthy, mulberry and black plum fruit notes with a slight exotic cured meats savoury complexity developing nicely. This wine has bold, broad shoulders, a bit like its owners, but has the most elegant, fresh cherry and blueberry confit intensity. The finish is concentrated and sweet fruited but nicely balanced. (Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW) 

Beautiful Blanc de Blancs MCC (2011)

It’s tastings like these where you realise how wine brings such diverse people together and leads you on such an enjoyable path of discovery.