Tulbagh’s crown prince? Saronsberg marks 10 years of winemaking with entry into Top Wine SA Hall of Fame

THE TULBAGH WINES with the best track records over the past 10 years stand out as follows – all regular recipients of good reviews by top judges internationally:

TOP REDS

PINOTAGE – Rijk’s, Manley, Klein Tulbagh
SHIRAZ – Saronsberg, Rijk’s, Saronsberg Provenance
RED BLENDS – Saronsberg Full Circle, Saronsberg Seismic, Saronsberg Provenance Rooi

TOP WHITES

CHENIN BLANC – Rijk’s
VIOGNIER – Saronsberg
WHITE BLEND – Fable Jackal Bird

Saronsberg is now right up there with Rijk’s as the front-runners in a wine district which not that long ago was renowned primarily for good bubblies. Today the area’s leading cellars produce wines with top pedigrees across a range of categories and with the name of Saronsberg coming up time and again – especially when it comes to Shiraz and to red blends.
This year Saronsberg Shiraz and the Shiraz-led red blend Saronsberg Full Circle gained admission to the Top Wine SA Hall of Fame with each having received top accolades from top tasting panels for eight vintages during the past 10 years. And yet the prices remain at least 50% lower than many other SA reds with Top 10 status – R185pb for the current-release 2011 Saronsberg Shiraz, with a magnum of the 10-year-old version on sale at the cellar for just R400.

Dewaldt Heyns has been in charge of the winemaking at Saronsberg since day one. Using mainly fruit from proprietor Nick van Huyssteen’s two farms in Tulbagh – one in the foothills and on the slopes of Saronsberg Mountain, and one more towards the middle of the valley – cellarmaster Heyns has steered the way to a place among South Africa’s Top 20 Red Wine Cellars.

There’s a smart tasting room that features artwork of various types and that opens out onto a lawn with benches, tables and chairs, oak trees, sculptures and a dam from where views of the mountain can be pretty spectacular. For visitors wishing to stay over, there are 16 well-appointed self-catering vineyard cottages located behind the cellar and it’s just a short drive to the ‘dorp’ should you wish to take in some live theatre or music at the Saronsberg Theatre.

Meals are served at De Kreeft Stamkafee at Saronsberg Theatre and there are also several other eateries to choose from in and around the village… All in all, they’re the sort of tables where the food can be very good on one day and rather ordinary on another – although seldom anything that a bottle of Saronsberg can’t put right!

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