The Editor meets Colyn Truter and Spencer | The Month June 2012

This month we welcome the contribution of Colyn Truter, a dynamic young wine marketer based in Paarl, whose string of boutique winery clients caught our interest before his love of sport and outspoken views made an impact, particularly as he slipped his first article into The Month ahead of me even introducing him! (which didn’t take that long, to be honest).

Like us, Colyn loves winter and the many wine-drinking opportunities the sunny days and chilly nights offer, not least of which is the Tulbagh Christmas in Winter festival which runs from the 30th of June to the 1st of July - see our What’s On? pages (26 and 27) for the details.

We pinned Colyn down to share just one of the stand out wines that will be on show over the weekend and here’s what he came up with:

Lemberg Estate Spencer 2010
The Lemberg boutique cellar, established in 1978, is located in the heart of the historical valley of Tulbagh
and was known for some time as the smallest in South Africa. Despite growning since then, they’ve kept their intimate focus on maintaining the quality inherited by previous generations, without compromise. 

Lemberg’s soils produced its first Estate Wine, under the watchful eye of proprietor, Henk du Bruyn, from  a single vineyard planted in the early 1990s. Named ‘Spencer’, this 100% Pinotage shows beautiful red fruit and underlying spice that follows through on the dense, yet balanced palate.

The wine’s quality is complemented by a firm and concentrated tannin structure which will allow for further maturation in bottle. The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered after aging for 19 months in a selection of first and second fill French oak barrels.

What’s particularly interesting is that Spencer is bottled in recycled bottles, labelled with tree-free paper, corked with a natural cork and sealed off with natural wax. To add a touch of class Spencer is boxed in a wooden Lemberg box, which adds a tactile dimension to their desire to produce a wine that is close to nature. Everything inside, including the box, is 100% recyclable and total production is only 330 cases of six.

Lemberg will be a keen participant of the Tulbagh Christmas in Winter festival with the release of new estate wines from the 2010 and 2011 vintage, cheese platters and a delicious lunch including soup and a cheese fondue alongside the tasting room’s log fire. 2 000 bottles of the 2010 Estate Spencer, 1 200 bottles of their Estate Pinot Noir from the 2011 vintage and 1 600 bottles of Vine-dried Sauvignon Blanc (made from naturally dried grapes from the oldest vineyards on the farm, dating back to 1980) will be available on the day.

Join the Lemberg team for tastings from 9am-5pm on both the Saturday and Sunday of the festival or lunch from noon-3pm (reservations are essential). Contact the estate on 021 300 1130 for more info.