MICHAEL GREEN’S WINE NOTES #218

Focus on Rickety Bridge Winery at Franschhoek.

The Rickety Bridge Winery is at Franschhoek. The farm is more than 200 years old, and its quaint name comes from a rickety bridge which did indeed straddle a stream at this point. It was made mainly of wooden railway sleeper beams and served its purpose, access to the farm from the main road, for many years before it was demolished to make way for a wider concrete bridge designed for modern large vehicles.

The farm dates back to 1694, when land in the Franschhoek Valley was distributed to Huguenot settlers. In 1797 part of the farm was granted to a widow, Paulina de Villiers, and she named her property Paulina’s Drift. She was one of the first women to own and farm land at the Cape. She planted the first vines here and it is said that her ghostly figure can still be heard rustling through the vineyards.

Inevitably, there have been many changes of ownership over the past two centuries, but Paulina is remembered in a range of quality Rickety Bridge wines called Paulina’s Reserve. A cabernet sauvignon was introduced a few years ago, and now two whites have been given the pioneer’s name: Paulina’s Reserve Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc, both 2008 vintage.

Rickety Bridge produces 18 different wines of generally high quality, two-thirds of them red, and the present owner, Duncan Spence, has upgraded the farm’s 16 hectares of vineyards; but the grapes used in the two new Paulina’s Reserve wines were bought from vineyards at Elgin (sauvignon blanc) and Worcester (chenin blanc).

The winemaker, Wynand Grobler, a former Western Province hockey player, has done a very good job in producing two wines that are distinctive and distinguished. The Paulina’s Chenin Blanc has granadilla flavours with suggestions of guava, lemon and lime. A subtle wine that is further evidence how far the status of chenin blanc has risen from the days when it was regarded as a cheap sweetish wine.

The Sauvignon Blanc has the fresh crispness and mineral character typical of this cultivar, with apple flavours. Very pleasant, and not as aggressive on the palate as some sauvignons are.

Both wines are quite high in alcohol volume – 14% for the chenin, 13,5% for the sauvignon – and they should keep well for at least a couple of years.

Approximate retail prices are R68 a bottle for the chenin and R75 for the sauvignon.

Rickety Bridge has a tasting and sales centre which also sells food delicacies such as bottled figs and a citrus salad dressing. There is a large and attractive “restaurant in the vines”, and luxury accommodation is offered, plus conference and wedding facilities. Phone 021 876 2129. – Michael Green