Fancy bumping into the winemaker Kayla Oertle-Morse on visiting the Rupert and Rothschild wine estate last week. What a delightful and talented young lady! It must’ve been our lucky day because head chef Adrian Hadlow and pastry chef xxx made time to chat about their offering for the season despite having a busy restaurant on their hands. Taking immense pride in their work that helps showcase the estate wines, they did so in such a joyful fashion that I am sure one could taste it in their food.

Driving into the estate on the road shadowed with lush trees and immaculate surrounding gardens, one can already experience the sophisticated space created by two legacies, a confluence of two worlds built on class and tradition. The tasting centre is a tranquil space that includes nature through big open doors. Custom-made oak furniture spills out on the deck to extend the restaurant that flows out from the tasting room. The doors were wide open to savour a beautiful day in the winelands.

Chef Hadlow opted on serving the braised pork belly, pork crackling, textures of carrot, aniseed and tuile de pan to pair with the Rupert and Rothschild Baron Edmund 2017. But, in the same breath, he was excited to also plate the 74% Valrhona dark chocolate tart with a blackberry Baron Edmund sorbet to show just how profoundly a wine of this stature can blossom with an array of dishes, whether sweet or savoury.

His face lit up upon presenting the pork belly, adorned with different carrot elements perked up to add height to the dish and crowned with dainty tuiles adding texture and finesse. Sourced from their gardens and surrounding farms, he managed to weave in some nostalgia with the bright colours of carrot. Yet, at the same time, his professional eye executed it with so much flair, elevating these humble ingredients.

If one could personify this classic Bordeaux blend, it would not be a male or a female but a sophisticated couple making heads turn without being flamboyant but unfaltering in any company they keep. And that is what is achieved through the magic of blending.

The wine is intense as expected from a blend of Merlot 70%, 

Cabernet Franc 13%, Cabernet Sauvignon 12%, and Malbec 5%.

Led by Merlot, it exudes a bouquet of red fruit like mulberry and red plum, underpinned with darker broody fruit. Championing Merlot also adds a natural brightness and aery quality to the wine. It all makes sense when you take the first sip and feel how it tiptoes over your palate, not heavy, not robust, but still authoritative.   

Adding to its elegance is a lavender perfume dusted with dark chocolate, cinnamon, cedar. It also has that archetypal Bordeaux note of dark fruit and forest floor to broaden its shoulders. The wine engulfs your palate like a liquid melange of cherries, both fruit and oak tannin chiselling out the dimensions of this wine.

So gently, the wine coats your palate with a porcelain texture, its concentration adding a long finish. Pork belly lovers will enjoy how the crunchy element of crackling excites the palate, while the cool undertone of the wine makes the richness thereof less overwhelming. But it’s the Valrhona chocolate tart that took the win for us here – an exquisite combination of an excellent red blend celebrating Merlot and hands down the best chocolate tart we’ve ever tasted. The right size, the right amount of bitterness and then that bold addition of a super tart and pithy sorbet. We loved it, and so did the wine.

Gallery of our experience.

All images copyright Samarie Smith and/or the featured estate.