Mont Blois Keller Colombard 2018

By , 28 September 2020

Comment

7

Could we all be drinking a lot more premium Colombard very soon? The Keller 2018 from Mont Blois in Robertson is a single barrel’s worth of wine made from a 43-year-old vineyard planted on the alluvial soils of the De Hoop river.

The nose shows top notes of honeysuckle and hay before pear, peach and sultana plus a little vanilla while the palate is light-bodied and fresh with a salty finish. At R295 a bottle, it’s not cheap but worth seeking out if you want to say you were in at the beginning of the Colombard phenomenon…

CE’s rating: 91/100.

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Comments

7 comment(s)

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    Myrna Robins | 4 October 2020

    Tanagra has been making a delightful colombard for three years,.
    single vineyard, limited edition wine which is fruity, dry, but with some complexity from a short time in third-fill oak. Their Dutch importers compare it favourably to some French chardonnays. A good buy at
    R100.

    Angela Lloyd | 1 October 2020

    In a good year, ie not too ripe, & when colombard retains its natural acid, the wine can age incredibly well. Nuy has always made one of the best, though I see now just a semi-sweet, there used to be a dry version as well. I’ve drunk 10-year-old Nuy colombards which, thanks to their acidity, have been fantastic.

    Hennie C | 28 September 2020

    It is interesting that you say it is the start of the Colombard phenomenon. I recall that Lydia from Chapman’s Peak Hotel bottled a pretty damn fine Colombard a few years ago called Bastardo . If I recall correctly Eben Sadie made it for her from an old Swartland vineyard. There was only 1 vintage I think as the owner of the vineyard decided afterwards to bottle it under his own label – Aspoestertjie. Wasn’t quite as profound as Lydia’s effort, but still decent enough.

      Kwispedoor | 28 September 2020

      You must try Aspoestertjie after a few years in the bottle, Hennie – very tasty indeed. Made by Thinus Krüger.

      Christian Eedes | 28 September 2020

      Hi Hennie C, I think the Colombard phenomenon has been a long time coming – SA’s second most widely planted variety after Chenin with 10 601ha in the ground .

      Read more about Lydia’s Bardero 2012 here: https://winemag.co.za/wine/review/bardero-2012/

      Tim James | 28 September 2020

      Indeed not quite the pioneer in ambitious colombard – the Lowerland Vaalkameel from Preieska has been around a few years (also very pricey); Ewan Mackenzie made a 2018 for his Wine Thief label; it’s blended in the well known Patatsblanc (a vastly better bargain than some!). But the swell is growing – I believe there are new colombar bottlings from Naudé Wines and, for their wine club, from Beaumont too. And I’m sure there must be others that will be revealed soon. It’s going to be hard to make really good wines from colombard – but the Cape is doing it with a few cinsaults, so why not, especially as the grape has chenin blanc as one of its parents. Jancis Robinson wasn’t reckoning with the Cape wine revolution, and perhaps Cape terroir, when she wrote in the Oxford Companion: ‘It would take some sorcery to transform Colombard into an exciting wine’….

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