Villiera was one of the pioneers of Cap Classique in SA, with their highly rated Tradition Brut a firm favourite for celebrations of all kinds, but there’s much more to explore about this Stellenbosch estate, including their range of French wines.
Last week, we started with the everyday Down to Earth wines — the name reflecting both their unpretentiousness and owners the Grier family’s environmental sustainability ethos — but, as they say, wait, there’s more!
The latest addition is a new bubbly, Pearls of Nectar launched last year to meet the booming demand for off-dry/semi-sweet Cap Classique.
Made mostly from Chardonnay grapes and in an elegantly pretty green, white and gold bottle wrap, it’s a great choice for those who enjoy their sparkling wine on the sweeter side, with abundant fruitiness and honeysuckle flavours (R185, Makro).
A little step up from the Down to Earth range, Villiera Chenin Blanc 2022 (R90) nicely balances freshness and richness, tropical fruit with a touch of woody spice.
Half the juice is fermented in oak and the final blend stays on the lees for two months, those elements giving it the structure to pair well with food and also age into rich mellowness over up to five years — but also freshly fruity to enjoy drinking solo on release.
There’s also the Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2022 (R210), Villiera’s most awarded white wine and which regularly sells out to a list of devoted fans, that is so spectacularly special — full-bodied, ripe and complex — that it’s worth joining the estate’s wine club just to have access to it.
In the reds, Villiera Merlot 2020 (R120, Preston’s) impresses with brilliant jewel-like red colour, its lushly fragrant nose with red berries, dark chocolate and herbal notes echoing on the palate backed up with oak spice.
Soft tannins and juiciness make it superbly drinkable now, but there’s ageing potential too.
Villiera has had a specialist focus over several decades on producing high-quality single variety Merlot and its shows in the reserve range Monro Merlot 2020 (R350 from the cellar, so a relative bargain at Prestons in Walmer for R299).
Made from selected older vineyards and matured in oak barrels for 18 months, this is oh-so-plush, the velvety texture encasing a firm tannin backbone.
Worthy of its flagship status, the wine is intensely aromatic, its berry flavours unfolding in layers of complexity with chocolate, vanilla and spice — just gorgeous and likely even better if one has the patience to cellar it away for five to 10 years.
Stellenbosch is Cabernet Sauvignon country and Villiera’s current 2020 vintage (R160, Preston’s) is a classic of intense, ripe dark berries, warm spices and touches of cedar — rich, layered, finely balancing the softness to enjoy now and the structure to age.
The Grier family extended their footprint in 2006 with the purchase of a small vineyard and cellar in the South of France, naming it Domaine Grier.
The wines are sold in Europe as well as exported to SA, and that will continue under the new French ownership of Villiera and Domaine Grier.
The wines, some available at Woolies and Makro and the full range in the Villiera online shop, are well worth seeking out to experience French style in quality wines priced for SA pockets — especially the Domaine Grier Rosé, made in the pale, bone-dry Provencal style that many SA producers are trying to emulate.
Villiera offers tantalising taste of France
Vine Time
Villiera was one of the pioneers of Cap Classique in SA, with their highly rated Tradition Brut a firm favourite for celebrations of all kinds, but there’s much more to explore about this Stellenbosch estate, including their range of French wines.
Last week, we started with the everyday Down to Earth wines — the name reflecting both their unpretentiousness and owners the Grier family’s environmental sustainability ethos — but, as they say, wait, there’s more!
The latest addition is a new bubbly, Pearls of Nectar launched last year to meet the booming demand for off-dry/semi-sweet Cap Classique.
Made mostly from Chardonnay grapes and in an elegantly pretty green, white and gold bottle wrap, it’s a great choice for those who enjoy their sparkling wine on the sweeter side, with abundant fruitiness and honeysuckle flavours (R185, Makro).
A little step up from the Down to Earth range, Villiera Chenin Blanc 2022 (R90) nicely balances freshness and richness, tropical fruit with a touch of woody spice.
Half the juice is fermented in oak and the final blend stays on the lees for two months, those elements giving it the structure to pair well with food and also age into rich mellowness over up to five years — but also freshly fruity to enjoy drinking solo on release.
There’s also the Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2022 (R210), Villiera’s most awarded white wine and which regularly sells out to a list of devoted fans, that is so spectacularly special — full-bodied, ripe and complex — that it’s worth joining the estate’s wine club just to have access to it.
In the reds, Villiera Merlot 2020 (R120, Preston’s) impresses with brilliant jewel-like red colour, its lushly fragrant nose with red berries, dark chocolate and herbal notes echoing on the palate backed up with oak spice.
Soft tannins and juiciness make it superbly drinkable now, but there’s ageing potential too.
Villiera has had a specialist focus over several decades on producing high-quality single variety Merlot and its shows in the reserve range Monro Merlot 2020 (R350 from the cellar, so a relative bargain at Prestons in Walmer for R299).
Made from selected older vineyards and matured in oak barrels for 18 months, this is oh-so-plush, the velvety texture encasing a firm tannin backbone.
Worthy of its flagship status, the wine is intensely aromatic, its berry flavours unfolding in layers of complexity with chocolate, vanilla and spice — just gorgeous and likely even better if one has the patience to cellar it away for five to 10 years.
Stellenbosch is Cabernet Sauvignon country and Villiera’s current 2020 vintage (R160, Preston’s) is a classic of intense, ripe dark berries, warm spices and touches of cedar — rich, layered, finely balancing the softness to enjoy now and the structure to age.
The Grier family extended their footprint in 2006 with the purchase of a small vineyard and cellar in the South of France, naming it Domaine Grier.
The wines are sold in Europe as well as exported to SA, and that will continue under the new French ownership of Villiera and Domaine Grier.
The wines, some available at Woolies and Makro and the full range in the Villiera online shop, are well worth seeking out to experience French style in quality wines priced for SA pockets — especially the Domaine Grier Rosé, made in the pale, bone-dry Provencal style that many SA producers are trying to emulate.
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