MICHAEL GREEN’S WINE NOTES #210

Feminine touch and musical touch combined in a new wine from Seidelberg.

A feminine touch and a musical touch, plus a big touch of charity, are combined in a new wine from the Seidelberg estate at Paarl.

The wine is called Cecilia, a red blend, 2006 vintage, and it has been made by a woman winemaker, Cerina de Jongh. She has been at Seidelberg for six years.

Cecilia is the name of Cerina’s grandmother and her own middle name. St Cecilia is the patron saint of music, and Cerina is an accomplished pianist. When the wine was launched at the estate she played Mozart’s piano concerto in F major, K. 459, with the Cape Town Chamber Orchestra (Mozart at his most graceful and ethereal, this concerto). Some musical notes from Mozart’s score are printed on the bottle label of Cecilia wine.

As for the charity, for every bottle of Cecilia that is sold R20 is donated to Streetsmart, a welfare organisation whose main aim is to improve the lives of destitute street children in the greater Cape Town area. Cecilia retails at about R75 a bottle.

And the wine? It is a blend of shiraz (55 percent), mourvedre (30) and malbec (15), fruity, spicy, full-flavoured and good enough to win a gold medal at this year’s Femmes et Vins du Monde Concours International (Women and Wines of the World international competition) at Monaco. Eight gold medals were awarded, and the Cecilia was the only South African wine in this category.

Only women winemakers are eligible to enter this competition, and the wines are tasted and judged solely by women. The purpose is to focus attention on the expertise of women in winemaking. This year, 25 tasters from 15 countries judged wines from various parts of the world.

Cerina de Jongh is a graduate of Elsenburg agricultural college. Before joining Seidelberg, she worked at wineries in France (Burgundy), Australia, New Zealand and California.

And Seidelberg? This 410-hectare farm (110 hectares under vines) on the south-western slopes of the Paarl Mountain has one of the most splendid settings in the Cape winelands, with a very fine view of Table Mountain. It was established in 1692 under the name De Leuwen Jagt (the lion hunt). The name changed after it was bought in 1997 by the German-born entrepreneur Roland Seidel.

Roland Seidel has provided two new schools on his farm and has done much to help the local community in other ways, plus of course the donations to Streetsmart.

Seidelberg is a big operation these days, producing about 40,000 cases of wine a year, 70 percent of it red. Its full range extends to about 25 different wines, four of them pink wines to meet the current demand for rosé.

The farm is open seven days a week for tasting and sales, and there are plenty of attractions for visitors. These include an underground tasting cellar, an 80-seater restaurant specialising in Cape Malay food, a Venetian-style glass-blowing studio and gallery, three renovated country houses for overnight accommodation, a play area for children, a “petting zoo” with a variety of animals, tractor rides and a conservation area. Phone 021 863 5209. – Michael Green