The Morning Claret

Simon J Woolf & Friends on Wild and Wonderful Wines

South Africa

Craven Wines - Clairette Blanche 2016
3 minute read

Craven prove that Clairette needs skin

Mick & Jeanine Craven are leading the charge for experimentation in Stellenbosch, and their efforts are paying off with some superb skin fermented Clairette and Pinot Gris.

5 minute read

Ten tasty orange treats at Cafe de Klepel

Tricky things these artisan-made natural wines. Some days they sing, others they sulk. I presented 17 orange wines to a large group of Dutch sommeliers back in May, and although there were gems, many of the classics just weren’t showing Read more

intellego-elementis-2014
3 minute read

Balance is everything – Intellego Elementis

Elementis 2014, like its predecessors, is 100% Chenin Blanc, fermented on the skins for 3 weeks and then matured in used French oak for 9-10 months. Jurgen gets incredible freshness and concentration from his dry farmed fruit. That’s given this wine a lightness of touch and purity that is quite startling.

Johan Meyer (Courtesy Johan Meyer/Indigo wine)
4 minute read

Wine from your mind: Mount Abora – Koggelbos 2013

The Morning Claret has been a little sparse with blogging lately – holidaying in South Africa was the focus of a two glorious weeks. Part of that was of course about wine discovery, and there’s plenty to discover in the huge and diverse Cape winelands. Like Johan Meyer and his Mount Abora project!

Pinotage, without a lick of paint

The Morning Claret tends to steer clear of the new world, being a lover of the more classic, restrained styles of wine making. But the other night I was searching around for something to match with a south-east asian influenced Read more