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F L A G S T O N E C A P S U L E
November Newsletter
Hi everyone,
I received this email recently:
Dear Flagstone,
I shared a couple of bottles of your red wine called In Cahoots with a few girlfriends yesterday. We were trying to enjoy a braai, but this was impossible because of the English summer. When the drizzle came down we headed inside and left the motley crew of South African boys to battle the elements. It never ceases to amaze me how dying coals and unbraaied meat can elicit such panic in a pack of our young bucks!
It was the sort of day that made you pine for home, for the sparkling sea and warm sand, for friends who know what you mean when you say: that's lekker! and of course for good wine and properly braaied meat!
I found your wine in our local Oddbins store and bought it on the enthusiastic recommendation of an Aussie shop assistant! So we pulled the cork on one and before we knew it we had flattened the bottle, and a remarkable thing was happening. The sun came out, the boys managed to save the braai, so national pride was restored and later we watched the Boks win the tri-nations rugby.
Perhaps it was co-incidence, but the girls and I discussed it at length and we all agreed your wine cures homesickness! I've known this for a while. Anyway, as we say in London, it was really lekker! Thanks and keep it up.
Kind regards,
Rebecca Fort
I guess you don't need more of a recommendation than that. Thanks, Rebecca. One of our philosophies is called mom's egg and bacon rule.
Mom's egg and bacon rule is all about the process. You can eat at the finest, most celebrated restaurant in the world, and be charmed by the experience. But when you've been away from home and you are hungry and your mom makes you something as simple as egg and bacon, it can taste so good it overwhelms you. This is because she made it with love. That's what we strive to do at Flagstone; to pour love and care into our work. If, as a result of this, our wine has sent a bit of joy into the world we are doing our job.
Special Private Client Club Offer
 This monthís special white wine offer is our Jack & Knox Frostline Chardonnay. Big brother to the Riesling, this wine is from a very special vineyard that is over 1000m above sea level in the spectacular Swartberg mountains about 700km drive east of Cape Town - one of the most easterly vineyards in South Africa. To access the vineyards you can drive up the Meiringspoort Pass or up the Swartberg Mountain Pass. The latter is my preferred route. It was built between 1883 and 1886 by our most famous engineer, Thomas Bain. It is visually addictive - so beautifully improbable, like the winding road up to a Princess's cloud-veiled castle.
Frost is a constant threat during the growing season because of the plummeting temperatures at night, but of course this also means there is the reward of intense flavours, high natural acidity and more balanced, quicker phenolic ripening.
This wine has just won silver at the Veritas awards. It is barrel fermented and then spent nine months in barrel in contact with the lees. Some of the barrels went through wild ferment and this lends a wonderful buttery popcorn aspect to the nose. The wood is well integrated, with notes of pineapple and pine nuts combined with fresh lime rind.
There is a broad creaminess on the palate. The citrus character is prominent, although there is a slight popcorn nuttiness that follows through from the nose. The wood is not overpowering, leaving a crisp finish that lingers long after the first sip.
This wine would compliment the slight spiciness of a Moroccan Tangine very well.
Frostline Chardonnay is R90.00 delivered
 As a result of Rebeccaís email, The Red we are offering as a special this month is our Flagstone Strata Series In Cahoots Merlot & Pinotage 2001. The Merlot grapes come from Anthony Rawbone-Viljoenís cool vineyard in Elgin, while the Pinotage is from old, dry-grown gnarly bushvines in Paarl (identity a secret!). It is available at R48.50 per bottle, delivered free in all our metropolitan areas. The wine has won many awards and accolades over the last two years, most importantly the email above.
We have 3 sets of tickets (selling for R80pp) to give away for the Helderberg Wine Route Classics Festival to the first customers to place an order on the above wines. This promises to be a great day for all (children are free), with lots of activities. Flagstone and many other estates will be available to taste and purchase and the evening culminates with an open-air twilight concert. Saturday 20th November from 10:00.
> For more details contact Sarah on 021 852 5052.
Flagstone Events
Few of our Capsule Club members know that we are benefactors of the Cape Town Philharmonia Choir. Flagstone wines are available before the performance and during interval. We think the wine/music match works very well. For the first time since 1997, the Philharmonia Choir of Cape Town is performing Mendelssohn's great oratorio, Elijah, in Cape Town in November. Details of the performances are as follows:
Mendelssohn's Elijah
Cape Town City Hall
Friday 5 November & Sunday 7 November
Conductor - Dr Donald Hunt
Soloists - Angela Gilbert, Violina Anguelov, Mlamli Lalapantsi and Abel Moeng.
Prices - booked through Computicket R75, R85 and R105. Preferential bookings and discounts through Anton Kropman email: philchoir@icon.co.za
Best Value Wine Festival
Taking place at Wine Concepts in Kloof Street (as advertised in this monthís Wine Magazine), Flagstone will be featuring the Freerun Sauvignon Blanc 2004, Noon Gun Dry White Blend 2004 and the Semaphore Rose 2004. Wines will be available for tasting and sales. Please contact Lesley to book tickets on 021 530 3201. R40pp before 12 November and R50pp at the door. This includes a tasting glass and a copy of the Best Value Wine Guide 2005.
Vanilla Cafe Presents Sundower, Lunch and Elite Picnic baskets.
If you are living in Cape Town or just visiting, let Vanilla Cafe compliment that special evening sundowner, day on the beach, drive to the point or any number of out door activities around our stunning Western Cape. Featuring Flagstone wines.
Phone Dawn or Jason at 021.4617868
Flagstone Wines in the News
The Flagstone Music Room Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 has just won a very rare Double Gold medal at the South African Veritas Awards.
We have recently joined the Stellenbosch Wine Route and are in the process of building a tasting facility at the Cellar in Somerset West. This means that we will be happy to receive visitors to sample our range from December. Watch this space!
Matthew Jukes, with arguably the most read annual wine book in the UK, has recommended no less than 4 Flagstone wines in his latest edition of The Wine List (250 of the best wines available in the UK). The four listed are:
Flagstone Noon Gun 2004
Flagstone BK5 Organic Pinot Noir 2003
Flagstone The Last Word Port 2002
Jack & Knox The Outsider Shiraz 2002
Last month Decanter Magazine rated the Jack & Knox Frostline Riesling one of the top 20 wines from South Africa. And the influential Sara Basra, now assistant editor of a new magazine called Fine Wine awarded a coveted and extremely rare 5 stars award to The Berrio Sauvignon Blanc 2003.
Peace, Light, Happiness and a glass or two of Flagstone,
Bruce
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