Wine Diva

Caroline Lowings, blogging live from a wine farm in Paarl, Western Cape. It is no longer piddling down cats and dogs. It’s progressed somewhat and is now pelting down in torrents of big ass lions, tigers and bears. The sky is raining it’s eyes out. What makes a wine diva venture out of the city dryland and into the winelands pond life after having done a Cape Wine Academy course that informed her that it rains (a shit load) during winter in the Cape winelands and that it’s good for the vines blah blah… I am thinking… still thinking… putting on my gum boots… still thinking… putting on my rain coat… still thinking… not really sure but I can’t blame it on the red wine because there is lots of red wine up in the highveld, so it must have something to do with delaying gratification… because I am imagining how great summer better be. My mom was bragging this morning that it’s sunny with blue skies up there in the Gauteng province, subzero and frost yes, but it’s dry and sunny and laundry isn’t an issue! Now to console myself I’m going swim to the tasting room for a tot of brandy, and yes I know that is called drinking on the job. Ah ha, that’s it, the perk has finally dropped – it’s called drinking on the job.

Little Miss Wine Diva went to the winelands in a shower of rain, she stepped in a puddle, right up to her middle , and missed the highveld all over again.

PS: Anyone willing to trade a tumble dryer for a dishwasher please apply within.

Well, you see, origin has a big influence on the characteristics, appeal and quality of a wine.

Weather & climate conditions, soil, how the land lies, how the vines are cultivated and various winemaking techniques all contribute to the unique style of a wine. The size of an “origin” can range from a very small single vineyard to a geographical unit that covers hundreds of kilometres.

So if “Wine of Origin” appears on the label, it means that the grapes used to make the wine come from that specific area and it gives us some level of quality assurance of what we can expect.

Here are some examples of variations I’ve found:

- Paarl Wine of Origin (all grapes come from the Paarl district)
- Wine of Origin Western Cape (Grapes can be from different districts within the geographical unit of Western Cape)
- W.O. Northern Cape (Grapes come from the geographical unit of Northern Cape)
- Wine of Origin Robertson (means that it is an estate wine that is farmed and produced on the Robertson Estate)

The words “Produced and Bottled By Winery Name” also implies a better quality wine and means that the wine has been made and bottled at the winery with the resident winemaker supervising the process.

Referenced: Wosa.co.za

A bubbly black centre with a forthcoming wet fizzy nose. Sweet refreshing palate with prominent Coca-Cola aromas. Lively structure, effervescent mouth-feel and a distinctly gaseous finish. Available just about everywhere.