Since I placed this at my chatart blog site I will have to call this blog entry also : The Art Of Getting To Know & Understand & Appreciate The 2004 THELEMA Rhine Riesling over the latter part of Saturday, April 25th, 2009 and extending into both Sunday and Monday , April 25-26th, 2009! Cheers, and read on ...
I just visited THELEMA Vineyard Winery in the slopes of the Simonsberg mountains in Stellenbosch, South Africa last month on Friday, March 20th, 2009 with my incredible guide and host John Morrison. We could not stay long : it was just a visit to see it and say " hello " and to be again off to our appointment with owner Ian of the ELGIN VALLEY vineyards.
It was great to see THELEMA and the superb peacocks that they have there roaming the grounds around the home, vineyards, tasting room and cellars. I saw them ever so briefly from the periphery of my left eye as we hurried over to the tasting room to see if the owner ( Thomas Webb ) was there to see us. Funny, he was walking over to the tasting room just behind him as the peacocks moved away from the three of us all. John Morrison did not get a good look at him and thus did not recognize him.
We got to the winery and had a chance to scope it out before meeting him.
Yesterday late afternoon Arielle brought a bottle of the 2004 Rhine Riesling 2004 to taste with me. She had just opened it and tried it before bringing it to me. She thought it good but a touched oxidized. I noticed the mid-golden color to it and liked that there was no noticeable petrol bouquet to it : I also liked how dry and closed it seemed to be. I was not crazy about it but happy considering the sale price of $12.99 that we can sell it for. I was also excited about being able to taste it on this upcoming Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 ( Our " Big Theme " monthly South-African wine-tasting from 5:30-8:30 PM ). That's all really exciting as I have just visited a month ago THELEMA. I like all of that and that one of our sales reps Marci Weinstein (Constantine Imports ) knows both the father ( Thomas Webb ) and the son well , having lived in South Africa and having gone to the wine program of twelve or so students ( with the son ) in Adelaide, South Australia. It all ties together.
It's a small world as I was speaking earlier yesterday with Theresa Morrison who also just returned from South Africa ( who also visited THELEMA and actually tried either the 2006 or 2007 Rhine Riesling and liked it very much. She said that they age beautifully but realized that many people today like their Rieslings young. I immediately countered that given the opportunity to taste the wine on Wed. April 29th ( she and John Morrison her husband will be our special guests for the evening along with Ian Tarlie ) , and it being ON SALE for $12.99 that I believe we will sell a lot of it. People when given the opportunity to taste the wine can quickly decide whether they like the wine or not and buy it if the price agrees with them.
We had our customers try it in the store ( Ian Tarlie and Fran his wife were both there ) and the consensus seemed positive on this 2004 Rhine Riesling from THELEMA. It was warm and so we tasted all the strengths and the flaws of the wine : nothing was hidden. It was also nice to give the wine some time to open gracefully as it did improve in my opinion.
I took the bottle home at 9:30 PM when we closed the store. I put it into my trunk as it was an open bottle and I did not want to have any trouble with the police. It can be tricky here about that and I am, after all in the wine business. It had been more than three hours since I had tasted it so I did not worry that it would affect my driving : but you never know when a cop may pull you over for whatever : a tail light out, expired stickers, whatever. You never can be too careful.
When I got home I had my Boston Chicken meal awaiting me : chicken and sliced french fries ( actual sections of the potato ) and cinnamon apples in a sweet sauce. I brought my meal downstairs to join my wife and my son and I had two empty glasses and the bottle with me. I poured for my wife and she tasted and liked it immediately. She was happy that it was a dry Rhine Riesling and she enjoyed the glass with her favorite Firehook Bakery seeded thin ficelle ( string ) baguettes that I buy specially for her.
I began to really enjoy this wine after I ate my meal. I was beginning to relax and it felt great to be off my feet finally after a long day's work and a long week at work in Washington D,C, at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 , sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com Tel : 202-363-4265 ). I was now able to fully concentrate on this 2004 THELEMA Rhine Riesling bottle.
We were watching the movie called " Under The Tuscan Sun " with Dianne Lane and I was enjoying that as well. I began to appreciate the flavors of this Rhine Riesling now : they were more open, broader, more silky and round and more subtle, too. I began to realize that at this temperature ( not being chilled ) that I was able to pick up on all it's elegant flavors that had less sharpness or edge and no petrol flavors. It was a nice pure, mellow bright taste of filtered sunshine through these five-year-old Rhine Riesling grapes from Stellenbosch. I was really enjoying small taste after small taste as the liquid covered my tongue and saturated in parts and in others just grazed or accented it. It was a wonderful experience between me and the wine and the beauty of Italy and the attention to details of all from the wine to the dialogue and ways in which scenes were captured on film.
I still intend now to chill the rest of the bottle and taste it chilled. I cheated now as I started to type once again : I took a small swill from the bottle here to my left by the monitor. I also intend to take a couple of photos of the wine in the glass and the bottle besides it.
In the meantime I have included some of the pictures that I took while there with John Morrison. I loved the ornamental grass here in the open space before the tasting room. I've also included pictures of Thomas and of Andrea the beautiful young lady pouring behind the counter that offered me quickly both a taste of the THELEMA Sauvignon Blanc and the Cabernet Sauvignon.
I have already blogged about this visit with John Morrison to meet with owner Thomas Webb on chatwine.blog spot. Return to that to see more pictures and read more of that wonderful story. Cheers!
My work is almost done but not quite. This has been a fun story to relate the day after tasting the wine and the day before my son's birthday ( as well as the day before South Africa's " Freedom Day " ) : lots to celebrate from small pleasures to big and medium-sized ones : as well as big events, too! We've got lots in our glass ( plate ) so to speak now.
The weather here in northern Virginia where I live is in the 90's and really warm and beautiful. I will relate more as things unfold and as more glasses of wine are poured. Cheers, TONY
JUST ADDED : Thursday morn, March 20th, 2014 : ...
This was such a lovely serendipitous visit to THELEMA Winery in South Africa with John Morrison back in 2009 I believe when the tow of us visited a number of really great South African wineries and John showed me, first-hand a number of sights and views and places, introduced me to a country, it's food and it's wines and culture in such a up-close and wonderful way. Thanks John, this was one of the best trips that I ever took. You gave 120 percent to it and I will never forget it. Cheers, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn 3/20/2014 on a foggy morn here Thursday, March 20th, 2014 ... TONY
