A Pinotage gale force strikes Windmeul

Windmeul Cellar in the past three months totally rose to the fore with an array of wine awards, with especially Pinotage. The Windmeul Pinotage Reserve 2008 is the only wine that was selected as one of the Absa Top 10 Pinotage winners and also received a Double Gold Veritas Award.

In addition, it was the only Pinotage wine this year which was awarded a Diamond Trophy Winemakers’ Choice, while it also received a Gold Michelangelo Award. This follows on almost the same extraordinary achievement with the Windmeul Pinotage Reserve 2007 last year. At the 2008 Winemaker’s Choice Wine Competition, it was selected as the Best Red Wine overall as well as receiving a Double Gold International Michelangelo Award and a Double Gold Veritas Award. In 2007 the Windmeul Pinotage Reserve 2006 was an Absa Top 10 Pinotage winner.

It really is an exceptional achievement for one wine cellar to receive so many top accolades with one cultivar wine vintage after vintage.

With the recession that still lingers, the creative team at Windmeul Cellar decided to open a monthly farm market at this historic wine cellar’s wine centre on the northern slopes of Paarl Mountain. The opening takes place on Saturday 7 November and coincides with the 2009 Windmeul Waterblommetjie Festival and the potjiekos competition with waterblommetjies as the theme. Fresh products including meat, jam, olive, olive oil, cheese, vegetables, freshly baked bread, honey and eggs can be purchased directly from the supplier, whilst the Windmeul range of wines is available in the tasting venue.
A total of 25 teams will participate in the potjieskos competition and the judging is done by a panel of experts, with special prizes being awarded to the best dishes. Music, airplane flour bombs, a wine tent and cash bar will create the atmosphere.

This is a renewal of the cellar’s history. The mill to which Windmeul owes its name was erected between 1884 and 1890 in the open area to the West Coast to receive enough wind, and today this cool area is utilized as a prime wine growing terrain. Some of the first grapes were planted by the French Huguenots. The windmill then was the centre of the economic activity in that area, but after a devastating storm in the early nineties and the economic recession after the Boer War, the windmill ceased production. Today Windmeul Cellar keeps it alive.

For more information on the opening of the Windmeul Farm Market and the Windmeul Waterblommetjie Festival, and to enter for the potjiekos competition, call 021 869 8100, e-mail suretha@windmeul.com or visit www.windmeulwinery.co.za.


Recently awarded wines: Windmeul Pinotage Reserve 2008 (Double Gold Veritas, Absa Top 10 Pinotage winner, Diamond Trophy Winemakers’ Choice, Gold Michelangelo Award), Windmeul Cape Blend 2008 (Double Gold Veritas Award, Diamond Trophy Winemakers’ Choice 2008, Gold Michelangelo Award), Windmeul Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2008 (Gold Veritas Award, Gold Michelangelo Award), Windmeul Shiraz Reserve 2008 (Consumers’ Choice at Paarl Shiraz Challenge, Top 10 and four stars at WINE magazine Shiraz Challenge, Gold Michelangelo Award), Windmeul Shiraz 2008 (Gold Michelangelo Award).