Simonsvlei tasting room review

Simonsvlei - minus service

A visit to a former co-op can be a hitor- miss affair. You get bargain finds but the overall cellar-door experience is often somehow lacking. It seems close to impossible to find both value and a pleasant experience at these ventures. And Simonsvlei only delivers on the former.

 

Look out for the monumental wine bottle outside Paarl for the home of Simonsrood, a wine that at R25 a bottle (and R44 for a magnum) is an established "value" find. There are other bargains on the menu, however, of which numerous are included in this year's Best Value Wine Guide. Which is why the cellar warrants such a huge parking area - people obviously flock here to stock up.The tasting centre is a bit bland - quite big and resembling a dining room in a middle-class suburb. Not particularly attractive. Plenty to peruse, however, with one corner stocking shelves of deli products, some of which are also offered to patrons at a separate tasting counter.

Seating is provided in an adjacent room, but wine tastings are conducted at a counter, where you can also buy fudge.

The tasting attendant on duty is immersed in doing some vocal accounting work. Due to her mathematical preoccupation, she is somewhat oblivious to our presence. Eventually she sets out the procedure (R20 for 5 wines, although their website quotes R15 for six wines). She pours the first and returns to her books, where she starts doing her audible sums again. Questioning her on the wines is a useless aff air. She is only helping out and does not know anything. "You are unlucky." Quite. If I really want to talk to someone who knows something about the wine, she will call someone. That is the extent of her help.

When she pours the Cabernet Sauvignon in the Hercules Paragon Range, I comment that it seems oxidised. She is unfamiliar with the term, and again offers apologies. It is a lost cause and I work through my five wines unguided and with the chiming of maths in my ears. Clearly my tasting is not the only thing not adding up. There's lots of good value here, which saves the experience. The Chenin Blanc 2009 offers a burst of fruit salad flavours, and at R30 a bottle is a wonderful quaffer. The Sauvignon Blanc 2009 offers equal value at R35 a pop.

Tel 021 863 3040, www.simonsvlei.com

OPEN: Mon to Fri 08:00 to 17:00;
Sat 08:30 to 16:30, Sun 11:00 to 15:00.
SERVICE: 0/10 Sheesh.
AMBIENCE: 4/10 Big and bland.
VALUE: 7/10 Some really nice
quaffi ng wines.
QUALITY: 6/10 The white wines
over-deliver.