On Wednesday 2 July, we were invited to get to know both "Mr Malan" and his Simonsig wines. The Simonsig winery near Stellenbosch in South Africa is a family business now in its 9th generation. Simonsig means "sight of the Simon mountain" (see picture). The tasting was organized by a Flemish-South African couple: Geert Hoebrechts and Hanani Pinaer. Hanani is a former SA journalist, who, later, went to study medicine and came to Leuven in Belgium to specialize in gynaecology. Besides that, she is a gentle wine fanatic, who used to write about wine before, and now wants to promote wines from her country, especially Simonsig.

Our Mister Malan was nobody else but the marketing manager Peter Malan himself. He directs the winery, together with his brothers Johan (winemaker) and François (responsible for the 256 ha of vines!). Their father - Frans Malan - see picture - was the true pioneer of the house. The first ever SA sparkling was made by him back in 1972. He called it "Kaapse vonkel" or "sparkling from the Cape", and since then, the house has won several medals for this product. Five years later, Frans introduced the first 100% Chardonnay wine. But possibly, he will be remembered especially for his energetic promotion of typical SA-blends, always based on a large percentage of Pinotage plus Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Pinotage, as we know, is the original SA hybrid of Pinot Noir with Cinsault (erroneously called "Hermitage"). Pieter Malan soon won the hearts of the 20 or so tasters present by telling the story of Simonsig in his unique humouristic format. Some of his sayings: "wood is the last blow you can deal a wine" (meaning: exaggerated use of oak kills the wine); "Do you knwo what we mean when we say ABC?" "That's the alphabet" "No, we mean Anything but Chardonnay". "Why does a winemaker plant roses at the end of a row of vines?" "No, not for early detection of mildew, nor for the beauty of the flower, but for the purpose of warning plowing horses that they have reached the end of a row, and have to turn to the next one..."

In between, Mr Malan also mentioned the fact that the winery harbours some 30 black families, who get board and housing, and with edarly schooling possibilities for the children. We have seen this in a number of SA wineries while visiting the country.

On that summery evening, we got to taste nearly the whole upper range of Simonsig wines: from the "vonkelwijn", over Sauvignong Blanc and Chardonnay, down to the red treasures of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and the Frans Malan Rserve (a blend).  Only one was missing here, the well-known "Tiara" - which we will taste soon.

Below are our tasting notes. The conclusion can only be this: we get solid quality in the glass with fresh herblike sparkling, elegant fresh fruity whites and broad spectre, deep and rich reds. The wines may not be cheap, yet Stellenbosch quality deserves a price. In Belgium, one can get the wines at the following address: