A beautiful drive today to Stony Brook Vineyard
#stonybrookvineyards #stonybrookwine #ghostgumwines #ovidius #winetasting #passionatewinemaker #franschhoek #winetrip #drinksouthafricanwines
The sun is shining, and we drive along a peaceful leafy road to get to Stony Brook vineyard.
On arrival we can see renovations have started here - there are two reasons for this.
One - there was a period of torrential rain in September last year and this has caused problems in several areas.
Secondly - the new owners are updating the farm, cottages and most importantly a new cellar has been built - it should be ready for this year's harvest.
Jackie and Chelsea (the dog) met us as we arrived and we joined them in the tasting room to catch up on everything that’s been happening since our last visit.
When you start a winery you have many decisions to make least of all what name you are going to call each wine. Here is a little history of how the McNaught’s decided on two of their varieties.
Their Cap Classic is called Lyle. This name was chosen as all the men in the McNaught family have it as one of their first names - the family is related to the famous sugar producers Tate and Lyle!!
We are tasting and enjoying their entry-level wine which is named Camissa – the thought process behind this is taken from Franschhoek history.
Camissa’s meaning is “sweet water for all” in the Khoe-language of the Cape.
Stony Brook is situated on the edge of the beautiful village known now as Franschhoek – (the “French corner”)But did you know before the Huguenots arrived in Franschhoek the mountains were called “Olifantshoek”? Accordingly, in the 17th century, elephants used to freely roam the valley and majestic mountains.
What’s more, long before the Franschhoek Pass was completed in 1825, Franschhoek’s inhabitants used to follow the paths created by these elephants as they moved through the steep mountain ranges, to cross the Franschhoek mountains by foot, horse, or carts
Joy and Nigel felt that the stony brooks of Stony Brook carried very sweet waters as well which were great for the plant and animal life around the farm – vines, impressive trees, and possibly the elephants of centuries ago as well. So that is why they called one of their wines, the Camissa!
Having sampled both The Lyle and Camissa we are going to add them to our range of wines from here.
From the tasting room, we move to the store which again requires repairs because when there is a storm the rains pour in! But this only affects small areas, and the rest of the space is used to store bottles of wine, packaging materials, etc. There is an area designated for bottle labeling - this job is still completed by hand but hopefully, in the not-too-distant future they will have a labeling machine. However, we were so impressed by Candice who at present sticks the labels on all bottles produced by Stony Brook. She is amazing as the labels are all in the same position and perfectly straight.
It was a brilliant visit - we, as many Stony Brook lovers, were a little worried when Joy and Nigel left. But the vibes here are all very positive - the new owners seem to care very much for the environment and carry on the wine-making philosophy of the McNaughts.
We are very proud to have had Stony Brook wine on our list for over 10 years and now once we receive our next shipment we will be offering the complete range.
Comments