At the recent South African National Freedom Day celebrations in Bangkok, of course South African wine was offered to the guests. All wines came from Anura Vineyards. I had never heard of this winery. The logo on the bottles carries a frog in the oval picture, therefore I guessed that this might be the meaning of “Anura”, and so it should be as I found out later from the Anura website.
The vineyards cultivates about 120 ha of vines and uses about 800 tonnes of fruit annually for its premium blends. Tymen and jenny Bouma are the owner-operators of the estate. The vineyard is located in Klapmuts, about 50 km North-East of Cape Town.
I had the chance to taste the following wines:
– Anura Pinotage, very nice, round and smooth (Top 10, ABSA Pinotage Award 2008)
– Anura Sauvignon Blanc, takes time to get used to, but after that very unusual white (Best Value 2009, Wine Magazine Best Value Awards)
– Anura Merlot, loads of red and black fruit, a hint of chocolate, medium-bodied (2004 vintage won two gold medals at Veritas Awards 2007)
– Anura Cabernet Sauvignon, a nice medium-bodied Cabsav, earthly and fruity (2004 vintage won silver at Veritas Awards 2007)
– Anura Syrah/Mourvedre, very unusual blend for me, powerful combination, spicy (2005 vintage won bronze at Veritas Awards 2007).
I might have tasted some others but cannot recollect the rest. The evening was just too wonderful with the performance of the three singers called “Three tons of fun”. The Ambassador and his wife danced and so did we. I wish more national days would be celebrated the South African way.
The Man from Mosel River 