Solms Delta Products

Cape Jazz Shiraz

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:54:25 +0200

Solms-Astor - Cape Jazz Shiraz

Cape Jazz Shiraz is a Pétillant red wine shiraz. To our knowledge, this is the first "Lambrusco" style wine to be made in the Cape: sweetish, low in alcohol, with celebratory fizz. It is bottled immediately after the harvest, especially for the annual Franschhoek Oefees (Harvest Festival) which is hosted by Solms-Delta. Serve chilled for all occasions!

Cape Jazz is Cape Town's very own style of jazz, but it combines things from just about everywhere: the carnival, the church, Africa, America, reflected in the Cape Jazz Shiraz. The essence of Cape Jazz is unpredictability.

Bottled especially for the Franschhoek Oesfees at Solms-Delta, the name of the wine combines Richard Astor's love of music with his dislike of pomposity. This lively, well-priced sweet sparkler is backed by the Solms-Delta reputation for quality.

We welcome you to enjoy a tasting of our Solms-Delta wines at the estate, and become informed about our winery and winemaking techniques by taking our Vineyards, Cellar and Wine Farm Tour, or buy our wines available from various stockists and restaurants.

Vastrap

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:54:25 +0200

Solms-Astor - Vastrap

Vastrap is a white wine blend of Chenin blanc, Clairette blanche and Semillon. These are classic Cape cultivars, some of them now out of fashion. Chenin blanc was traditionally known as 'Steen' (pip) and Semillon as 'Groen druif' (green grape).

Groen druif has been grown in the Franschhoek valley without interruption for 320 years, and was for more than two centuries the only white varietal grown on Delta estate. The large-berried Clairette blanche component of this blend is desiccated on the vine, according to an ancient Greek practice, to intensify the flavour. In all other respects, Vastrap is made in a reductive style. The result is a delicate, fruity, easy-drinking fruity style wine (under screwcap).

Vastrap ['trample'] music unites Khoesan trance-dance with Dutch folk music. Played on anything: concertinas, home-made violins, banjos and 'blik-kitaars'. The traditional excuse for a Vastrap party was the trampling of a newly laid cow-dung floor, but the ancestors are said to have preferred the open air.

We welcome you to enjoy a tasting of Solms-Delta wines at the estate, and become informed about our winery and winemaking techniques by taking our Vineyards, Cellar and Wine Farm Tour, or buy our wines available from various stockists and restaurants globally.

Langarm

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:54:25 +0200

Solms-Astor - Langarm

Langarm is a red wine blend of Pinotage, Touriga Nacional, Tannat, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon and Primitivo. Blending Pinotage with these Southern European red varieties produces a classic 'Cape blend' with an innovative twist.

Traditionally pumped over, fermented at warm temperature for maximum fruit extraction, with no extended skin contact. Lightly wooded. It is dark red in colour, with sweet tannins and nutty undertones, and may therefore be enjoyed young (under screwcap).

Langarm ('straight-arm') captures the mood of the Cape at the end of a long working week. It can be danced to just about any kind of music, but 'Boeremusiek' is definitely best. We dance it with our arms extended like melodramatic windsurfers. Outsiders find it comical, but that is only until they have tried it.

Koloni

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:54:25 +0200

Solms-Hegewisch - Koloni

Koloni wine is a blend of Rhine Riesling, Muscat de Frontignan (Muscadel) and Muscat d' Alexandrie, 100% desiccated on the vine. Desiccation of the grapes on the vine is through strangulation and part of viticulturist Paul Wallace's philosophy for Solms-Delta. The stalks of the bunches are clamped on the vine before harvest, blocking the channels carrying the various components to and from the berries. The natural acids and grape sugars are retained, concentrating flavours and colour. The desiccated grapes are pressed as whole bunches, fermented after settling and matured for six months in new French oak. A Muscat/Riesling blend with a surprisingly dry finish. Intense aromas, judicious oak, and rich mouthfeel. A truly unique 'meditation wine'.

Koloni wine is the isiXhosa name for the Cape. This reflects its history of colonisation, mainly by settlers from Europe - including members of the German families Solms and Hegewisch, who arrived here in 1838 and 1904.

We welcome you to enjoy a tasting of Solms-Delta wines at the estate, and become informed about our wines and winemaking techniques by taking our popular Vineyards, Cellar and Wine Farm Tour, or buy our wines available from various stockists and restaurants globally.

Africana

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:54:25 +0200

Solms-Hegewisch - Africana

Africana wine is a Franschhoek shiraz 100% desiccated on the vine. Desiccation on the vine is drying out of the grapes by strangulation. The stalks of the bunches are clamped on the vine before harvest, blocking the channels carrying the various components to and from the berries.

The natural acids and grape sugars are retained, concentrating flavours and colour. The desiccated red grapes are fermented as whole bunches together with the stalks and matured for fifteen months in new French oak. A totally new take on Shiraz. An extraordinarily rich wine. Deep, concentrated and tannic. Smoky oak flavours. Will mature superbly over many years. Solms-Delta’s flagship.

Africana is the cultural produce of Africa, both indigenous and colonial. Delta farm is a rich source of Africana. This is due partly to the coincidence that the first European to settle here (circa 1690) built his homestead directly over a site that stone-age toolmakers had settled some 6,000 years before. See the Museum van de Caab for detailed information of the history of the Solms-Delta estate.

We welcome you to enjoy a tasting of Solms-Delta wines at the estate, and become informed about our wines and winemaking techniques by taking our Vineyards, Cellar and Wine Farm Tour, or buy our wines available from various stockists and restaurants globally.

Lekkerwijn

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:54:25 +0200

Solms-Wijn de Caab - Lekkerwijn

Lekkerwijn is a free-run blend of Mourvèdre, Viognier and Grenache. A full bodied and complex rosé wine. The lees are stirred constantly to enhance colour and body. It is matured in seasoned French oak. A complex rosé, dry, wooded and full-bodied with maturation potential.

Lekkerwijn (meaning 'good wine') celebrates Solms-Delta's rich history. Lekkerwijn is the name of the farm adjoining Delta, now largely incorporated into it. The first owner, Huguenot Henri l'Ecrévent, was granted the property in 1690. Locals, unable to pronounce his name, solved the problem by dubbing him Arie Lekkerwijn. He was slain nine years later by the first owner of Delta, Hans Silberbach, who then took flight and was never seen again.

We welcome you to enjoy a tasting of Solms-Delta wines at the estate, and become informed about our wines and interesting winemaking techniques, by taking our Vineyards, Cellar and Wine Farm Tour, or buy our wines available from various stockists and restaurants globally.

Hiervandaan

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:54:25 +0200

Solms-Wijn de Caab - Hiervandaan

Hiervandaan is a red wine blend of Shiraz, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Carignan and Viognier and is part of the Wijn de Caab range at Solms-Delta. A portion of the Shiraz is desiccated on the vine according to an ancient method to intensify the colour and add additional flavour components. The Viognier component consists of skins only. The wine is a dark colour with intense flavours and dried orange peel aromas. It is a rich tannic wine with great ageing potential. The positive winemaking articles reviewing Solms-Delta wines speak for themselves.

Hiervandaan (meaning 'from this place') is a word with special significance in the colonial history of the Cape. Marquard de Villiers, scion of a Huguenot family that farmed at Delta from 1771 to 1823, points out that it was used by early European settlers to define their new identity. "Ons is hiervandaan, ons is Afrikaners." 'We are from this place, we are Africans.'

De Villiers (owner of the farm in xxx TBC 16/9) also tells the moving story of a conversation he had at a neighbouring farm that was once the seat of his family. After proudly telling a labourer of Khoi origin that his family had farmed there 300 years ago, the fellow replied that he too was 'hiervandaan' but his people had only lived there 'sommer van altyd' (just since forever).

For other red wine blends by Solms-Delta, take a look at Africana, a desiccated red wine or the Langarm red wine blend or experience a Franschhoek Wine Tour to taste the full range.

Amalie

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:54:25 +0200

Solms-Wijn de Caab - Amalie

Amalie is a white wine blend of Viognier and Grenache Blanc. The Solms winemaking philosophy dictates that the Grenache blanc grapes are desiccated on the vine according to an ancient Greek practice to concentrate colour and flavours. The fully ripe grapes are then harvested and crushed in the cellar where they are given 24 hours' skin contact at 5° C. It is a barrel-matured dry white wine blend, with intense fruit, layers of complexity and a well-integrated tannic structure and lingering finish. Amalie is a wine to set new standards in white blending.

Princess Amalie zu Solms-Braunfels was immortalised by Rembrandt in 1632. After her marriage to the Prince of Orange, she played a significant role in Dutch political life. Her grandson, William III, King of England, provided refuge and financial support to thousands of French Huguenots after the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685. Among these, some 180 souls were relocated to the Cape and granted farms in the immediate vicinity of Delta (then called Zandvliet) where they laid the foundations of the modern South African wine industry.

The Viognier was sourced from six different sites to achieve a complex flavour spectrum. Both grape varieties were fermented and matured separately in new French oak barrels for a slow fermentation and extended lees maturation, and were blended prior to bottling.

For other white wine blends by Solms-Delta, try Koloni, a desiccated white wine or the Vastrap white wine blend or experience the Solms-Delta Vineyards, Cellar and Wine Tour to taste the full range.