The historic farm Compagnes Drift in Bot River was once an outpost for the Dutch East India Coompany in the 1700's and is now a family run farm producing a small range of quality wines.
A mere hour from Cape Town, en route to Hermanus, Beaumont Wines is set on the eastern slopes of the Houw Hoek Mountains. Within the Walker Bay appellation, the vineyards enjoy the influence of a cool maritime microclimate.
Raoul and Jayne Beaumont started revitalising the old wine cellar in 1993 and produced acclaimed Pinotage. When their son, Sebastian Beaumont obtained his oenology degree from Elsenberg, he joined the family farm as viticulturist, managing the new planting program as well as maintaining the quality of the older vineyards. In 2004, Sebastian took the reigns as solo winemaker and now runs the estate.
To accompany the highly rated pinotage and chenin blanc wines, the range now includes small parcels of mourvedre and shiraz as well as the classic Bordeaux varietals.
Beaumont's focus on chenin blanc (which has historically been a neglected varietal in South Africa) is an exciting and daring move towards proving the versatility and ability of this varietal to make comlex and excellent wine.
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Chenin Blanc
Rich apricot and peach aromas with honey tones that develop in the
glass. Broad fruit, excellent balance, fresh acidity and rich long
citrus finish.
Combination of two yeasts, Vin 13 and Vin 7 add complexity and more fruit flavors. After
fermentation, a small portion of French barrel matured chenin is blended in for added
structure.
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Beaumont Chenin Blanc 2010 fact sheet (pdf)
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Beaumont Chenin Blanc 2010 shelf talker (pdf)
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HOPE MARGUERITE
A BARREL FERMENTED CHENIN BLANC
Named in honor of Raoul's mother, Hope Marguerite is a single
vineyard chenin blanc fermented and aged in French barrels. With scents
of melon and marzipan, the hints of spice have a great balance with the
tropical fruit and fresh grapefruit finish.
The wine is made from a single vineyard planted more than 40 years
ago and named after Sebastian's grandmother, Hope Marguerite, who was
herself named after the Cape of Good Hope in the early 20th century.
Hope Marguerite's strength, compassion and gentle elegance remains an
inspiration for us all.
Only fruit selected from our oldest chenin vineyard is used for this
wine. 100% barrel fermented in 400 liter French oak, this wine remained
on its gross lees for 14 months with regular batonage, was unfined and
only given a light filtration prior to bottling. A good food wine that
promises aging ability.
Decanter Magazine awarded 2008 Hope Marguerite as the Trophy Winner for Best White Wine over £10
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Hope Marguerite 2010 fact sheet (pdf)
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Hope Marguerite 2010 shelf talker (pdf)
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Pinotage
Intense, plummy red berry fruits with an elegant fruit driven palate
backed by rich grainy tannins and a warm, firmly structured finish.
South west facing slopes on the mountainside with direct exposure to
the ocean and prevailing winds. This wine is considered a "cool climate"
pinotage, which imparts delicate and complex flavors - reflecting more of the pinot noir parent
The grapes from low yielding vineyards, picked at optimum ripeness are
fermented in open tanks with regular, manual punch downs to create a well
structured wine with ripe tannins. The wine is matured in 75% French
oak, 25% American and of the total, 28% is new.
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Beaumont Pinotage 2008 fact sheet (pdf)
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Beaumont Pinotage shelf talker (pdf)
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Goutte d'Or "a drop of gold"
An elegant and refined Sauternes-style wine. Goutte d'Or opens with an
intense nose of peaches and the subtle fragrance of lime. Matured in
new oak, the rich mouth-filling flavors of plump peach & pineapple
are balanced by the racy acidity of the lime background and the hint of
vanilla. Goutte d'Or is renowned for its finish that doesn't "finish".
Serve super-chilled as an aperitif with foie gras, or my favorite,
sauteed prawns dashed with a touch of cayenne pepper. Of course, Goutte
d'Or is perfect for after dinner with dark Belgian chocolate truffles or
a dessert that is not too sweet -such as poached pear. This special wine is delicately sweet
with a good dose of acidity. This is not the sticky, gooey dessert on
its own.
Raisin bunches are hand selected from a small corner of the farm,
where two vineyard blocks meet. The East-facing hill where these vines
grow rises from the mountain spring running through the farm. The
southerly slope warms with the morning sun and hides the intensity of
the afternoon heat. Ideal conditions in the super-cool Bot River
location.
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Beaumont Goutte d'Or 2009 fact sheet (pdf)
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Beaumont Goutte d'Or 2009 shelf talker (pdf)
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Cape Vintage Port
Highly allocated. Traditional foot-stomping in an open fermenter, this
is the family's fun time after the crush of harvest. Made essentially
for themselves, ...that is until we tasted it and begged for a few
precious cases. Scrumptious. Characterized by a silky sweetness balanced
by a crack of acidity rippling through the palate. Did we mention that
there is very little available? We now get a "large" allocation of up to
30 cases!!
Very dark, brick red and purple color. The intense, spicy nose is
dominated by cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and dark berry fruits. A big,
well-balanced palate of dark plummy fruit, spices with a hint of tasty
wood, backed by pleasing acid structure and nice dry tannins.
The world's only blend of 50% Tinta Barocca and 50% Pinotage with grapes
from 40 year old vines is used to make this Port. The wine is
innoculated after two days on skins with WE372 yeast. After a further two days of
regular, manual punch downs, the wine is hard pressed at 11o
Brix and then racked into 6th fill French oak where it
remains for two years. It is bottled by hand unfiltered and unfined.
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Beaumont Cape Vintage fact sheet (pdf)
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Beaumont Cape Vintage shelf talker (pdf)
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