Retief Goosen Signature Wines tasting Houtbay / Photo Credits: Letha Malan Oelz
THE GOOSE WINE TASTING IN HOUTBAY, SOUTH AFRICA
Letha giving a wine tasting of the fantastic signature line of Retief Goosen’s international renowned fine wines in Houtbay.
Retief Goosen is a South African professional golfer. His main achievements were winning two U.S. Open titles and heading the European Tour Order of Merit for two years. He was in the top ten of the world rankings for over 250 weeks between 2001 and 2007. He currently stands on 24 international victories, 7 PGA TOUR victories and 3 additional victories. Retief, often called “The Goose”, is known as one of the coolest customers in the world of golf. Fittingly, the wines that carry his name are also produced in one of the coolest regions in the Western Cape with the Indian Ocean lurking only 24 kilometers to the south of the vineyards.
The Goose Wines is based in the Upper-Langkloof appellation, which is found in the majestic Outeniqua Mountains on the world-famous Garden Route of South Africa. The Upper-Langkloof is arguably the coldest wine growing region in South Africa.
These extreme climatic conditions ensure complexity of fruit and unique grapes that are hand-crafted into world-class wines. After hand harvesting the grapes are transported to cool-rooms, where the temperature is maintained at 4 Degrees Celsius for 12 hours to keep the grapes cool. Upon arrival at the cellar the cold grapes are sorted before being crushed and pumped into open cement troughs. There the juice is allowed to ferment on the skins for 8 to 14 days, extracting the vital character and colour from the grapes into the wines as it develops. Malolactic Fermentation is completed in imported French Oak Barrels.
The Goose is styled into classic and elegantly structured wines by ageing it in these barrels for a further 18 to 24 months for the reds, while the cool-climate Sauvignon Blanc is kept on the lees for a number of months in stainless steel tanks. The maiden vintage of The Goose Expression was a 2005 blend of equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. In 2008 the first single-vineyard The Goose Sauvignon Blanc was released captivating wine lovers imaginations immediately.
The wines in The Goose portfolio have an elegance about it which is a direct result from the unique, colder Upper-Langkloof climate, with a high natural acidity, which ensures great longevity. The end result is wines with which displays the ultimate combination between Old World elegance and structure and New World fruit and body.
It is not only said of wine, but proven over centuries, that it is indeed “the vineyard that makes the wine.” If, The Goose Wines were to be the home of world-class Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc then it would be fundamentally up to the soil and climate to ensure that the grapes deliver their optimal blueprint in terms of excellence of flavor.
After years of research, we had inkling that the conditions at The Goose Wines were ideal for cool-climate varietals of distinction.
Have a fantastic year.
Letha
Letha (Malan) Oelz (You can contact Letha at: oelzletha@gmail.com... please follow me at https://www.finderzkeeperz.co.za/2019/03/04/the-goose-wine-tasting-in-houtbay-south-africa/
Retief Goosen Signature Wines tasting Houtbay / Photo Credits: Letha Malan Oelz
Google Earth The Goose Vineyard / Photo Credit: Google - The Goose Vineyards
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