The Dry Land Collection

The Dryland Collection

Last week Tuesday saw the launch of Perderberg Winery’s new premium label, The Dry Land Collection.  This new range of wines – created by the winemaking trio of Riaan Moller, Carla Herbst and Albertus Louw, includes:

Unwooded Sauvignon Blanc 2013

Unwooded Chenin Blanc 2013

Barrel fermented Chenin Blanc 2011

Pinot Noir Chardonnay 2013

Pinotage 2011

Shiraz 2011

Cabernet Sauvignon 2011

Joseph’s Legacy red blend 2010

The first thing I noticed about these wines was the label – It’s very striking and modern with no zebra in sight. (You’ll often hear people referring to Perderberg Winery as, “the one with the horse”). Serious wine-drinking folk regard it as a quality Chenin Blanc producer and after tasting The Dry Land Collection’s two Chenin Blancs at the media lunch at Dear Me, I can see why. Riaan says that the winery’s aim is to “show the different expressions of Chenin” and so far I believe he and his team are doing a great job.

Perderberg has been around for over 70 years making wine as a co-operative. And according to CEO, Gerhard van der Watt, releasing The Dry Land Collection endeavors to erase the idea that the wines of Perdeberg are second-string quality to those with a more “boutique” reputation.

Price-wise, at the cellar you can expect to pay between R62 and R80 per bottle. Taste them and you’ll realise what a steal that is!

At the launch, each wine from the collection was paired with a dish made by Dear Me’s head chef, Vanessa Marx who is one of the few chefs I know that has a real knack for food and wine pairing.  Some of the wines were paired with two different dishes on one plate, which was a fun way of doing things.

This is what we were treated to:

1. Chevré & passion fruit salad, almond flakes – The Dry Land Collection Unwooded Chenin Blanc 2013
Chevré tartlet, curried caramelised onion & raisin chutney, roasted almond – The Dry Land Collection Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2011

2. Poached smoked trout, beetroot, crème fraîche, orange vinaigrette & dill – The Dry Land Collection Pinot Noir Chardonnay 2013
Vanilla marinated quail, pecan streusel, fennel bulb & pear – The Dry Land Collection Pinotage 2011

3. Pigeon breast, black cherry jus, lentils & walnuts – The Dry Land Collection Shiraz 2011

4. Free-range beef oxtail ‘skilpadjie’, bourguignon sauce, bone marrow & baby carrots – The Dry Land Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2011

5. Seared kudu loin, spice crust, celeriac & cauliflower purée – The Dry Land Collection Joseph’s Legacy 2010

6. Green Goose organic Ficksberger cheese, toasted cinnamon bread, membrillo- Perdeberg Natural Sweet Weisser Riesling

And a  few little Valrhona truffles to end off. So naughty… but so nice 😉

PS – have you come across any wine labels that feature the winery’s social media activity? I haven’t up until now which was quite refreshing and novel to see.

social media savvy

As Christine Rudman put it when speaking to the Perderberg team, “You’re in the right place, at the right time”.

The Dry Land Collection will be available in retail at the end of August.

Tick-tock…tick-tock!

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