A walk in the clouds – stay at Jordan Wine Estate

Jordan, The Wine Samarie

Words: Samarie Smith, WSETDip

February 7, 2022

There are exciting things happening at Jordan Wine Estate in Stellenbosch. The Cellar Door Experience @ Jordan welcomes you through an imitation of a barrel into the wine and culinary heart of the estate. From Monday to Sunday, you can have anything from Eggs Benedict to Burgers and Bagels all day long and escape from the heat under the lush trees. If you plan on doing a wine tasting here, you need to try the Flammkuchen. The awarded Jordan Restaurant is also changing direction, but let’s keep you in suspense for a little longer and hero the wine and accommodation in this article.

Jordan has supported MarriedTwoWine since its inception and allowed us to explore their wines with our own take on food and wine pairing. So, it was time to visit the estate, taste through the range of wines and stay the night in one of their luxury suites.

We started the tasting by their downstairs tasting centre with a glass of their Cap Classique from the Reserve Range. Now only in its 2nd vintage (the first being from the 2015), this was the first time that both Georgio and myself tasted the Jordan Méthode Cap Classique Blanc de Blancs 2017 (R365). The bubbly exudes a citrus brioche character, having spent 36 months on the lees with white floral aromas, yellow stone fruit and the intensity of preserved lemon. The bubbly’s integrity is shaped with a creamy lemon curd texture on the palate. A super-fine mousse highlights the slaty and mouthwatering acidity that chisels the bubbly even more, leaving a pithy, tart texture reminiscent of Champagne.

“On our return, the Wonderbag awaited us on the patio with our dinner. These handmade shweshwe bags can keep food hot for eight hours, affording us time to sink into the patio chairs and enjoy a glass of bubbly as the mist settled in for a romantic ambience.”

But let us focus on the Estate Range for now.

Sauvignon Blanc lovers can look forward to two different styles. The Cold Fact Sauvignon Blanc 2021 (R125) remains a favourite for summer. It pays homage to the album film ‘Searching for Sugar Man” from singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriques, a favourite of the winemaker Sjaak Nelson. It also plays on the cold soak technique they use to extract flavour from the skins of the ripest Sauvignon Blanc grapes – their search for sugar man. As a result, the wine has a ripe and juicy green fig character with a crystalline freshness. The Jordan Outlier Sauvignon Blanc 2021 (R139) has a 60% oak component adding some weight to the wine with an exotic bouquet of vanilla, almond, mace and cinnamon. Therefore, more voluminous but also fresh and vibrant.

I love Riesling and named the Jordan Real McCoy Riesling 2021; there is nothing to fault. Made from Weiser Riesling and a German clone, hence the name, it announces itself with those dusty lanolin aromas with a rich and aromatic pear and litchi perfume. The wine is slaty and linear on the palate, refreshing and inviting an array of dishes to pair with it.

Jordan’s Inspector Péringuey Chenin Blanc 2021 (R139), a standout for Georgio,  is named after Louis Albert Péringuey, the 19th Century Inspector-General of Vineyards in the Cape, who led the fight against phylloxera. The wine is made from the oldest vines on the property, tamer in acidity than the previous wines, but loved for its expressive apricot and nectarine flavours.

Over to Chardonnay, there is an unoaked and a lightly oaked style to choose from. The Jordan unoaked Chardonnay 2021  rewards you with plush pineapple and cinnamon flavours, begging for an Indonesian spice pork wrap with grilled pineapple. The Jordan Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2020 (R220) justifies its higher price tag with more time spent in the cellar tending to the detail where oak is involved. Rolling the barrels drives a richer mouthfeel, introducing more secondary aromas from nine months in oak. A saline aftertaste adds a vibrant lift to the wine.

Red wine lovers will have a blast with three exceptional and diverse reds in the estate range. The Jordan Prospector Syrah 2020 (R190) emits an inviting medley of sandalwood, cinnamon, tealeaf, red fruit and soft candy backed with juicy tannin. The Black Magic Merlot (R190) seems a bit tighter with an intense fruit core veiled with a cooler, dried herb character. The Jordan Long Fuse Cabernet Sauvignon was a standout for me – born from granite boulders blown up to plant vines here. I have to say it was well worth the long fuse as the wine has a long, persistant finish too – paved with fruit density, polished tannin and a savoury tone adding luminosity to the fruit.

Stay in luxury

 

Settling on a bottle of Cap Classique and Chenin Blanc, we headed over to check into one of their luxury suites for the night. It was easy to feel at home in a spacious flow from the bedroom to the lounge and the bathroom. The bathtub with eco-friendly products looked super inviting, but first, it was time for a vineyard stroll. By now, it was 4 pm and the mist was descending into the valley, embracing the vines after a hot day. Suddenly, the temperatures dropped, and one could see why the Stellenbosch Kloof is known for cooler temperatures forged by coastal fog and cool breezes. We we litterally embraced in cloud nine!

On our return, the Wonderbag awaited us on the patio with our dinner. These handmade shweshwe bags can keep food hot for eight hours, affording us time to sink into the patio chairs and enjoy a glass of bubbly as the mist settled in for a romantic ambience.

Dinner was delicious, and the beef short rib cooked to perfection, and we stayed out until the last bit of daylight seeped into the horison. We can only imagine what a winters eve must be like, lighting the fire and snuggling up for a movie, only to wake up surrounded by vines. Even though we are fortunate to live in the Winelands, this picture never gets old. But the opportunity to spoil yourself away from home with all the finer details of plush bathrobes and slipping into Egyptian cotton is well worth it.

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