We love good wine, and sharing good wine with friends and family, but an experience with the aptly named KWV collection titled ‘The Mentors’ is one that you will certainly not forget.
Studying anything from a Mentor is always a great idea, and when it comes to wine drinking, we support this theory 100%! The winemaking team at KWV, under the guidance of wine maker Izele van Blerk realised that the boundary-breaking approach in The Mentors cellar was leading to remarkable terroir-driven wines that deserved their own spot light from the other KWV offerings.
The first wines were bottled in 2006, but it was in 2009 that The Mentors range prepared it’s wings for flight. Although they now produce a staple portfolio of eight wines, the winemaking team have the enviable freedom of pursuing innovative new varietals and blends from every harvest – taking their cue from the vineyards.
The eight permanent offerings are Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Grenache Blanc (our fave here at Sandton Magazine), Grenache Noir, Petit Verdot, Pinotage, Orchestra and Canvas.
The vine is the true muse for this handcrafted range of award winning wines. “The vineyard is crucial. As a winemaker I can’t do anything if I don’t have the best grapes. I have the very rare privilege to be able to go into a wide range of vineyards, to taste the grapes and look at the soil, and decide on the very best grapes to be used specifically for The Mentors,” enthuses van Blerk.
KWV purchases grapes from dozens of producers farming thousands of hectares across the Western Cape winelands, allowing the winemaking team unparalleled access to some of the most interesting sites South Africa has to
offer, some of the best grapes from some of the best vines.
Commitment to quality is of prime importance in The Mentors cellar, with meticulous attention to detail determining everything from pressing time to punch-downs, fermentation approach to barrel selections. If the grapes are not good enough, then they will rather pass on it, than making a wine that is not of the top notch Mentors standard. ‘Anything that stands out, we’ll try and get it in the bottle. But it has to be exceptional” says van Blerk.
Just as the range evolves with each harvest, so 2018 will mark a subtle adjustment of The Mentors packaging, with revamped labelling and a switch from screw cap closures to high-quality cork.
The Mentors tasting experience at the KWV Wine Emporium has also been reimagined, with a duo of tasting journeys on offer.
The KWV Wine Emporium is situated at Kohler Street, Paarl. Find The Mentors range in all good bottle stores and boutique wine shops.
