Table Bay Hotel gets into winemaking

The Table Bay in the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town has introduced two house wines created by winemaker Rikus Neethling of Bizoe Wines and the hotel’s own experts led by F&B manager Joep Schoof.
The launch event for The Captain’s Table wines took place aboard a luxury motor yacht, Princess Emma, which is moored at the V&A Waterfront Marina and is available for charter around the Cape Peninsula.
Schoof (above left) said: “We see ourselves as the new Garagiste. Small quantities of grapes, excellent wine-making ability and exceptional quality will be our hallmark.”
Head sommelier Dominic Bowers (above right) added: “In order to make the wine exclusive, we decided that both the white and red wine would have to be blended. This would allow us to put an exclusive identity to the wine.”
The white is a blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon and the red is a blend of cabernet sauvignon and shiraz.
The larger component of the sauvignon blanc was “very tropical” and had soft acidity. The second sauvignon blanc component was selected to add a bit of freshness to the wine as well as hints of freshly cut grass and asparagus.
The remainder of the wine (about 20%) was semillon, and this component was matured in small oak barrels. This was done to add another dimension to the blend, to complete the marriage of the two sauvignon blanc components and also to add a bit of palate-weight to the blend.
All components were sourced from Elgin Valley, the coolest wine growing area along the south coast and recognised for its crisp white wines.
The red wine was sourced from Western Cape farms to produce a red wine that is said to be “soft and embraced with ripe dark fruit… lifted by gentle warm spices.”
The blend comprises 80% cabernet sauvignon – for structure and mouthfeel and palate-weight, while the shiraz component adds a bit of sweet ripe black fruit aromas.
“I invite everyone to come and experience our house wines, whether at the pool deck overlooking the bay, or in the Atlantic Restaurant overlooking the harbour and Table Mountain – our wines have been produced for everyone’s enjoyment,” says Bowers.