Rijk's Private Cellar

pino trial

Neville — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:12:03 +0000

Elegance, finesse, complexity and concentration of fruit are the hallmarks of the wines of Rijk’s Private Cellar. We produce fine food wines to satisfy the sophisticated palate of wine enthusiasts from around the world.

Rijk’s Private Cellar Pinotage 2007 takes the Trophy. Again.

Chairman of the Trophy Wine Show, Michael Fridjhon announced last week that our Pinotage 2007, just released and awarded 95 points, received the Trophy for the Best Pinotage of the show. 1070 wines were entered in the competition. A Gold Medal is described as “superlative, world class”. Three Pinotage’s are produced at Rijk’s. Pinotage Touch of Oak – lightly wooded with exceptional friut, Pinotage Private Cellar – full bodied and complex, and Pinotage Reserve.

2000	Absa Top 10 Michelangelo International – double gold. Also best wine of the year Veritas – double gold Wine magazine – champion of the year
2001	Absa Top 10
2002	Absa Top 10 Veritas – double gold Michelangelo International – gold Concours de Mondial – trophy winner
2003	Michelangelo International – double gold and Trophy for best pinotage
2004	Absa Top 10 Michelangelo International – gold Swiss Air first class SA Young Wine Show – gold
2005	Absa Top 10 Michelangelo International – gold
2006	Absa Top 10 Michelangelo International – double gold International Wine and Spirits, London - 2009 and 2010 best pinotage in the world Hong Kong International Wine Show - Best South African Red wine
2007	Just released. Wine Magazine - 4½ Stars Trophy Wine Show – 95 points best pinotage

Publication from Trophy Wine Show Book

In Dutch the word ‘rijk’ means rich – a perfect description of how Tulbagh producer Rijk’s Private Cellar has been blessed with the quality produced here. Last year saw Rijk’s celebrate it’s first decade. With owner Neville Dorrington and winemaker Pierre Wahl, this go-getting cellar has notched up many prestigious awards for both reds and whites, showing a distinct versatility and obvious skill across the board.

Last years Trophy Wine Show saw the team winning the Trophy for the Best Chenin Blanc. But it’s our proudly home grown variety, Pinotage which first cemented Rijk’s Private Cellar as a serious contender for SA’s Pinotage crown. Numerous accolades over the years attest to a passion for this variety.

When Dorrington purchased the property he was adamant he would plant Pinotage with the aim of producing a world class food wine. Wahl insists it’s become his favourite variety – with Chenin Blanc and Shiraz.

Wahl travelled to the States to study the Californian’s approach to Pinot Noir – the variety crossed with Cinsaut which together produce this indigenous South African grape. He prefers the use of open fermenters, cold maceration prior to fermentation and malolactic fermentation in barrels.

The fruit for this wine is exclusively from Rijk’s vineyards and was handpicked in the cool of the night to retain freshness and flavour. The result is a wine with a deep ruby red colour. On the nose, expect a complex infusion of cherry and plum. These red fruit aromas carry through to the palate, supported by a full concentration of well integrated tannin and oak.

Wahl recommends one to decant this wine prior to serving and, for those with patience and cellaring capacity, it has 15 or more years of ageing potential. “Reflecting elegance, finesse, complexity and concentrated fruit, this wine embodies the character of the cultivar and our soils, and perfectly represents the hallmarks of Rijk’s Private Cellar wines,” says Wahl.

Having supplemented their Pinotage plantings last year the team is confident that their future, and that of this iconic variety, is looking very rosy indeed.

Written by Sara de villiers.

Pinotage 2007 Trophy Wine Show

Neville — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:05:38 +0000

Rijk’s Private Cellar Pinotage 2007 takes the Trophy. Again.

2000	Absa Top 10 Michelangelo International – double gold. Also best wine of the year Veritas – double gold Wine magazine – champion of the year
2001	Absa Top 10
2002	Absa Top 10 Veritas – double gold Michelangelo International – gold Concours de Mondial – trophy winner
2003	Michelangelo International – double gold and Trophy for best pinotage
2004	Absa Top 10 Michelangelo International – gold Swiss Air first class SA Young Wine Show – gold
2005	Absa Top 10 Michelangelo International – gold
2006	Absa Top 10 Michelangelo International – double gold International Wine and Spirits, London - 2009 and 2010 best pinotage in the world Hong Kong International Wine Show - Best South African Red wine
2007	Just released. Wine Magazine - 4½ Stars Trophy Wine Show – 95 points best pinotage

Publication from Trophy Wine Show Book

Having supplemented their Pinotage plantings last year the team is confident that their future, and that of this iconic variety, is looking very rosy indeed.

Written by Sara de villiers.

Platter 5 Stars Rijk’s Shiraz 2005

Neville — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 03:49:52 +0000

John Platter Wine Guide 5 Star Award – Rijk’s Shiraz 2005

Winemaker Pierre Wahl was most pleased at receiving 5 stars
for our Rijk’s Shiraz 2005 vintage.

Platter’s Wine Guide is regarded as the “bible” of South African wine.

In an interview Pierre commented “Our 2004 vintage received 4.5 stars. And now our latest release 2005 vintage was awarded 5 stars.

It was also the oldest vintage -2005 – wine to receive 5 stars. This confirms that the elegance, finesse, concentration of fruit and consistency in our older vintage wines are much appreciated by wine enthusiasts locally and internationally. The wine was described as “a world class benchmark Shiraz”, and “an ambassador for South African Shiraz”.

All our current vintages received 4, 4½ or 5 Stars

Shiraz 2005
Pinotage touch of oak 2009
Pinotage 2006
Pinotage Reserve 2007
Bravado 2003
Chardonnay Reserve 2007
Chenin Blanc touch of oak 2009
Chenin Blanc 2008
Chenin Blanc Reserve 2007
Fascination 2008

Please view some of our other awards.

Please view our website

Cape Winemakers Guild

Neville — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:30:52 +0000

Rijk’s Private Cellar is proud to announce that our winemaker, Pierre Wahl, had 2 wines selected by the Cape Winemakers Guild for their auction, to be held in Stellenbosch on Saturday 2 October. The wines selected are :
Rijk’s Private Cellar Auction Reserve Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc 2009
and
Rijk’s Private Cellar Auction Reserve Chenin Blanc 2009 – the only Chenin Blanc to be selected for the auction.

No more than two wines may be selected for the auction per winemaker. The CWG Auction wines are crafted exclusively for the auction and are chosen in a blind tasting by members of the Guild to represent the pinnacle of what can be achieved in South African winemaking. This thorough process involving the members of the Guild ensures that every wine boasting the CWG Auction label is a wine of exceptional quality.
Recognized as South Africa’s leading wine auction open to the wine trade and the general public with a turnover of over R5 million, the Guild Auction features an impressive lineup of 39 wines this year – 21 red and 13 white wines – all poised to become rare collector’s items.
Membership of the Guild remains exclusive and winemakers must have been responsible for producing outstanding wines for a minimum of 5 years and must continue to produce excellence to remain a member of the Guild.

Pierre comments with a broad smile “This is great
news. I am a new member of the Guild and to have 2 white wines selected for the first time makes me proud of Rijk’s and the team. I’m looking forward to next year – we have some superb red wines waiting in the barrel.”

View our Current Vintages

Trophy Wine Show

Neville — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 03:59:54 +0000

There are over 650 wine cellars in South Africa.

At the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show Rijk’s Private Cellar

was placed 3rd overall.

One of the two big competitions locally, more than 1000 wines were entered and only 25 received Gold Medals. The judging panel was chaired by Michael Fridjhon and was extremely tough. A Gold is described as “superlative, world class”, Silver as “excellent, wine of distinction” and Bronze as “good to very good, fine character”. Receiving a Silver medal is also highly prized. It is the first time Rijk’s have released our new Chenin Blanc “touch of oak”, a Chenin Blanc Reserve and a Chardonnay Reserve. Fantastic that the judges awarded all these wines Gold or Silver medals. These wines will be released next month but more about that in our next newsletter.

Trophy for Best Chenin Blanc of the Competition

- Rijk’s Chenin Blanc 2009 “with a touch of oak”Gold Medal

- Rijk’s Chardonnay Reserve 2007Silver Medal

- Rijk’s Chenin Blanc Reserve 2007

- Rijk’s Fascination 2008International and local judging panel :

Michael Fridjhon, Dr Tony Jordan, Simon Tam, Alex Hunt, Carrie Adams, Miguel Chan, Christian Eedes, Gary Jordan, Angela Lloyd and Cathy van Zyl.

View some of our other awards.

View our website : www.rijks.co.za

Auto Draft

Neville — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pinotage Reserve 2006

Neville — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 03:38:46 +0000

Three International Awards

Pinotage Reserve 2006

International Wine & Spirits Competition, LondonAwarded for the Best Pinotage

Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Competition

Best South African Red Wine

Michelangelo International Wine Awards

Double gold

Following on the success of Rijk’s Private Cellar Pinotage over the last 9 years, the 2006 vintage was so great that we decided to release our first Pinotage Reserve.This was a big moment for us as the wine had to be “outstanding, world class” as winemaker Pierre said. From the awards received in the last 2 months, it seems we made the right decision. It does not happen very often that a particular wine stands above the rest at three different competitions in three different parts of the world within 2 months. We are extremely proud of this achievement.

This wine will be released in February, 2010. To reserve this wine please click on the below link.

web@rijks.co.za

View some of our other awards.

Michelangelo Wine Awards

Neville — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 01:10:31 +0000

99.6 out of 100

That is the score that 14 International judges awarded to Rijk’s Private Cellar for their Shiraz 2004 Grand Prix Trophy – the Best wine of the Competition – at the 13th Michelangelo International Wine Awards 2009 gala evening in Cape Town last week.

This unique wine competition, regarded as the one in South Africa with the most creditability, relies on the palate of 14 international judges as listed below. A record number of 1502 entries from 263 wine producers were received. Winemaker Pierre Wahl explains, “It is most important for us to understand the international palate as more than half of our wines are exported. These awards confirm that the elegance and finesse in our older vintage wines are much appreciated in our export markets” The judges described the wine as “a world class benchmark Shiraz”, and “an ambassador for South African Shiraz”.

Other awards received were :
Double Gold – Rijks Private Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
Double Gold – Rijk’s Private Cellar Pinotage Reserve 2006
Gold – Pinotage 2005
Gold – Sauvignon Blanc 2007

In the 9 years we have entered the Michelangelo International Awards Competition, Rijk’s have won the Trophy for the best wine of the competition 3 times.

Please view some of our other awards.

Panel of International Judges:
Thierry Sabon – France
Petronello Salvi – France
Sagi Cooper – Israel
Marie Roginska – Poland
Ruben Garcia Franco – Spain
Sue van Wyk – Australia
Argyrios Kallianiotos – Greece
Christine Rudman – South Africa
Hwee Peng Lim – Singapore
Francesco Venerini – Italy
Quentin Sadler – UK
Susana Esteban – Portugal
Herve Lalau – Belgium
Ingrid Adamiker – Austria
Marin Berovic – Slovenia

Please view our website

South African Airways

Neville — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 03:58:00 +0000

It is a great honor to be the only wine cellar to have 4 wines selected by South African Airways for their 2009 international travelers in their most prestigious platinum class.

After 3 days of intensive tastings by the 12 international judges of the almost 1000 wines entered, SAA General Manager Global Sales and Marketing, Nomvula Nkabinde said “ It is a privilege for SAA to carry the chosen wines on board our flights. We trust that customers will enjoy them and that our international guests will talk about them in their countries and be encouraged to take some of our local vintages home with them.”

The two white wines selected are our just released blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, Rijk’s Fascination 2006, and our Rijk’s Chenin Blanc 2007. The two reds wines are Rijk’s Shiraz 2003 and our flagship wine, Bravado 2002. At the awards evening, judge Bennie Howard commented “ It is wonderful that SAA customers will be able to the enjoy older vintage 2003 and 2004 red wines from Rijk’s Private Cellar.”

Elegance, finesse, complexity and concentration of fruit are the hallmarks of the wines of Rijk’s Private Cellar. To view our numerous awards please click here, or visit our website www.rijks.co.za.

Newsletter September, 2009

Neville — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 03:58:42 +0000

Dear friends of Rijk’s Private Cellar,
It’s now mid winter, the snow is on our surrounding mountains and we have already had over 280mm of rain. The rivers are in full flow – and our 3 dams were all overflowing on 18 July – the earliest in 12 years. We have started pruning which should be completed by the end of August – just in time for budburst which we expect will be in the first week of September.

Our new website

Please take a minute to read below about our newly developed website and what it does for you. You will find our site very user friendly and whatever information you require is available to view, download or print. Click here to visit our website.

Special features are:

Order Wine
Local restaurants, wine retail emporiums and importers can now order current and older vintages on-line.

Tasting Notes
Print comprehensive tasting notes of each wine for staff training or your own interest. Read more…

Latest Releases
Be the first to know about all our latest releases. Read more…

Downloads
Print quality bottle and label shots of all current vintages.

Join our Wine Club
Become a member of our wine club. Many of our wines are on allocation only. You will be advised of all new releases well in advance. You may then place orders for these wines and receive them when released. Visit our website for more details. Read more…

Questions
Prompt reply to any email questions. Contact us now.

Special events
Pre-notification of any special restaurant dinners or events at our cellar door
Regular news and invites to special functions and events.

Harvest and Vineyard Reports

Media releases
Be the first to receive our latest media releases.

Please browse our web pages to become more familiar with our new Rijk’s website.

New Releases and Vintage Changes

Bravado 2003

White pepper, coriander spices on the nose from dominant Shiraz percentage.

Click here for Tasting Notes

The Crossing 2005

Dark ruby red colour. Spicy nose with hints of lavender, cinnamon, coriander and red berries in the background

Click here for Tasting Notes

Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Deep red colour, almost black. Complex aromas of black current and liquorice.

Click here for Tasting Notes

Shiraz 2004

This wine has a broad mouth feel, kept fresh by youthful tannins.

Click here for Tasting Notes

Pinotage 2005

These red fruit aromas carry through onto a rich palate supported by a good concentration of tannin and oak which is well integrated.

Click here for Tasting Notes

Fascination 2007

Intense green asparagus to grassy nose – typical for a cooler vintage.

Click here for Tasting Notes

Chardonnay 2005

Deep gold colour . Pine nut aromas dominate the nose with underlying naartjie-vanilla combinations.

Click here for Tasting Notes

Chenin Blanc 2007

Goldish colour. Complex yellow fruit nose with hints of pine nut and honeysuckle. These aromas are well supported by a nutty presence which originate from the use of quality oak.

Click here for Tasting Notes

Sauvignon Blanc 2007

This aromatic wine has complex aromas of pineapple, green fig and pomegranate on the nose, asparagus aromas should come to the fore after some ageing.

Click here for Tasting Notes

New Reserve wines

In October we will be releasing our first reserve wines. A Chenin Blanc 2007 Reserve, a Pinotage 2006 Reserve, and a Chardonnay 2007 Reserve. Only 3000 bottles were made of each.

Please click here to mail us if you would like to secure these wines prior to being released.

Please feel free to copy and send this newsletter link to a friend.

OUR PEOPLE

Neville Dorrington	Owner / Viticulturist / Exports	neville@rijks.co.za
Teresa Moffat	Company Secretary / Exports	wine@rijks.co.za
Pierre Wahl	Winemaker	pierre@rijks.co.za
Paul Turnbull	Sales Manager – Cape	paul@rijks.co.za
Teri Nunn	Sales Manageress – Gauteng	teri@rijks.co.za
Lucilia Turner	Cellar sales and Wine Club	wineclub@rijks.co.za
Boet Eddy	Farm Manager
Andre Bruyns	Assistant Winemaker


Neville and Teresa	Pierre	Paul

Teri	Andre	Boet

Lucilia	All our loyal and dedicated vineyard people