Tim and Vaughan ‘manning our table’ at Amps Fine Wines in Oundle, Northamptonshire, England
Owner of Amps Fine Wines, Philip Amps, braaing his home made Borewors.
Tim pouring our wines
Two very satisfied customers
Amps Fine Wines South African tasting August 2015
We have just had a whole page devoted to Seven Springs Vineyard in the November edition of Decanter Magazine. The whole article is entitled “Buying a Vineyard” but we guess in our case it could have been entitled “Buying a piece of land with cattle roaming on it”….but we guess that might not be a too appealing headline. This is the article as it appears in the magazine.
Nathan (Nate) Nolan reviews our 2010 Syrah and Chardonnay and our 2011 Unoaked Chardonnay in this YouTube video. We sent Canadian Nate our wines a couple of years ago and he decided to keep the wines before reviewing them to see how they age. This is Nate’s video and we think he has made a pretty good job (well very good job) of describing our wines. Our Overberg wines have shown real character from day one and Nate certainly seems to like our wines . Take it away ‘Mr Drink n Eat’……..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvPSsl-iTcg&feature=youtu.be
We have been very busy here at Seven Springs and it doesn’t look like the sudden winter here in the Overberg is going to slow us down. If you thought it was still Autumn, well guess again. The leaves might be golden, but the mountain tops are getting their first dusting of powdery white snow.
Benson in the Autumn Syrah vineyards
Recently we had a promotion at a local Italian restaurant, Fabio’s Ristorante, with great success. As part of celebrating the success of the promotion, but also to thank the team at Fabio’s we had a lovely tasting on the farm, even though it was windy.
Annie, Fabio, Wietske and Johan
What a great team and great support from the local community in Hermanus. They are the only authenic Italian restaurant in Hermanus and should be on your list of places to dine, have a look on http://www.fabios.co.za/. Who knows, maybe you can enjoy a glass of Seven Springs when you are there!
We have also been very busy marketing our wines in the Overberg with Swellendam the newest area you can find our wines. Schoone Oordt, a five star guesthouse serving our Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc and Pinot noir to their patrons. With a great team of people involved in the guesthouse, Swellendam and Schoone Oordt ( http://www.schooneoordt.co.za) is a real gem and worth spending the night if you ever feel like being treated like instant family. Our wines are also for sale at De Keldermeister in town and on your way to Swellendam you can stop in Riviersonderend and buy our wines at The Wine Rack.
This week we had our annual Tradeshow with distrubutor Siris Vintners – Siris About Wine. This year the show went underground with the event taking place in the basement of the Upper East Side Hotel, creating an intimate tasting environment where it felt like you were in a barrel cave. Trade and wineries could connect and talk about all things wine. All-in-all a very enjoyable event and successful to boot. We also got to show off the fact that our 2012 Unoaked Chardonnay and 2011 Oaked Chardonnay both won a Bronze Medal at the 2014 Decanter World Wine Awards.
Harvest report to follow soon. It was a tough 2014 vintage and I think I’m still recovering like most viticulurists and winemakers in South Africa. Also be on the look out for upcoming news on the building of our own winery and tasting room on the farm. 2014 is a big year for us and it is all thanks to our local and global support, so thank you to you all.
Cheers
Winemaker Riana
Some came in high heels,
another with a hat,
one wore a tie,
another brought a cat!
Seven Springs Vineyards have had a wonderful 2013 and wished to end the year with special friends, good food and great wine. The great wine of course was our Pinot Noir ‘Young Vines II’ 2012 and Sauvignon Blanc 2012. We welcomed our friends on the ‘stoep’ with some chilled Pongracz Rose and 7Springs Sauvignon Blanc 2012 served with our very own 2013 Frantoio Olive Oil and homemade Chicken liver pate on toasted Ciabatta.
Chicken Liver Pate
500g Chicken livers
2 Onions finely chopped
1 Garlic glove
1 Medium lemon (juice)
Dash of Balsamic vinegar
Dash of Brandy
Mayonnaise (I love adding a spoon or two)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Clean the livers and sprinkle with juice of one lemon. Fry the onions, add livers and fry ’till cooked. Add garlic and a dash of balsamic vinegar. Let cool adding brandy, salt & pepper to taste. Put in food-processor and blend until smooth. You can add some mayonnaise, if desired. Enjoy with Ciabatta or seed bread.
Our first main course was roasted Smoked Pork with roasted potatoes with a rocket & mango asian salad. Paired with Pinot Noir 2012.
Our second main course came in 2 shapes and sizes, two very different curries. The Pinot Noir 2012 was paired with a mild Malay apricot curry, served in a hollowed out homemade bread. The Sauvignon Blanc 2012 was paired with a Thai Green Curry on fragrant rice.
Green Thai Curry
300 gr Chicken, cubed
30 ml vegetable oil
1 onion cut into 8 wedges
2 peppers, diced
2 cloves garlic
400 g baby marrows, diced
5cm knob ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, white part only, finely chopped
60ml Thai green curry paste, adjust to taste
1 can (400g) coconut milk
180 ml vegetable stock
4-6 dried lime leaves or grated peel of 1 lime (optional)
150 g baby spinach
juice of 2 limes
30 ml fish sauce or light soya sauce
fresh basil and coriander
Saute the onions, peppers, baby marrows, garlic, lemongrass, ginger and curry paste in the vegetable oil until soft. Add chicken, coconut milk, stock and lime leaves and let simmer until cooked through. Stir through baby spinach, lime juice, fish sauce and herbs and serve with steamed rice.
For the finale we had Tiramisu with dark chocolate trellising, made from melted dark chocolate and cocoa powder.
This was paired with the Pinot Noir 2012. This really brought home the faint coffee aroma you get in the wine. What a wonderfully, delightful combination, yet another reason to love Pinot Noir.
And to finish it all off, a platter of goats cheeses. A fantastic compliment to any Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. 
A fun evening was had by all
big, medium and small!
We wish you a very Merry Christmas
Happy holidays
and may 2014 be a healthy and prosperous year for you!
BLOG BY HETTA
Preparation for our 2014 harvest started in October 2012! At that time buds formed on the branches that were to carry the fruit for the 2013 harvest and, through the pruning that followed the harvest, during the winter of 2013, these two-bud spurs were left to develop and nurture the fruit for the 2014 harvest.
This means that as early as last month, October 2013, nature was influencing the quality and quantity of the 2015 harvest. It was rainy, cloudy and humid – not ideal conditions, as it is a sunny period at this time that will contribute to a fruitful harvest. We’ll just have to wait and see what Mother Nature has in store for us.
Our Pinot Noir grapes, the first to be harvested each year, are looking beautiful! The vines have started to flower along with the Chardonnay.
The Syrah and Sauvignon Blanc usually start flowering a little later.
I love the vineyards in spring, they have the most amazing green foliage.
Seven Springs Syrah 2010 technical Description
This Syrah, produced in our vineyard’s cool ocean influenced climate, is refined, delightfully complex and truly fragrant. Produced from very young vines, the wine was aged for 12 months in second and third year French oak barrels. This ensures the oak influences are understated and allow the opulent dark cherry and red berry flavours to dominate, along with hints of pepper and spice. On the palate it is rich and textured.
Reviews
The Wine Gang: The Wine Gang in the UK wrote this about our Syrah on the 17th July 2012.
Seven Springs, Syrah 2010
Overberg (South Africa) Red (Screwcap) 14% ABV
Seven Springs burst onto the scene with an excellent Sauvignon Blanc last year, but this Syrah from young vines planted in the Overberg region is new. The nose is opulently rich and crammed with plum and red berry fruit. Ageing in older French barrels adding some spice and delicate smokiness, with a hint of crisply-grilled bacon fat. On the palate it is fresh and vibrant, with real depth but bounding youthfullness and ocean-influenced clarity. 90/100
TweetCritique: The instantaneously recognisable aroma of black cherries was amazing, fairly young for a Syrah no doubt but the almost cherry menthol flavour was sublime, the lingering cherry aftertaste testament to a fine wine. The Seven Springs wine collection I tasted belied their maturity. Each wine held a surprise of its own. The construction of the wine is bold and creative and in my opinion Seven Springs wine is bound to grow even further in its popularity.
Joanna Simon – Wine and Food
Glenda Van Blerk – CapeTownWineBlog
Colin Smith – Grapefan
Mike Matthews, Magics Wine Guide
Technical analysis
Do you need more information on the specific wine? Download our technical sheet
Seven Springs Syrah 2010
Video Reviews
Short video review by Simon Woods
Other Videos
Here is a short video of what you can expect from the 2012 vintage in future
Tasting Notes
Very pale in the glass, this wine is bright, light and fresh. With no exposure to oak the true characteristics of the Chardonnay grape have been retained. It is delicate and well balanced with citrus fruit and melon flavours. There are also hints of the natural South African flora, such as proteas and ericas, which grow on the mountain above the vineyard. Great to drink on its own or a great match with seafood, especially shellfish and chicken.
Decanter World Wine Awards: Bronze 2014
Technical Analysis
Alcohol: 13.59%
Residual Sugar: 1.9 g/l
Total Acidity: 6.0 g/l
pH: 3.34
Harvested by hand on 21st February 2012
Total production: 6,800 bottles (750ml)
Bottled: July 2012
Ageing potential: 4-6 years
Harvest Report
The Chardonnay vines are planted on the cooler, south facing slope, in the lowest lying area on the farm at 200 meters elevation. It experiences a mush higher water table than other parts of the vineyard and as a result there is rarely need to irrigate during the season. Seven Springs Vineyard use clone 76 for their Unoaked Chardonnay. This clone’s typical organoleptic characteristics include peach and citrus. The yield is also higher than the clones used for the oaked Chardonnay.
Harvesting at optimal ripeness for the Seven Springs Unoaked Chardonnay, meant picking the grapes at lower sugar levels than for the oaked Chardonnay. This way the fresh fruit aromas and fresh acidity on the palate was retained. Picked early in the morning, with first sorting taking place in the vineyard, the fruit was processed to a clear juice and then inoculated with commercial yeast for a clean ferment. The yeast was specifically chosen to enhance and express the natural characteristics of the Chardonnay fruit. After two weeks the alcoholic fermentation was complete and, like the Sauvignon Blanc, was left on the lees (dead yeast cells). The lees were stirred regularly to aid in the development of the mouth-feel of the wine.
Reviews
This wine vied with others in the Seven Springs portfolio as my most enjoyable. Fermented and aged in stainless steel, it is its ripeness and lees contact that gives such a lovely aroma: crushed almond melds with lemon-meringue pie, all sorts of luscious hints, but with a core of steely precision. On the palate it is full-textured and weighty, with fat lemon and lime fruit and fruit-skin tang, lots of those waxy peel notes and lovely length and concentration. Hints of spices and honeyed sweetness play against savoury and decisive, dry acidity in the finish.
Description
Produced with no exposure to oak barrels, allowing full expression of the fruit from very young vines. It has a truly tropical perfume and personifies summer in a wine glass with aromas of pineapple and passion fruit. On the palate it is rich and textured with a lingering minerality balanced with beautiful fruit flavours.
Review
This is what Tom Cannavan from the UK wrote about the wine.
“As it says on the label, a Chardonnay fermented in steel tanks with no exposure to oak, and a new product in Seven Springs’ range, showing a restless need to explore the potential of their young vines and this terroir. There’s an elegant perfume to this wine, with a little blossom or peach-skin fragrance, some dry apple fruit notes and a hint of something stony and mineral. On the palate it is juicy and led by citrus and underripe apple – a quite steely, in some ways quite austere, but there is a burgeoning sense of creaminess and those peachy tones beneath the citrus tang. A nice wine that would be joyous with some pan-fried mullet or seabass”
Unoaked Chardonnay 2011
Miguel Chan Wine Journal
Joanna Simon – Wine and Food
Colin Smith – Grapefan
Video Reviews
We have recently introduced Neutron Moisture Guages into our vineyards at Seven Springs. What this will do is to allow us to measure very accurately the ground moisture in all parts of our vineyards. Thus we can irrigate our vines at the optimum time and apply the exact amount of water required to maintain healthy plant growth. Our water comes from boreholes drilled into Shaws Mountain behind our vineyards, using underground streams. Accurate measurement of the ground moisture it will allow us to use our water resources responsibly ensuring increased fruit quality. We are working closely with Bokkeveld Besproeiing ( http://www.irrinet.net/ ) who have developed the software programmes for measuring soil moisture. The company is jointly owned by Piet van der Merwe, who is father of our winemaker Riana, and Jac Le Roux, with Piet being responsible for running the business in South Africa. The company specialises in irrigation scheduling for fruit, citrus, perrenials, lavendar, olives, table grapes and, of course, wine grapes. Accurate measurements and targeted irrigation (we can apply water to individual parts of our vineyards) will allow us to produce the optimum size and quality of grape which in turn will allow us to make first class wines. We are on a quest to produce some of the best wines in South Africa and this is one way we can help manage that process.