Arra Vineyards

Had such a wonderful personalsed tasting given by Dee who was passionate, witty and so willing to oblige in making sure the best tasting experience happened. The range of wines was amazing with some great viogniers and cab savs. Prices are really affordable and there were some great bargains on offer.

Arra is ‘n oase na die stofpad op ‘n snikhete dag. Die moderne wit proelokaal is die koel tuiste van kunswerke, moderne meubels, en gasvrye personeel. Neil Conventry en sy span ontvang ons soos familie met vars koffie en verleidelike eetgoed. Ons groepie wynvlieë vergader en Dee vertel ons van haar wynskeppings geklee in die allermooiste etikette wat lug, water, en die wingerde kunstig uitbeeld.

Ons begin met ‘n vars, ligte Blanc de Noir waarna ons twee oesjare van Dee se gunsteling kultivar proe – Viognier 08. Ons proe beide die gereserveerde en ongereserveerde Viognier; eersgenoemde in drie fases gepluk, gehout en meer kompleks, lassgenoemde is weer ligter en soeter en my gunsteling. Van die 04 Shiraz is daar slegs 2 300 bottels gevul. Die 07 Shiraz is nog nie vrygestel nie – wat ‘n voorreg! Laaste proe ons die 06 Barrel selected Cab waarvan daar slegs drie vaatjies beskikbaar is – eers ‘n voorreg!

Doen jouself ‘n guns en gooi ‘n draai by Arra, ‘n plaas vol verrassings (hier hang die toekennings in die toilet) én vernuftigheid.

Dankie aan Arra, Anel en al die wynvlieë vir ‘n onvergeetlike dag! En Martin – agteros kom ook in die kraal…

Arra! It looks like I’m the last one to review! Howzit fellow flies. Weird to see all of you at the same place … !!

The highlight: The 5 Flies who had gathered, all had the pleasure of being the first to taste a 2007 Shiraz which was due for release in two years. If it is going to be anything like how the Cab Sauv turned out, I only see a fab future for this one… Or, wait a minute, … is this the same gimmick to inspire ‘to purchase’ than saying there’s only 4 bottles of a certain sought-after wine and when you return three months later you find that the same 4 bottles of wine is still available at that farm …. grappie!

Don’t follow the recipe, follow the heart and let the grape variety tell you what and where it wants to be – this is the attitude of Dee the “winemaker supreme”. And she does indeed stand in her own right and beside the mighty in the valley by what my repenting taste buds were confessing.

And to add some charm to the fairy tale, sprinkle some Johan, the General Manager of the farm. We had a conversation about the nerdy Stellenbosch student who comes onto the farm quite often to study the Birds of Prey …. Or the crazy professor who found the last of a species of bossie on the Klapmutskoppie and told him how he could finally finish his book on veldbossies now with the biggest, sweatiest smile ever.

And to complete the thrilogy, add some style and minimalistic splendor with Neil, the owner, who is super cool and excited. Proud, but humble. Love your style, and your ‘style’, brother!!

A princess is born with the promise of one day being a queen. And as I stood on the patio, I could hear the whisper of greatness . . . and majesty, through the vines!!

Carla, dis nou nog net jy!!

Even though I arrived late (not fashionably), I managed to catch up with the wines that were being tasted. Good for me, because the wine were of really good quality.

We started with a lovely dry Rose, then moved on to tasting two Viogniers next to each other. Both were great, but like chalk and cheese… Not the taste, just the difference. The one was easy drinking and fruity, while the other was wooded untill it met the bottle. Both were very high in alcohol (about 14.5% i think).

Next we had a couple of red wines. None of them really stood out for me.. not because they weren’t good, but because they were all good.
We were priveliged enough to try some wines not yet released. The Shiraz can do with a couple more year, but looks to have plenty of potential.

Thanks all for your hospitality.

A lovely Saterday with a great bunch of people.
Cheers, and enjoy!

So if you’re coming here be sure to keep right when turning off the road, you don’t want to end up in someones front yard hey! but nevertheless it is a lovely road to drive through the vineyards and up to the tasting center.
upon walking into the tasting area, it is seriously great looking with a modern Fresh look to everything with the funky artistic labels to the art work on the walls, went upstairs and was welcomed by an amazing view over the vineyards!
the wines that followed were all great, the viognier stood out a lot for me as well as some reds that will not be released in a good while still!!
had such a great time with the wine-flies
thank you Arra

We spend a lovely Saturday morning at this brand new and absolutely fantastic looking estate with the Secret Wine Flies. We were welcomed by Marni who introduced us to the own Neil Coventry. Neil treated us to the best muffins in town while we waited for the rest of the entourage to arrive. During this time we also met one of the winemakers at Arra, Dee Wentzel and the man behind the soils and vines Johan Southey.

Dee took us through Arra’s range of wines. Both the the unwooded and the barrel fermented Viognier were delicious. We also had the privilege to try some of their wines which will only be release in about 2 years. This made for some interesting discussions among the flies. We tasted some really yummy wines at extreme affordable prices.

Apart from their funky wine labels, they also have some great art work in the tasting room and a visit to this latest addition to the Cape Winelands is a must! Thanks for a fantastic time guys!

Popped in on a sunny Friday afternoon. Only got to taste the wine after walking round the tasting centre twice and had to call the tasting lady from her back office.
There are 2 ranges of wine here Resever and non Reserve you only taste the non reserve of which the wines where nothing special they are Just wines. well priced though.
Sam the host was friendly and precise