Thelema and Springfield Wines

I was in Joburg last week with Dimension Data CEO and Execs. In the evening we had dinner at Browns in Rivonia which had a great wine cellar. The Somelier (the waiters had no idea what that meant!) was only too happy to give a guided tour of the cellar. Unfortunatley no Thelema Sauvignon Blanc (which as B&B know is my favorite SA wine – thanks for the Brithday bottle – still not drunk yet – saving for a special occasion).
Instead the ‘Wine Man’ (the waiters did understand that!) recommended Springfield ‘Life from Stone’ Sauvignon Blanc and Iona Sav Blanc.

The Springfield is fantastic and is now No.2 on my best wines list. The Iona was too “French’ in taste…ie Not young, grassy, goosberry and dry enough for me. Springfield was perfect.

The Wine Man clearly knows the tastes of the wines, but be careful when asking him about the vineyards. I asked him if he had either Thelema Sauvignon Blanc (the original one and the Elgin Sutherland) but he couldn’t remember the name of the Elgin variety. I also asked if he had any Tokara, as this is also a wine made under the overseeing eye of Gyles Webb. He swore blind that GW had nothing to do with Tokara. He’s quite wrong.

Call me old fashioned but I think that a professional should know the basic details of their specialist subject, though I’ll forgive him this time for showing me the Springfield.

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