Bon Courage Estate Dry Gewurztraminer

Neatly tucked between the life-sustaining waters of the Breede River and the impressive Langeberg mountain range lies Bon Courage Wine Estate. This prestigious award-winning family-run estate has been the recipient of many awards and received wide acclaim both locally and internationally for its wines and is truly a versatile estate. The history of the estate goes back to 1927 when the Bruwers bought the farm. It was in October 1983 that owner, Andre Bruwer changed the farm's name from Goedemoed to the French translation, Bon Courage, in honour of their French ancestors, and registered Bon Courage as an Estate. Due to the estate's diversity of soils, a wide range of grape varietals can thrive on the farm and they have therefore put much effort into matching the correct cultivar to the ideal soil type. Bon Courage is highly respected for its ability to produce a diverse collection of award-winning wines across the board, in terms of cultivars, styles and price-points, all offering consistency in quality. Three generations of the Bruwer family have dedicated their lives to the production of premium wines and today they combine their experience, personal attention and love for wine to produce some of the country´s finest wines.

Gewurztraminer,

These wines truly form the heart of the Bon Courage Estate, identified by their elegance, consistency in quality and intense fruit flavours.

The grapes were harvested at full ripeness 23 - 24° Balling. Skin contact for 3-5 hour. After fermentation the wine was kept on the lees for 3 weeks.

An aromatic dry white, softly spiced on the nose with hints of flowery rose petals. Full and complex wine with a spicy dry finish.

Delicious when paired with spicy dishes, in particular Thai or fusion cuisine.

Nolan - Text from the Spotlight On The White Wines of South Africa blog.

For our final show case white wine, we head back over to the Breede River Valley, this time to the Eastern end in Robertson. Robertson is known for producing big, gutsy red wines but I have found they also produce some fantastic white and sparkling wines from the cooler South facing slopes here too. The fizz produced here is so good, it has a blog all of its own which you can visit here.

Bon Courage estate make some beautiful wines, but they are generally more conventional in style. I have chosen this particular bottle as it is one of my all-time favourite grapes which is also a rarity in South Africa. The grape is so rare here, that South Africa it doesn’t even get a single percentage in the ranking of Gewurztraminers global plantings.

Gewutz is another pink skinned varietal but unlike Grenache Gris, this one is ancient. Gewurtz is thought to be the aromatic mutation of an obscure grape called either Roter Traminer or Savagnin Rose and is thought to originate in what is now South-Western Germany.

When grown in wetter climates, Gewurztraminer is susceptible to rot, noble rot such as botrytis is often encouraged in places such as Alsace or Germany, this leaves some residual sweetness in the wine. Gewurztraminer has thick skins, and with that pink hue, can gain noticeable tannin and astringency. This astringency is usually balanced with the residual sugar to produce a deliciously unctuous wine, Gewurtz is known for its highly expressive aromatics of lychee and roses so the sweetness just goes hand in hand. A touch of sweetness in a wine can be great but you have to be in the mood for it. In their drier climate, Bon Courage has produced a fully dry Gewurztraminer, this is the only one we stock which is fully dry.

The grapes are hand-picked to avoid getting damaged, thereby avoiding the clear juice coming into contact with the perforated skins which would lead to colour and tannin extraction. Similarly, in the winery, the team at Bon courage has taken great care to minimise and more skin contact than they need, 3-5 hours skin under temperature control is all that is permitted.

The result is an aromatic dry white, softly spiced on the nose with hints of flowery rose petals. Full and complex on the palate with a spicy dry finish. Due to the lack of sugar, this is a wine I would quite happily sit back and drink by itself on a sunny day, pairing wise, it will still work wonderfully with all the Asian foods that Gewurztraminer is famously good with.

I’d suggest a Keralan style curry packed with coconut, careful on the spice levels though!