Dornier Wine Blog

Dornier Donatus Red 2007 is Top100 SA Wine

We are proud to announce that our flagship red wine, the Dornier Donatus 2007, has been selected as one of the Top 100 South African Wines.

Dornier Donatus Red 2007 – Stellenbosch

Cabernet Sauvignon (95%), Cabernet Franc (5%)

With our DONATUS, we strive to create a red premium blend showing both a distinctive local character and our individual style. We achieve this with a careful selection of fruit from our healthy vineyards. All wines are fermented and aged in separate batches and skilfully blended after a long ageing process. There are no standard blending components; consistency is always achieved in quality and style. DONATUS offers the best of old world classic concentration and new world boldness.

Tasting Notes
Vintage conditions where ideal for the grape maturity and resulted in wines with more elegance and poise than those of warmer vintages. Aromas of spice, cassis, tobacco and hints of sweet fruit dominate the complex nose. Characteristics of the vintage conditions are evident on the palate with its full yet firm tannin structure and fresh flavour profile of red fruits with a fresh, lingering finish.

Vintage Conditions
The season leading up to the harvest period provided excellent conditions for optimal ripeness and flavour concentration. This year the harvest started earlier than expected, 10 days to be exact, however, it ended approximately 10 days later. These longer ripening conditions therefore provided for excellent fruit concentration and elegance.

Fermentation and Ageing
For this exceptional blend we utilised only two premium vineyards on our property both with outstanding quality of fruit year after year. As we recognised their potential early we were able to maximize our winemaking efforts in order to express the best characteristics of each variety. Cold soaking was followed by a gentle fermentation with pump overs performed twice daily. The grapes remained on the skins for a further two weeks in order to gain complexity and overall tannin structure. Each batch then spent 14 months in 40% New French oak barrels before careful blending.

Food Pairing
Excellent with rich red meat dishes, slow cooked in a red wine jus. It also has to be mentioned that this wine pairs particularly well with dishes that have an element of earthiness.

More information:

http://www.dornier.co.za/collection/

Dornier Bodega Restaurant Announces Winter Specials

Stellenbosch, April 2011; Dornier Bodega, renowned for their Farm Cuisine, will be starting their new Winter Business Lunch specials, running weekdays from 2 May to 30 September 2011. The specials are meant to provide for a quick business break or a relaxed lunch with friends and family.

Chef de Cuisine, Neil Norman, believes that winter is the time for enjoying well made, robust food, paired with excellent wine. “When we sat down to discuss the Winter Specials, we concentrated on creating delicious tummy fillers which could be served timeously.  Comfort food is what our local patrons like. It must be always be fresh, simple and well flavoured”.

Dishes vary daily, according to the day’s theme:  Enjoy a deluxe vegetarian feast on ‘Meat-Free-Mondays’.  On ‘Comfort Tuesdays’ Bodega will be offering old favorites such as fragrant Coq au Vin with baby winter vegetables.  A different pasta dish will be created every ‘Pasta Wednesday’.  Enjoy a steaming bowl of luxurious soup on ‘Soup Thursdays’.  Seafood is very popular at Dornier Bodega and will be the theme to end off the busy week on ‘Fish Friday’.

The specials are priced at R79. A paired wine will be available from R20 per glass.  Bodega will announce a new specials menu weekly. Guests may also choose from the à la carte menu with Bodega classics and new creations.

The winter specials are designed to be served within minutes to fit into business breaks and will be served until 16H30.  As Neil says “Bodega has always believed in serving food to be shared among friends – what better place than to entertain clients in a warm, friendly atmosphere.”

Bookings are advisable: Phone 021-8800 557 or visit www.dornier.co.za to make an online booking.

For more information please contact Dornier Bodega Restaurant at bodega@dornier.co.za

Winter Opening Hours:

Restaurant:                                Daily from 12H00 to 17H00

Wine Tasting & Sales:             Daily from 10H-00 to 17H00

The Dornier Bodega Restaurant will stay closed for Dinner

See the Special Menu click here

91 Points for Dornier Donatus White

Stephen Tanzer has rated the 2009 Dornier Donatus White with 91 Points in Wine Enthusiast, one of the most influential wine publications in the United States.

“Good bright pale yellow. High-pitched aromas of stone fruits, musky ginger, smoky oak and lavender. Subtly rich and spicy, showing complex, wheightless flavors of white peach, lemon, honey, flint, anise, mint and vanilla. The oak element is in harmony with the wine’s fruit. Finishes long with hints of spices and orange blossom. A very good thing. 91″

Wine Enthusiast, Issue 155, March/April 2011

www.dornier.co.za

Top 5 Myths About Sulfites in Wines

On a regular basis we are asked about the health effects of sulfites in wine. More so, since a law was introduce forcing producers to add a sulfites waring to the label.

The following is a very useful compilation by the team at Vinecrowd.com of the top 5 myths about sulfites and wine along with the associated busting for each. We have slightly adapted myth 5 for South African wines. You will be surprised!

Myth 1: You or someone you know is allergic to sulfites.

NOPE, not true. Someone’s been badly misinformed. Sulfites are something that our body naturally produces at a normal rate of about 1,000mg a day. Compare that to the average 10mg per glass of wine and it’s pretty clear that if someone was allergic to sulfites, their problems would be a little more severe than a life without wine. There are, however, individuals that have high sensitivities to sulfites. We’ll get to that in a second.

Myth 2: The sulfites in wine are extremely high.

Again, not true. Sulfites are a part of the winemaking process all around the world. They are added in moderation in order to preserve wines for aging.  They are also added to other foods for the same reason – anything from the vegetables in a salad bar to dried fruits will contain added sulfites. Sulfites in an average glass of wine will measure 10mg, whereas a 2oz serving of those bright orange dried apricots typically has 112mg. Yep, over 10 times as much as a glass of wine.

Myth 3: Sulfites give you headaches.

FALSE. Probably the biggest myth of all.  There has been no link to sulfites and headaches in research groups – even among people with high sensitivity to sulfites.  Even among the highly sensitive people, adverse reactions (mainly asthmatic) only presented themselves when subjects were given four times the normal amount of sulfites in a single glass. This is not to say that some people don’t get headaches when they drink certain types of wine or alcohol, it just shows that it’s not the sulfites that are causing them. New research is showing that headaches may be related to the type of yeast used in fermentation.

Myth 4: There are less sulfites in white wine.

It’s probably safe to say that we all know someone that doesn’t drink red wine “because of the sulfites.” In reality, white wines have slightly more sulfites than reds.

Myth 5: There are more sulfites used in South African wines.

Surprise, things listed in bold are still NOT TRUE. Though winemaking practices differ in each country and region, the amount of sulfites used in winemaking tends to be the same among Old World and New World countries.  The fact that the US has a sulfite warning label but Canada and European countries do not tends to add to this myth.

“Everything about Dornier is striking; from the unusual architecture to the well-rounded tasting experience.”

Wine Magazine: Cellar door review: Dornier

28 January 2011

“The last time I visited Dornier, they were digging up the entrance road so we entered the winery from behind. This new entry brings you in at the top of the farm – and the view of the winery building is one of the most breathtaking in Stellenbosch, echoing the curves of the mountains (a shape which is repeated on the wine bottle labels).

Just up from the winery lies the converted barn containing the tasting room and Bodega Restaurant. The stoep was a hive of industry with staff laying tables, putting out chalkboards and setting up an additional seating area round the corner – clearly Bodega is thriving.

Inside is a mix of woods with brightlycoloured soft furnishings – lime green, fuschia pink and turquoise. There are craft items for sale, hand-labelled jars of olives, model aeroplanes and plenty of references to Dornier’s Swiss owners. Above the tasting counter are lampshades made from bronzed half wine bottles – you can also taste wine at wooden tables and beyond them, on the couches facing the fireplace.

We sat on the funky ‘cotton reel’ bar stools at the counter and the smiling assistant greeted us immediately, proffering price lists, a carafe of water and a spittoon – clearly used to tourists, she picked up on my English accent and automatically included the European order form as well. The tasting was R30 for five wines with all three ranges available to try.”

read on

DORNIER is situated south of Stellenbosch, just off Blaawklippen. Open Monday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00.
Tel: 021 880 0557
www.dornier.co.za

Why Dornier is Sourcing Chenin blanc and Shiraz from the Swartland

Text and pictures by JC Steyn, Winemaker at Dornier

At Dornier Wines we always strive to push the boundaries and at the same time showcase the potential of the vine.

For the past three years we have been sourcing Chenin blanc and Shiraz from dry land vineyards situated in the picturesque Swartland region.

Traditionally the Swartland was known for its wheat and cereal production but has now become a serious contender for the production of high quality grapes and wines.

The name for the Swartland was derived from the endemic vegetation, the Rhenoster veld, which transform from green to black in winter due to the effects of moisture while the soils are dominated by the Malmesbury Shales (sedimentary rocks) providing good water holding capacity for the hot summer months.

The Chenin blanc grapes that we have selected come from very old dry land (no irrigation) bush vines. Bush vines lead to a higher bunch exposure to the sun along with the low crop levels resulting in small bunches with tiny berries thereby concentrating the flavours.  These bush vines are from one of the oldest growers in the Paardeberg sub-region producing wines with excellent all round complexity and intensity of fruit.

For the Shiraz, we select small parcels from the Kasteelsig farm, a vineyard that is meticulously maintained and managed in a sustainable manner as to be at one nature as far as possible. No irrigation is applied so this leads to the vines having a deep penetrating root system that act as a buffer during the warmer summer months. Through their viticulture they also enhance a healthy and balanced soil environment by planting natural symbiotic vegetation between the rows during the winter months.
The resultant wines are full with lovely texture, balance and concentration.

The Swartland Shiraz is being used in our Cocoa Hill Red

The Swartland Chenin blanc is being used in our Dornier Chenin blanc and since the 2009 vintage also in our Dornier Donatus White

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