In the Tasting room: Leopards Leap

Its Bastille weekend and myself and my sidekick, Nicky, are doing what we do best over the 14th of July weekend... Drinking wine! This time of year finds us doing our annual pilgrimage into the usually sleepy village of Franschhoek. It's a weekend of good wine, good food and French flair. 

One of my favourite spots is Leopards Leap. They have recently added 'Restaurant' to their repertoire and I was keen for a peek around. We actually ended up summoning the family from Cape Town to come and join us at the Rotisserie for lunch but more about that later...

Back to the tasting room. We opted to start with the cheese and wine pairing (obviously!) and were treated to two of the Leopards leap range wines paired perfectly with some French cheeses. 

The Chardonnay was paired with a fancy pants French goats cheese called Sainte-Maure de Touraine. This is a full aft goats cheese rolled in vegetable ash to preserve it. The creamy texture of the cheese was beautifully balanced by the Chardonnay. A match made in Heaven!

Next we tasted the Leopard's Leap Shiraz paired with a hard style French cheese called Comte. Similar to a Gruyere, this cheese has a lovely nutty flavour. It was well complimented by the Shiraz. 

Another addition to the Leopards leap family is the Culinaria Collection of wines. Slightly more premium that their Flagship range, these wines were perfectly crafted to be enjoyed with food. Each as unique, flavorsome and full bodied as the last, there are 6 wines in this range. The Culinaria Collection is available exclusively at Leopard’s Leap Family Vineyards

Culinaria Brut MéTHODE CAP CLASSIQUE- Zesty and crisp with citrus aromas.

2012 Culinaria Chenin Blanc Grenache Blanc- Loire style- creamy with white peach and pineapple on the nose.

2012 Culinaria Pinot Noir Chardonnay-Soft and subtle, and excellent 'food'wine.

2010 Culinaria Grand Vin-Bordeaux style red, blackberries and cherries with a nutmeg, caramel tones.

2010 Culinaria Shiraz Grenache-Black pepper and cherries, smokey finish- Delicious with red meat.

Culinaria Muscat de Frontignan-Rose water and turkish delight. Soft and delicate. The perfect partner to smoked salmon.

 

We bought a bottle of each! 

(recipes and food pairing ideas to follow soon)