01438 741177
This was much enjoyed with a sandwich lunch on a very wet day in Franschhoek.
12 Likes
Springfield are good. I especially enjoy the Life from Stone Sauvignon Blanc and the Cab Sav.
Sunday was a stinker, very heavy rain. And where has the sun gone?
I came here for the 3 Ws - Warmth, Wine & Westaurants.
After our 2nd day when it was a pleasant 34, its plunged to a miserable 18, and I had to have my fish’n’chips without chips because Ocean Basket couldn’t fry anything during Load Shedding.
BTW - which app do you find most reliable forecasting power outages? I’ve downloaded 3, two of which showed me having power when I didn’t and having no power when I did.
5 Likes
A pre-arranged wine tasting hosted by the owner at Meerlust was much enjoyed this morning.
P.S. I overlooked taking pics of some other wines that we tasted.
23 Likes
Dear David
I have 12 bottles of Rubicon 2018 I am really interested to hear your view on the wine. I thought it might be far to young as the drink date is up to 2043.
Lawrence
1 Like
Have you tried one? Had a stunningly good bottle of Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2018 yesterday that led me to think that 2018 could be a cracker in Stellenbosch in general.
1 Like
How was the Pinot? Never seen it to buy!
1 Like
It’s been a while - there were a few different Meerlust wines on the list about six years ago, including the cabernet, the merlot, the chardonnay and the pinot:
https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/meerlust-estate-pinot-noir-stellenbosch-2015
It was £17 and I thought it was lovely, with a satisfying balance between the savoury elements and the fruit, very restrained 
Don’t think they’ve had that many since then though; I’d love to see more their range on the list again, I really enjoyed working my way through them at the time.
9 Likes
I had the Meerlust Rubicon 2018 at the weekend. I buy a case of Rubicon most vintages but decided not to buy this for some reason so I picked up a bottle in Costco to try.
I’d say it’s approachable now - I decanted for a couple of hours and although I’m sure it will last a while yet it’s not infanticide to drink it now. I actually preferred it on the first day to the glass I had left on the second.
I’m interested to know what the latest Meerlust Pinot is like. I’ve been impressed in the past but the last one I tried (2019 maybe) I didn’t think much of - more like confected cherry cola.
5 Likes
And the very next day ….
https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/meerlust-estate-pinot-noir-stellenbosch-2021
8 Likes
It was like the 2009 clarets in that there was bags of fruit with ripe tannins and good acidity all of which were in perfect harmony. At 5 years of age it was drinking well but would keep
2 Likes
It was ok but not reaching the heights of those in the Walker Bay Area like Newton Johnson and in Elgin like Catherine Marshall, Oak Valley and Iona.
3 Likes
They do listen or amazing coincidence
1 Like
There is a lot of new S Africa on the list this morning!
It’s the power of the Community. Not only can the community empty your bank account, it can also get wines added to the site!
1 Like
Just thinking that some very tasty looking new wines there
A lovely lunch at The Vine Bistro at Glenelly Wine Estate with the added pleasure of seeing May-Eliane de Lencquesaing (formerly of Ch. Pichon-Lalande) at the age of 98 launching her 2022 wines to journalists and the trade. Still very fluent.
8 Likes
I think its the Escom one we used which was 100% correct. On the app it’s labeled ESP.
1 Like
I couldn’t find an official load shedding app provided by Eskom, but there are many scraping their data.
Problem was that Gordons Bay (where we are) is separated into two zones. We are in the much smaller one which has fewer and shorter power cuts. Our landlady says it’s because the Steenbras dam is just above us and cannot be deprived of power for long as it needs to process and supply water.
The apps default to the main Gordons Bay area; but we’re sorted now. Friday will be a b****r tho’, with a planned outage from 06:00 to 10:30. I’ll be right grumpy without my morning cuppa and Mrs M. got right humpy at my suggestion that she should get up at 05:45, put kettle on and fill vacuum flask. Funny people, women.
The challenge is going somewhere for a meal, because they’re in a different load shedding area.
3 Likes
Got that one. Its “not affiliated with Eskom or Municipalities in anyway” it says under Terms & Privacy
Oh dear 4 1/2 hours at that time in the morning.
We ended up setting an alarm for 7.30 2 or 3 times a week so we could organise breakfast before the 8 to 10 session.
In the month or so we were there it got decidedly worse moving up the rankings with more 4 hour powerouts towards the end when it was all 2 hour stopages when we arrived. Heaven only knows where its going to end up.
And aparently the Cape’s the best place to be, it’s much worse in Joeys & Durbs.
1 Like