Fall in Love with Du Toitskloof Wines
Written by Tshepang Molisana | Images by Jenna-Leigh Storey
On February 14, the world as we know it is painted red with the sentiments of St. Valentine. There is no definitive agreement on the history of the legend of St. Valentine. However, this inspired saint is the source of inspiration for a global holiday, dedicated to romantic love.
One of three saints named Valentine, was a third century Roman priest who defiantly performed marriages for young lovers after Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for young men. Perhaps Claudius was bound to become to patron saint of bachelorhood when he decided that single young men were more preferential soldiers than men with wives and familial commitments. When Claudius discovered Valentine’s secret matriarchal mischief, he ordered that he be put to death.
The other two saints recognized by the Catholic Church under the name Valentine or Valentinus were equally defiant. Valentine might have been a saint who helped Christians to escape the tyranny and torture of the Roman prison system. Alternatively, an imprisoned Valentine signed a letter to a young girl who was thought to be his jailor’s daughter. The lovestruck lothario signed his letter “From your Valentine”, a greeting that is still referred to with fondness today. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentines Day towards the end of the 5th Century. Although the romantic holiday was no longer taboo, it remained shrouded in mystery.
Like the three martyrs dubbed Valentine, consider three Du Toitskloof’s Wines that represent passion, compassion and tenderness.
How to Write a Valentine in 14 Days
Du Toitskloof Chenin Blanc 2018 is a classical interpretation of a Loire Valley grape. Roughly 18% of the 95,775 hectares of vines planted in South Africa consist of Chenin Blanc. South Africa has more Chenin Blanc plantings than any other wine producing country.
Traditionally, Chenin Blanc was viewed as a workhorse. A core component of South Africa’s award-winning brandy, Chenin Blanc has found new allure as a grape with its own gravitas. Chenin Blanc’s resilient nature and versatility has found favour with South African winemakers. Likewise, Chenin Blanc is becoming a familiar fixture in South African homes.
Du Toitskloof Chenin Blanc 2018 is a quintessential classic.
Like a classic romantic comedy, interest is piqued initially, followed by a series of intriguing moments, then the heady rush when you realise that your glass is almost empty, finally, the satisfactory sound of ‘happily ever after’.
Initially, the tropical nose lures you with notes of pear, pineapple and apple. Crisp acidity is met with intrigue. A light lemon colour makes Du Toitskloof Chenin Blanc 2018 a perfect poolside companion. A charming accompaniment to seafood, salads, roast chicken, or even meze platters that are enjoyed at leisure, Du Toitskloof Chenin Blanc is a summer staple. Like every classic romantic comedy, from Sleepless in Seattle to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Du Toitskloof Chenin Blanc is a bastion of romance.
When advertising executive, Benjamin Barry considers committing to magazine columnist, Andy Anderson in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, his world is turned upside down. Romantic Comedy, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days is a dating ‘How to in Reverse’, where Benjamin Barry attempts to sweep Andy Anderson off her feet after a wager with his colleagues. None-the-wiser, Andy comically uses her friend Michelle’s recent break-up to show how our classic dating mistakes lead to our emotional trauma. Where Andy works hard to destroy Benjamin’s resolve to commit, he fights to make her fall in love with him in ten days.
Comically, under the guise of a bet, Benjamin muses: “I’m talking about his and hers… let’s grow old together love.”
Benjamin’s view of love is a ten-day-long romance that becomes a life-long love.
The film shows how a short time span can fundamentally change your life. In the same poignant vein, Du Toitskloof’s winemakers’ interpretation of Chenin Blanc, a Loire Valley varietal, can be enjoyed immediately, with pleasure. Like Michelle, who in the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days tearfully cries: “it was the best 10 days of my life”, you will come to know this wine intimately and with fondness as soon as it meets your glass.
Du Toitskloof Chenin Blanc 2018 is also a sacrosanct love letter to the idea of a love that is here to stay.
Asian Persuasion
2018’s runaway romantic comedy hit, Crazy Rich Asians, written by Kevin Kwan, is a love letter to excess, largess, family and forever.
Nicholas Young, the assumed heir of the Young family fortune returns home to Singapore to introduce his American-born love, Rachel Chu to his family and Singaporean society. His mother, Eleanor, stares him down and demands that he returns home to rule from the family throne. With a dashing smile, Nick confides to his mother: “there are things in New York that I want to see through.”
Like a brilliant love, Du Toitskloof Selected Vineyards Pinotage Rosé is equally worth bringing home to meet your mother.
With upfront aromas of strawberries, raspberries and a rich, off-dry palate with flavours like Turkish Delight and cherries, Du Toitskloof Pintotage Rosé 2018 is a rich reprisal of a South African varietal.
When Professor Perold first crossed Cinsault and Pinot Noir in a science lab in Stellenbosch, he can’t have envisioned the dynastic interpretation of his experiment. Professor Perold, the Pinotage patriarch, might proudly look upon the offspring of Pinotage, when he considers how this near-ruby-coloured Rosé was awarded Gold at the Rosé Rocks competition. Du Toitskloof Selected Vineyards Rosé was also awarded Gold by the Michelangelo Awards panel.
Rosé has become a global phenomenon, with several interpretations of the method that turns red grapes into pink wine. Likewise, Crazy Rich Asians has dominated box offices from China to Chicago. A romantic aroma, a rambunctious colour and generational history are a revelation. As Nick attempts to explain when he pours his heart out to his mother, this is a wine that you want to see through.
Depth and Dimension
Du Toitskloof Dimension 2015 consists of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz and Pinotage.
This full-bodied red blend has all the comfort and gravitas of true friendship.
A University in Pakistan has declared February 14 ‘Sisters Day’. Zafar Iqbal Randhawa, the vice-chancellor of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad explained to Dawn, Pakistan’s leading English-language newspaper: “Is there a greater love than between brother and sister?”
While romantic love has its sweetness, female friendship is a gem worth celebrating. In the film, ‘In her Shoes’, big-sister, Rose is asked why she puts up with her younger sibling, Maggie’s messiness. Rose responds, “because she is my sister.” Friendship is as poetic as a buxom red wine. With the cigar-box comfort of Cabernet Sauvignon, the spice of shiraz and the blend of a berry-like Merlot and fruity Pinotage, there is dimension that lends itself to great love. Du Toitskloof Dimension 2015 has tender tannins, and while the wine has grip it also makes for a poetic pairing. A perfect accompaniment to lamb, stew, oxtail and game, it pairs well with comfort food.
It is as comforting as Rose who tells her fiancé, Simon about her sister, Maggie: “I was protecting her, because that’s what I do… Because without her, I don’t make sense.”
Dimension is true love, without frills and fuss.
It is the poetry of E.E. Cummings that Maggie reads to Rose. Dimensions is “the root of the root of the root and the bud of the bud.” Dimension, like sisterhood is “the wonder that is keeping the stars apart.”
