South Africa - Western Cape - Darling

Darling is the flower of the west coast with golden wheat fields in summer, burnished vineyards in autumn, rich verdant hills littered with grazing cattle and vast fields of Arum lilies in winter. Oh yes, the wild flowers in spring are mind boggling in their beauty (they are protected by law and may not be picked).

Darling was named after Charles Henry Darling, a British Governor who came to the Cape in 1851 and founded the farm Langfontein in 1853.

The Darling district reaps the rewards of the Benguela Current which brings cool breezes sweeping in from the Southern Oceans. This helps the grapes retain good fruit acidity meaning that Sauvignon Blanc really shines here. Reds also do well as gaining highish alcohol levels is not a problem as the acidity nicely balances this out.

Sauvignon Blanc, Groenekloof, 2006 Neil Ellis, Darling

Predominant flavours are those of tropical fruit with herbaceous overtones, whilst the overall impression is of elegance and delicacy with a long flavoursome finish. Neil Ellis Wines differs from most South African wineries in that instead of owning vineyards they focus on producing the best wines possible and sourcing the grapes from top quality growers. Today most of their grapes come from three main vineyard sites: Oude Nektar Farm in Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch; Contreberg Farm in Groenekloof, Darling and the Whitehall farm in Elgin. Recognizing the unique quality of the grapes from the Groenekloof ward, in 1996 Neil Ellis Wines entered into a partnership with Alex Versveld to farm the 120ha Contreberg farm which is the source of their Groenekloof Sauvignon Blanc. Groenekloof is situated near Darling on the West Coast and here the hills rise to 385 metres above sea level. The vineyards are only 8 km from the cold Southern Atlantic with its cool prevailing southwesterly winds. Soils are deep, red, decomposed granite and produce lively, complex Sauvignon Blanc wines. This area has particularly consistent weather. APERITIF/FISH/SHELLFISH/SALADS