2019 Benguela Cove 'Lighthouse Moody Lagoon'

South African winery Benguela Cove is located in the Walker Bay wine district belonging to the Cape South Coast wine region of the Western Cape.

Directly on the Atlantic Ocean, a quiet lagoon lies at the mouth of the Botrivier, just outside Hermanus, the place to spot whales in South Africa. There, on the east bank of the Botrivier, is the Benguela Cove winery, with 62 hectares of vineyards. In 2013, Penny Streeter OBE bought the then somewhat languishing vineyards and turned them into an extraordinarily successful winery.

At just 2.7 m above sea level, this is a distinctly cool terroir: the prevailing south-east sea breeze is cooled by the Benguela current, which comes directly from Antarctica. This makes this part of South Africa unique in terms of viticulture: the ripening grapes cool considerably at night, there is more than enough rainfall and ripening lasts a long time here, guaranteeing perfectly fresh and very refined wines.

Johann Fourie is the award-winning and highly experienced winemaker at Benguela Cove. He describes his passion for his work in this 'cool climate' part of South Africa as follows: "My wines reflect the cool climate. They offer 'Old World' minerality and length with a touch of 'New World' fruit and mouthfeel."

Moody Lagoon is the nickname of the Bot lagoon, on which Benguela Cove is located, and refers to the ever-changing conditions at the site. Sourced from various slopes, with soils of clay, quartz and shale. composed of: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Merlot. Each grape variety is vinified separately: this allows the finest characteristics to be best expressed. Fermentation lasts 6 days, during which the must is regularly sprayed over the skins. The apple-lactic fermentation takes place in wooden barrels. The wine enjoys 18 months of aging in French oak, 25% of which are new barrels.

Flavour description

The aroma of this beautiful South African already indicates that it is a serious wine of pleasure. On the one hand, it shows deep dark fruit and cedar notes. But it is also floral and gives uplifting fruit of sour cherries. The wine is concentrated on the palate, but without hard angular edges. It is juicy and rich at the same time. The orange edge makes the wine unpalatable, but it remains a tough dark wine.

Application

Serve this wine preferably slightly cooler than would be expected of such a wine. Serve it in a bordeaux glass at 14 degrees. The wine is juicy enough for it. The wine then remains nicely energetic and uplifting. How nice it would be that when you are watching a film and you drink this wine, you don't fall asleep on the sofa halfway through.

Wine and food

It is a wine that can be enjoyed wonderfully as an after-dinner bottle, both in spring and autumn. It goes beautifully with a piece of roast or smoked meat. And when there's an oriental twist to the meat, you'll make the wine totally happy with it. It will also go well with Dutch cuisine, think of dishes like draadjesvlees and Hachee.

Contact

If you want more of this wine, contact Monk drinks

Email