South Africa’s answer to Burgundy
These wine producers grow Pinot and Chardonnay in heaven on earth. A shorter version of this article is published by the Financial Times. See also Hemel-en-Aarde tasted. Burgundy and Pinot Noir have been fashionable for two, possibly three, decades, but South Africa – so much more famous for hearty reds – has taken its time to identify where this delicate grape has the best chance of prospering. It’s not as though all of the Cape’s winelands are too balmy for the early-ripening red burgundy grape. Growers tried planting it on the southernmost tip of Africa in the hinterland of Cape Agulhas and found it was just too cold and wet for the fragile, thin-skinned Pinot Noir here, so they have turned their attention to increasingly fine Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah instead. But the country now seems to have found its sweet spot for Pinot Noir, on the south coast west…
The Pinots of Hemel-en-Aarde and thoughts on site
As if to prove the point of appellation, in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and Upper Hemel-en-Aarde, it rained pretty steadily most of the morning of the recent Saturday of the Pinot Noir Celebration. But on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, it remained completely dry. Only a fifteen minute drive and 14 kilometres, but the rainclouds swirled into dry whisps by the time they got up to the Ridge. But isn’t it all Hemel-en-Aarde, you may be saying? For a number of years now, the growers here have been detailing the differences between their three wine wards, or appellations. The “original” is what is now called “Hemel-en-Aarde Valley” where the wineries of Hamilton Russell and then Bouchard Finlayson put the valley on the map, later followed by “Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley” a few kilometres up the road and finally the newest being “Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge” – the highest part before one leaves the demarcated zone. Rainfall…
3 South Africa spots among ‘100 of world’s most loved destinations’ – SAPeople
Hermanus featured at an impressive 18th on the list, after taking the 41st spot last year, Stellenbosch came in at number 34. The index identifies the 100 most-loved destinations around the globe according to consumer sentiment. The study tracked more than 1.6 billion online conversations and content pieces publicly available, as well as around 21 330 global destinations to identify the top 100. Continue reading
Tasting Highlights: 8 Outstanding Wines from Across the World | Wine Spectator
Anthony Russell Hamilton leads his family’s estate in South Africa’s Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, specializing in impressive Chardonnays. Whichever weather you’re experiencing, this week we have a selection of white and sparkling wines to enjoy if you’re looking for an alternative to winter reds. Tasting Highlights’ wine reviews are fresh out of the tasting room, offering a sneak peek of our editors’ most recent scores and notes to WineSpectator.com members. Continue reading
La Liste’s hidden gem in Hermanus: Perlemoen Restaurant
Perlemoen Restaurant, situated in the first abalone hatchery in Hermanus’s Old Harbour, has been recognised as a “Hidden Gem” in La Liste’s 2023 awards. La Liste is an online restaurant guide and app that aggregates recommendations and reviews to put together a list of the best of the best. Perlemoen Restaurant is only the second South African restaurant to be awarded this honour – all in its first year of business. Husband and wife team Jannie and Anabella Malherbe opened Perlemoen Restaurant in May. Since then, chefs and owners Jannie Malherbe and Ryan Scholefield have worked tirelessly with their team to create a dining experience that is truly worthy of hidden gem status. HIK Abalone Farm, one of many thriving abalone farms in Hermanus, supply the restaurant with live produce twice a week, bringing you the freshest abalone to experience at Perlemoen Restaurant. Abalone is a mollusc – specifically a…
FEATURE | Tesselaarsdal: It takes a village
Berene Sauls has no airs. How I met her in 2020 is how she is today, and I bet will always be. Back then, she loaded me into her white Polo Vivo (like mine) and took me to the 16.5ha property she purchased in Tesselaarsdal, her hometown, in October 2019. I remember her navigating the dirt roads, puddles and potholes everywhere, driving right through, with mud water spraying high up around us, talking the whole way – she drove that Polo like she was driving a Land Rover Defender with a safari hat on. I loved it. ‘When I sucked at au-pairing’ Wine found Berene. She started out as an au-pair for the Hamilton-Russells in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, but soon found that she had more business sense than child sense. She laughed when I asked her about the failures in her life: “When I sucked at au pairing!” And what…
How seafood restaurant Perlemoen in Hermanus is uplifting its community and tackling sustainability
The historic Old Harbour has been Hermanus’s main attraction since it became a fishing port in the 1850s. Now, there is a fresh incentive to head to the water’s edge as it is also home to an award-winning seafood restaurant that is taking the local area by storm – and making waves on the international scene. Perlemoen Restaurant, opened by co-owners head chef Jannie Malherbe and his wife Annabella in May 2022, offers a unique opportunity to taste the delicacy abalone while drinking in the spectacular views of Walker Bay. “It’s about tasting seafood fresh, combined with the sights, sounds and smells of the ocean,” says locally-born Jannie. “Eating perlemoen in another setting wouldn’t be the same. There aren’t many other places in the world offering anything similar.” The stone building is also where Hermanus vet Dr Pierre Hugo first experimented with breeding the molluscs in captivity in 1984. Perlemoen…
Chef Shane Sauvage of La Pentola Hermanus on National television – 19 January 2023
Spyskaart (Menu) is a South African television show that celebrates ingredients that are in-season and local to the region where the filming takes place. It’s an exciting competition style show where the two chef-presenters create a two-course menu. The show features chefs from different restaurants and towns around South Africa weekly. During the week of 18 January 2023 La Gratitude Villa in Hermanus hosted the SABC 2 show, featuring Shane Sauvage of La Pentola Restaurant. Shane showcased some of the most precious food treasures of Hermanus and prepared a menu including blueberries from Haygrove Heaven and Abagold while touring Heart of Abalone in Hermanus New Harbour. It was an exhilarating episode where the chef-presenters cook their hearts out to impress Chef Shane with the local ingredients that he knows all too well. On the menu created by Yolani Abrahams and Kevin Reed you were to find:Main Course• Lemon Risotto• Tempura…
Hemel-en-Aarde Chardonnay
The most grown white grape on earth, Chardonnay is an eager-to-please cultivar that grows in almost any soil and provides enjoyment at every level. Emile Joubert ponders the qualities of this most versatile of wines. A grape-skin’s throw to the south-east of Elgin lies the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley near the town of Hermanus, which has taken the importance of terroir expression to a new level. The division of this 20km stretch of vineyards into three appellations – Valley, Upper and Ridge – was the brainchild of Anthony Hamilton Russell from Hamilton Russell Vineyards, who introduced vines and Chardonnay to this region in the late 1970s, launching the first Chardonnay here in 1983. “Hemel-en-Aarde is blessed with three distinct borders of geographical differentiation,” says Anthony, “and due to the expressive nature of Chardonnay and our other signature grape, Pinot Noir, the three parts of the valley display a variety of specific features in their wines.…