Emma Borg is in het land om haar Zuid-Afrikaanse Painted Wolf wijnen te promoten. Samen met haar echtgenoot Jeremy richtte zij in 2007 het wijnbedrijf Painted Wolf Wines op, een winery met een verhaal. Een sponsordiner tbv de Painted Dog Conservation en een proeverij voor professionals worden georganiseerd door Solo Vino & African Wines in Scheveningen. Hieronder mijn verslag. In Engels, om meer mensen kennis te laten maken met deze winery en de wijnen.
🇬🇧Emma Borg visits The Netherlands to promote her South African Painted Wolves wines. Together with her husband Jeremy in 2007 she founded the wine company Painted Wolf Wines. A sponsor dinner for the Painted Dog Conservation and a wine tasting for professionals were organized by Solo Vino & African Wines in Scheveningen.
About Emma and Jeremy
Emma, born in the UK, met Jeremy Borg (former chef, restaurant owner and wine professional in retail and other wine related businesses) in a safari camp in Botswana where they fell in love. They got married in 1995 and moved to Paarl where Jeremy got to work at the well known winery Fairview. Here, amongst others, he was responsible for the development of the successful wine label Goats do Roam.
Painted wolves of Africa
His dream however was to make his own wine. And, with Emma, he wanted to find a way to give something back to the African bush in some meaningful way. After a few years of experimenting Jeremy and Emma really decide to go for it and set up their own winery. They did not have the money to buy vineyards for themselves so were happy to find partners. A project to align with their company they found in ‘The painted wolves of Africa’: Southern Africa’s rarest and most endangered carnivore. An estimated 6600 dogs survive in increasingly isolated populations in Africa. They are charismatic, team players, altruistic, persistent, social, elusive, inquisitive and playful. That was the inspiration for Jeremy and Emma.
The book about the Painted Wolves* by wildlife photographer Nick Dyer and conservationist Peter Blinston
“We are dedicated to the production of authentic, distinct and delicious wines, and to the conservation of African Wild Dogs and their natural habitat”
From the den to Pictus
In 2007 Jeremy and Emma produced their first vintage, a Cape Blend and a Pinotage. Nowadays their focus is on chenin blanc, pinotage and Rhône varietals. For their wines they buy the grapes from different grape growers with whom they have built up a good relationship.
Their entry level is named ‘the den‘, meaning the lair or shelter of a wild animal, especially a predatory mammal. They are juicy every day drinking wines to share with family and friends
The second level wears the Peloton label, inspired by a hobby of Jeremy: cycling. These are flavourful Cape blends, chenin and pinotage based, that bring together wine, wanderings and wild dogs.
The Pack is dedicated to the people who believed in the Painted Wolves wine project from the start: single vineyard and limited edition wines from the pack member’s organic or sustainable farmed grapes.
The top level is called Pictus. Pictus is named after the scientific name for an African Wild Dog, Lycaon Pictus, meaning Wolf in Greek and Painted in Latin. These are te premium blends: artistry in the bottle and on the label. Each Pictus is a unique premium wine blend and features a wildlife artist’s work.
Painted Wolf Wines, the tasting
1) the den Sauvignon Blanc 2017
The grapes for this wine come from Swartland (hot area) and Darling (cooler area). Tropical fruit in the nose. Medium body and a nice acidity. Ripe grapefruit, fresh, friendly. €6,00
2) the den Chenin Blanc 2017
Here the gapes are picked from several area’s in Swartland. Jeremy and his team taste the wines that are vinified seperately and after that they decide what the blend will be. For this wine 40% Slovenian wood is used. Aromatic nose, white flowers. Medium body, round, peach. Pleasant glass of wine. € 6,50
3) Peloton Blanc 2016
A blend of 69% chenin blanc from Paarl/Stellenbosch, 12% viognier from Stellenbosch, 10% roussanne from Paarl, 6% grenache from Paarl and 3% clairette blanche from Paarl/Stellenbosch. 2016 was very dry in this region and Jeremy could not find enough viognier for his wine with his partners. So he ‘shouted it out loud’ and at last he was offered enough by other grape growers. “So there are no barriers in the way we make our wines, it’s really exciting”. The grapes are whole bunch pressed and barrel fermented followed by 9 months in oak barrels. In the nose (stil?) a bit closed, white fruit, vanilla. Medium body. Round, wood clearly present. Bit spicy. € 9,75
4) Penny Viognier 2014
This wine is named after Penny, a dear friend of Emma and Jeremy. Billy and his late wife Penny were amongst the first investors in their dream, trading grapes for a share in Painted Wolf. The grapes (100% viognier) come from their (certified organic) Kasteelsig vineyard. The wine was fermented and matured in a selection of new and second fill 500 liter French oak barrels. Less than 4.000 bottles of this wine were produced. Fresh white fruit in the nose, creamy. Juicy and round in the mouth, ripe white fruit, wood wel balanced, spicy, clean. Long aftertaste, clean, fresh. € 14,50
5) Pictus V White Blend 2016
The Pictus White is a blend of 49% grenache blanc, 43% chenin blanc and 8% roussanne. Jeremy found some grenache blanc so this is the first vintage they make this wine. The V stands for 5, it’s the fifth Pictus wine after the reds. Sweet ripe fruit in the nose. Round in the mouth, te wood clearly present, vanilla. Love this wine, but think the wood will be integrated more in a year or so. € 14,50
6) Peloton Rouge 2014
The Peloton rouge is a Cape Blend of 59% pinotage, 24% grenache, 12% mourvèdre and 5% shiraz. The wine was matured in French, American and Hungarian oak barrels for 13 months. Roughly 20% of the barrels were new. Elegant nose with fresh red fruits. In the mouth juicy, smouth, with blackberries fruit, spicy, white pepper. € 9,50
7) Black Pack Pinotage 2016
100% pinotage. This wine of the Pack level is fermented in small open tanks with natural yeast. Punch downs a number of times a day. When the wine was dry it was pressed straight into barrel, mostly tight grain French oak, 70% new, for 9 months. 2400 bottles produced. This really is a Pinotage I like: round and juicy, tobacco, black berries, cacao and a touch of vanilla. € 13,25
8) Pictus IV Red 2012
The Flagship wine of the Painted Wolf Winery. This Platter**** wine is a blend of 40% shiraz, 38% grenache and 22% mourvèdre. 90% organically certified grapes grown at Kasteelsig vineyard in the Swartland. The wine has been aged in French 225 and 300 liter barrels for 18 months, approximately 40% new wood. It seems still to be too young. Ripe dark fruit in nose and mouth, tobacco, vanilla, white pepper. € 18,25
Pardon Taguzu’s Owners Reserve 2017
After this interesting tasting Pardon Taguzu proudly presents his own wine. The Owners Reserve is the wine of Zimbabwean top sommelier (‘Zim Somm’) Pardon Taguzu (Aubergine & Auslese, Cape Town). He produces his wine at Klein Goedhart Estate in Riebeek-Kasteel (Swartland), where he has exclusive access to a 35 year old Colombard vineyard. This vineyard is farmed naturally, without using pesticides or fertilizers, but only natural manure. This wine is made of 100% colombard, barrel fermented. Ripe white fruit in nose and mouth. Medium body, juicy, good acidity. The wood has yet to integrate. Would love to taste this wine in a few years time again! € 22,75
More about the Painted Wolf Wines you can find on their website.
In The Netherlands the wines are sold by AfricanWines.nl.
* More about this book can be found on this website.
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