Wine lovers on ‘The Most Luxurious Train in the World’ deserve better

THE PRIDE OF AFRICA. The Most Luxurious Train in the World, they say. Indeed, many would consider Rovos Rail to be one of the jewels in the crown as regards South African tourism. It’s a wonderful way to take in the beauty of the countryside; a rather special kind of safari. But come on now, the winelist needs a shake-up!

There are a few very good whites and reds on board, such as Hamilton Russell Chardonnay, Thelema Cabernet and Kanonkop Pinotage. And it’s unreasonable to expect a train to stock as many wines as a top restaurant on the high street – space is tight on them carriages. But they should be doing a better job at waving the South African flag, of showing off the finest from the Cape winelands – especially since they’re charging upwards of R20 000 per person sharing (over 40K pp to overnight in the ‘Royal Suite’ for a couple of days including meals, drinks and excursions).

Four sparkling Cap Classiques but no room for either Graham Beck or Simonsig, and the Villiera is the standard Tradition rather than the flagship Monro. Only two Chenin Blanc listings, with one a humble second label from Waterford. No Durbanville Sauvignon Blanc. No Elgin Chardonnay. No Hemel-en-Aarde Pinot Noir. Precious little from the Swartland? Also, you’d think there’d be place among the desserts for the famous Vin de Constance or Grand Constance!

Below is the full list of wines currently offered on Rovos Rail. “Less can often be more,” comments Brenda Vos of the family business. “My mother, Anthea Vos, curates the wine list and has a good relationship with all the farms.”

 

WINE LIST

SPARKLING CAP CLASSIQUE

Colmant Brut Rosé NV
Krone Borealis Vintage Cuvée Brut
Le Lude Brut

Villiera Tradition Brut NV

WHITE WINES

CHENIN BLANC

Mulderbosch Steen op Hout
Pecan Stream (Waterford)

SAUVIGNON BLANC

Southern Right
Vergelegen

CHARDONNAY

Bouchard Finlayson Sans Barrique
Hamilton Russell
Buitenverwachting

UNUSUAL VARIETIES

Boschendal 1685 Chardonnay Pinot Noir
Lourensford Viognier
Sutherland Rhine Riesling (Thelema)

ROSÉ

Lourensford River Garden
Pierre Jourdan Tranquille (Haute Cabrière)

RED WINES

CABERNET SAUVIGNON

Springfield Wholeberry
Thelema

SHIRAZ

Rustenberg Buzzard Kloof
Zandvliet

PINOTAGE

Diemersfontein
Kanonkop

MERLOT

Thelema

CABERNET FRANC

Raka

RED BLENDS

Bouchard Finlayson Hannibal
Meerlust Rubicon
Rustenberg John X Merriman
Warwick Trilogy

UNUSUAL VARIETIES

KWV The Mentors Petit Verdot
Meerlust Pinot Noir Reserve
Raka Sangiovese

DESSERT WINE & PORT

Allesverloren Port
De Krans Cape Tawny Port NV
Joostenberg Chenin Blanc Noble Late Harvest

 

 

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5 comments

  • What a tragic sparkling wine list (for Rovos Rail). Read my blog msfizzofficial.com for some of the better ones. At least some of the reds are exciting – I did say some!

  • Orient Express charges separately for wines… and the winelist is much longer on this train from London to Paris to Venice than on either of South Africa’s finest.

  • You ask about the Blue Train winelist, David. Well, sourced by Wine Concepts in Cape Town, whose retail business includes a consulting division specialising in winelist design and procurement, the offering on board this Transnet flagship comes with a description of each wine. They have an interesting selection, and yes, Klein Constantia Vin de Constance is included among the desserts. Although, if they were charged with showcasing South Africa’s champions, there’s room for improvement here too. The wines currently available are as follows – bearing in mind that the Blue Train also offers a selection of older wines (not listed), as well as a few (French) Champagnes that cost extra:

    WHITE WINE : DRY
    Chenin Blanc: Secateurs (AA Badenhorst, Swartland); Usana Barrel Fermented (Stellenbosch).
    Sauvignon Blanc: Corder Cool Climate (Elgin); Bouchard Finlayson (Hemel-en-Aarde); Steenberg (Constantia/Tokai).
    Chardonnay: Glen Carlou (Paarl); Edgebaston (Stellenbosch); Journey’s End Estate (Sir Lowry’s Pass); Migliarina (Stellenbosch).
    Viognier: Lynx (Franschhoek).

    WHITE WINE : OFF-DRY
    Riesling: Hartenberg (Stellenbosch).

    WHITE WINE : SEMI-SWEET
    Bukettraube: Cederberg.

    ROSE
    Waterkloof Cape Coral Rose (Stellenbosch).

    RED WINE
    Blend: Warwick Three Cape Ladies (Stellenbosch); Nativo (Swartland).
    Pinot Noir: Elgin Vintners.
    Pinotage: Simonsig (Stellenbosch); L’Avenir Provenance (Stellenbosch).
    Merlot: Overgaauw (Stellenboslch); Barton (Walker Bay).
    Shiraz: Koelfontein (Ceres); Leeuwenkuil (Swartland).
    Cabernet Sauvignon: Neil Ellis (Stellenbosch); Glenelly Glass Collection (Stellenbosch).

    APERITIF
    Pierre Jourdan Ratafia (Haute Cabriere, Franchhoek).

    SPARKLING WINE
    Cap Classique: Krone Borealis Cuvee Brut (Tulbagh); Villiera Brut Natural (Stellenbosch); Kleine Zalze Brut Rose (Stellenbosch).

    DESSERT WINE
    Natural Sweet: Delheim Spatzendreck (Stellenbosch); Klein Constantia Vin de Constance.
    Noble Late Harvest: Neethlingshof Maria (Stellenbosch).
    Muscadel: Weltevrede Oupa se Wyn (Robertson).
    Pinotage Dessert: Pineau de Laborie (Paarl).

    PORT-STYLE WINE
    Cape Ruby: Muratie (Stellenbosch).
    Cape Vintage: Beaumont (Bot River); Peter Bayly (Calitzdorp).

    POTSTILLED BRANDY
    Joseph Barry Potstill Brandy (Barrydale); Avontuur Private Collection (Stellenbosch).

    HUSK SPIRIT
    Grappa: Dalla Cia Pinot Noir Chardonnay and Dalla Cia Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot (Stellenbosch).

  • For such a small ‘curated’ list they could surely give more information – is the Kanonkop Pinotage the Estate or the Kadette, is the Diemersfontein the coffee one or the Carpe Diem? What about the red blends; there’s a world of difference between the Bordeaux blend, Hannibal and a Cape blend. Maybe if the wines came with a bit more information about them customers wouldn’t order a wine they decide later they don’t like.

  • The Rovos Rail wine-list used to be way more wide-ranging and comprehensive but resulted in horrendous wastage of superb wines. Many a bottle would be opened for one or two clients who then decided they didn’t care for it or that they wanted to switch wines with each course on a three-course dinner menu. So after any given dinner service there would be up to eight or more bottles of expensive, superb wines lying in the ice bucket or on the counter of the wine station that were at least half-full. Since train staff are not permitted to drink on duty, these amazing wines went to waste on a daily basis, at a significant cost to the company.

    Obtaining consistent supplies of small-production, high-quality wines from small boutique vineyards is a real problem (especially as the train is a relatively small consumer/user of some of the top-label brands). The wine-list was therefore chosen with reliable and consistent suppliers in mind.

    The storage of such a wide variety of wines (especially those that need refrigeration, is really difficult in the confined wine-serving area of the train. The loading and unloading, which is all done by the bar staff, by hand, in protective plastic crates across the railway yard on hot sunny days, is arduous, sweaty and back-breaking work.

    The Wine Experience on the train is simply one aspect of the journey. Most guests are not oenophiles but rather just appreciators of good quality wines and food; they love the variation and novelty of a really interesting and generally high-quality wine-list. The food, luxury accommodation, attentive service on the train and beautiful ever-changing scenery are more of the compelling attractions to be discovered on this national treasure in the Luxury Hospitality sector.

    For comparative reasons, have you seen or experienced the wine-list of Rovos Rail’s natural competitor, the Blue Train? I would be interested to hear your comments, bearing in mind that the Blue Train (for all its lavishness) is yet another loss-making division of the oft-times bankrupt, scandal-ridden SOE called Transnet.

    Thanks for a very interesting, prescriptive and educational platform to promote outstanding SA wines and our illustrious wine-making community.

    David Patrick
    Former International Sales Manager of Rovos Rail

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