Peter has long thought that Nadia is a bit of a miracle worker. Cellarmaster at Waterkloof, she manages to make delicious, balanced South African wines that express their grape varieties well, with wild yeast ferments, minimal intervention and all the other hippy things you want AND are affordable!
Cate asked Nadia about the six wines that changed her life...
Wine 1 - 2006 Cordoba Crescendo This was one of the first red wines which my Dad opened for me while I was studying winemaking. The balance was great, and it made me start to appreciate the cooler slopes of the Helderberg where I find myself now.
Wine 2 - 2004 The Talley from Balnaves of CoonawarraOne of the wineries where I was fortunate enough to work at in Australia. The winemaker then, Pete Bissell, is a very knowledgeable winemaker. His attention to detail and passion for the vineyard was infections. This is one of the wines that I was able to enjoy with him and which I will never forget.
Wine 3 - 1984 Chablis Grand Cru, Valmur, from Domaine Vocoret & Fils -This wine I had in 2007 when it was already 23 years of age. It showed me the beauty of how well low well-crafted white wines can age. I am a huge Burgundy fan, and this wine made me extremely excited to also produce wines with this ageability.
Wine 4 - 2009 Charmes Chambertin from Domaine Pierre Bouree Fils - As elegant a wine as you can get. This wine had me going back to my glass and enjoying it over a long period of time. I was also fortune enough to work at this winery and truly appreciated their approach to minimum intervention in both the vineyards as well as the winery.
Wine 5 - 2009 Domaine Richaud L’Ebrescade It is no secret that I get giddy over a well-made Rhône red. Domaine Richaud it one of my favourite producers in Cairanne. They pick their grapes at the perfect time and harnesses the freshness really well on their wines.
Wine 6 - 2020 Waterkloof Syrah We made this wine during interesting and exciting times for me, and I will always treasure that. Interesting and scary because of the pandemic. Exciting as it was the year that our little girl (Klara) was born. This Syrah is a great representation of what can be achieved with natural ways of farming as well as minimum intervention wine. I am very proud of this wine as it shows beautiful layers, balance and elegance.
If you could share only one of these with three people, real or fictional, living or dead, which would it be, and who would they be?
I would share the Charme Chambertin as I would give anything to enjoy this wine again. The person whom I would like to share it with would be Robin Williams. He was firstly an incredible actor and secondly, I admired the work he did among the soldiers in Iraq (to cheer them up) and just all the difference he made in people’s lives. Plus, I think that it would be a very fun lunch with lots of laughs.
