OCTOBER FEST

 With October on our doorstep, planning for the Helderberg Wine festival is in full swing. Join us either as contestant or guest the 23d October for an evening of potjiekos and Jazz. Entertainer, Gerald Clark, will be playing live. This evening will be full of fun and music, with judges tasting and judging each potjie contestant. To enter as potjie contestant phone the farm @ 021-8551008.

Tickets for adults @ R80.00 each and R40.00 for children under 12 years.

 

In preparing for the Helderberg Winefestival, 11 winemaker from the route, crammed into a Volksie, to get the GEES going.  Well, as you can see, they made it………….. But we do not know how.

Yonder Hill is proud to announce that we have just released our first Sauvignon Blanc!! For a farm well known for its RED wines, this is a huge step. Winemaker, Bennie Avenant has decided that the time has come for Yonder Hill to try the WHITE wine market and he surely has made a very special Sauvignon Blanc. This will be added to our Y-Range which has already acclaimed its place in the market. Please try this wine. Why not??

Yonder Hill has also just completed the replanting of five Ha with Merlot. The new vineyard is planted at a slanting angle against the Helderberg Mountain. Every one at Yonder Hill is exited about the new plantings as we can assure our customers that as in the past, they can still expect the best wines to be made in future.


You are welcome to find us on FACEBOOK and on TWITTER. Yonder Hill also has a running website: www.yonderhill.co.za

Yonder Hill: Y-Sauvignon Blank 2009

Yonder Hill: Y-Sauvignon Blank 2009

Y-Sauvignon Blank 2009

Two things happened this year of big importance:



1) The World cup came, we watched, we enjoyed.


2) Today; a big day in the history of Yonder Hill; we bottled our first Sauvignon Blanc. This label will be selling under the Y-range label at a price of R35.00 cellar door. This crispy, summer, passion fruit Sauvignon Blanc promises to be a big seller. With only limited stock available, be sure to buy some before we consume all!!!!!!!!!!!!!


One thing not all of us seem to agree on is the label……….. The girls like stylish, the men like bold. Wonder which of the sexes will win this one?

Woman of WIne

When you “kuier” with Woman of Wine; brainchild of Mariska Du Preez, you know you “kuier”. It is 21:00 and the ladies are going strong. What a wonderful group of woman who share the same enthusiasm and passion. Pictures to follow tomorrow. Be sure to visit http://www.vanpepperwines.com/ for any ladies who want to join this group, reviews, and fun stuff to do.


TJORTS

Woman of Wine

Harvest is finished. Now it is the loooonnnnggg and patient wait for the second fermentation in a red wine’s lifetime, namely malalactic fermentation. Yonder Hill`s first Sauvignon Blanc is something to look forward to. To be released in September 2010. The ladies from Woman of Wines are visiting the 15th and 29th. We will give the ladies a welcoming drink, and follow up with a vertical tasting of our Inanda`s. Afterwards we will “kuier” until we drop. I must say, all of us need a good “kuier” after harvest. The farm workers will do a Newlands rugby day….. Hopefully the Stomers keep on winning. Come and visit us at Lourensford for the annual Helderbeg Trade fare 20 & 21 April, from 15:00 – 18:00. Our 2007 vintages and Y-Range to be shown.

During March Spit or Swallow rate us 2nd with a average scorre 7.77 on their website. Thank you Anel and all the winefly`s for visiting. Carmen Beerwinkel, our tasting room assistant, found out she is pregnant and Bennie Avenant (winemaker) celebrated his 26th birthday. Checkers took the last batch Y-Shiraz for the promotion, we delivered our samples for the Old Mutual Competition and our Inanda 2004 and Merlot 2005 was selected for the Nederburg Aution,

Now it is only one month and Zulu; our boerboel

will be joined by Bella from the same breeder in Bloem. We can not wait, our dogs on the farm, second to our wines, are our pride and joy.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow

We shipped our last Inanda 2003 blend to Europe in December 2009, and already Matt Pym has a lot to say. Read about our Cabernet Sauvignon / Cabernet Franc /Merlot on the following blog: http://blog.majestic.co.uk/grape-to-glass-spring-edition/country-in-the-spotlight-south-africa/

Today we are selling our Merlot and Inanda 2007. And one of our good friends; winewriter Jack Hydes had this to say abourt our 2008 vintage not released yet: “This evening I at last got round to opening the sample bottle of Your 2008 Merlot.  I was stunned by this wine - the best Merlot I have tasted from the estate - or any estate in South Africa.
The overall impression is best described by the word "plush". I found the wine velvety and rich in texture. It coats the palate and has wonderful weight. The fruit is prominent and seductive. There is a touch of mint on the nose and the finish is dark chocolate, which lingers for a good 30 seconds. By "seductive" I mean that the wine is enticing and leads you on to wanting taste after taste.
I think that this wine could be 5 stars in Platter's when you submit it. It is certainly worth showing in major competitions.  Incidentally, I would like to put in an order for 12 bottles as soon as it is released.
The 2005 Merlot which I took to Durban was very well received by the audience. I think the point was clearly established that this is a wine that can hold its own with some very highly-rated Bordeaux wines at a price which is real value for money.  I hope to see you again before I return to England in mid-April.  There I will continue to introduce people to Yonder Hill's wines, which seem to me to go from strength to strength.


Remind me when I see you to talk about Cabernet Franc.


Best wishes
Jack Hydes”


The future looks bright for Yonder Hill. We are in the last run of harvest. Come and visit us and experience true peace and harmony.  With friends like these, we will go from strength to strength.

Voted number 6

Just after Blessing of the Harvest we received very good news, Spit or Swallow voted us number 6th best cellar in SA!!!!!!!!! Visit their website at www.spitorswallow.co.za.



Thank you guys for voting for us.

Harvest

Halfway into harvest and we are loving it. Bennie harvested his first Y Sauvignon Blanc on Wednesday. Now it is busy fermenting, and Oom Jan Boland thinks it tastes “not too bad” (even though they tasted the juice).



On Tuesday, 09 March, we will harvest our premium Merlot to ferment in our open oak tanks, a “new” technique Bennie wants to try. And the evening we will celebrate the harvest with our annual “Oes Inseën”. With the blessing our oldest worker, Andries Zas, will pray for Frikkie and all his friends pockets to be blessed and to stay full. In that way al of us will be blessed. After the blessing the party; stomping the grapes; begins with our friends and the Naude Family.


Wednesday, 10 March, our Robertson grapes will follow for our Y-Range. At the moment the sugar is standing still…… to much water probably. All and all everything is going well. In the end the true work begins in the cellar after the harvest, and for that WE CAN NOT WAIT.

PS: Good luck to Charmain, Bennie`s wife, get well soon.

Pre-Harvesting

With harvesting probably 2 weeks from today, we feel excited. Even though the wind and constant rain were a headache, the winemaker seems positive. With our workers getting the cellar clean and ready, and the accountants finalizing prices, we are almost “home”. The hard work during the year with spraying est paid off, and the spirits seem high.

January was a slow month for wine sales; accept for the obvious “odd bins” going out. We met Chris at last; the new addition to the Le Roux family. The owners returned from their ski holiday and now we are all back with force. Can you believe it is almost Valentine’s day. Luckily we will be closed on Sunday 14th, so that our loved ones can ‘treat’ us thoroughly. With beautiful flowers in and around the offices and caller, the grapes hanging in full view, and the weather which is perfect, we are all blessed to start harvest with a big smile. Come and visit to see the workers sorting grapes before pressing. Sit outside with a glass of Merlot 2005, and watch all harvesting activities. Then decide for yourself Y you think we are the cream of the crop.

All recipes for success in life depends ultimately on enthusiasm – Ernest J. Mchunu

Normal day at the farm?

Today feels like the beginnig of a long vacation. Everyone feels blessed and happy. Maybe it is because of the spray mist outside. The mountain is not visible at all and with the temprature 22 degrees, it feels like another country we working in.

All may seem peacful and quite...... Our mainhouse occupants (Chean and Lisa Roux) welcomed their son into the world on 13 January 2010. Chris came home on Saturday. All of us at work are now wondering when to go visit him. When is too early or too late? Maybe tonight will be good.


Bennie is somewhere in the vinyard, probably hiding from the barrel reps. Just yesterday he said that this vintage will not be the best ever. The wind in November and exstreme heat 2 weeks ago may influance the harvest.


Sometime this week we will be delivering Odd Bin to Checkers. Be on the lookout for a dry red. Good wine for good people.


Enjoy the perfect day (wel for me at least) 1:16:00 AM

Christmas is over, and all is back to reality. We want to say welcome back and we hope all had a festive and restful holiday. For these who did not rest, hope you do it soon.



A few things happened in December….. We labelled our Inanda 2007 and Merlot 2007. Both these 4.5 John Platter wines will be on the shelves Jan/Feb 2010. Our representative in Johannesburg got married and the tasting room was “jazzed up” with the olive oil and tapenade tasting.  To get in contact with our Gauteng agents, visit our website.

January started with full force. We are happy to be back and are already planning to bottle more Y-Merlot the end of this month. Hopefully there will be enough stock now till the end of harvest, if not…….. We are happy about that too 


Lastly, congrats to Frank Jung (our German agent) with his birthday tomorrow. We hope you have a wonderful day. For any buyer who wants to get in contact with Frank, please feel free to visit his website www.kammerwein.de.

Inanda 2008

Now it is the waiting that is driving us crazy..... Our Boudreaux blend was bottled yesterday after 18 months on wood. This wine will be released yearly 2011. By the quality, taste and body, the winemaker believes this to be on of our best wines produced to date. With only a limited amount bottled, we would like to allocate all the cases before 2011. Making this a special release only to our loyal and close friends who love and enjoy our Inanda

A gold at SA Olive Awards

This is starting to get boring....... when you are good you are good. Olyfberg won
a gold at the SA Olive Award again this year, showing that our quality is consistent for the last 5 years. With the oils produced at our "sister farm" in Robertson, and cellar door sales directly from Yonder Hill, this recipe promise to make the tasting experience a memorable one.




The oil blend consists of Leccino; Frontoio and Mission. The Mission forms the basis for this oil giving it a grassy; hint of Artichoke and peppery taste. Our range varies from 250ml glass to 25lt drums. The 500ml is exceptionally value for money for only R65.00 per bottle; also available in Woolworths.


If you feel like snacking, make sure to try our mouth-watering Tapenade. This 125ml are available for R25.00, and are good with biscuits, pasta and bruchetta.

Lastly we have fleshy but firm mission olives for R20.00 per 300g. And for indulging with bigger sizes you are welcome to call us at 021-8551008 and speak with Carmen.

Amazing, 4.5 stars

We reciently recieved the news that 2 of our 3 premium was given 4.5star out of 5 from John Platter.  Unofficially the Merlot was given a recomendation for 5 stars..........In previous years we only got 4stars for our Blend, making the 2007 entered wines a good step in the right direction.  The winemaker, Bennie Avenant, is even more excited about the reciently bottled 2008 vintage!!!!!!!!!!!!
Both the entry level wine also recieved Value Awards from Wine Magazine, following the footsteps of the previous years.

With only 2 weeks to go before we close for 2009, we want to say many thanx and lots of cheers to our redwine friends.  Come and visit to experiance our Christmas specials.

THe Yonder Hill team

PS: Bennie is back from honeymoon, and working all of us to the bone.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 selling for only R25.00

We just could not wait for Christmas for the fun to begin.  We will be selling our Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 for only R25.00 per bottle.  Good fruits, spices, mulberry and rasberry flavours on the nose.  Maturation in 225lt French Oak barrrels.  The flavours balance perfectly with soft tannis to ensure an easy drinking style wine.

There are only a limited amout availible, be sure to hurry.

See ya soon

Tastingroom FUN

New to the tastingroom is jong, vibrant and friendly Carmen Beerwinkel.  Apart from the beautiful view from the tastingroom, she will include a new "something" for tasting with our wines.  Now there will be olives, olive oil and our exceptional wines for tasting.  Not only did these oil/olives won a gold at the SAA Olive Awards, but was also given the 1st price for best blend in the world.

Be sure to be treated as our "house guest", with warm friendly faces to assist you, and our pets to greet you at the door.

Let the summer begin
Ajoba

WeddingBells

Our winemaker, Bennie Avenant, did us proud Saturday, 21 November.  Not only did he marry the most pretty girl in town, he showed he was a real man, and shed a tear when she walked down the isle.

Well done Bennie and Charmain, all of us at Yonder Hill wishes you joy and happyness for the future. 
And be sure, if Bennie is this passionate about his new wife, he will do great things with his second vintage around the corner.

The Anual Value Awards Wineshow 2009

All started good, but the night turned out to be dissapointing and slow.  With only a few visitors to the
Market Hall; Grand West.  And yes, loads of people infront of the gambling machines.

Why not enjoy good wines, at great value, and feel giddy afterwards, than putting loads of money into a machine :-(

Something we will think carefully through next year before we commit again.

Value Awards 2009

We did it again.  Both of our Y-Range cultivars won value awards for the 2009 vintage.  The Helderberg region particularly is doing well, with the likes of Ken Forrester, Lourensford, Journey`s End est holding hands with us.

We will be joining the Grand West on the 24th of November for winetasting and alover wine fun. 
Come and join us
Y-Not
http://www.wine.co.za/directory/news.aspx?NEWSID=14792&CLIENTID=4777

Summer on the horison

Our duckfriends passing the tasting room, on their way to the dam!!!!!  Yup, at last summer is on the way. With the vine leaves all in bloom ..... very small.... it looks like a magical month to follow. Zulu our boerboel is enjoying the sun before the cellar and seeing that the men in the vinyard is working. Bennie our winemaker will only start blending tomorrow, he is struggling with a big hayfeaver.

With September on the way out, you can look forward to great fun in October. Things like big specials, prizes and the Helderberg Wine Festival http://www.helderbergfestival.co.za/, promise to make October one to remember.  Check out our program and book before you miss out.  Y Not.