OH DARLING - Why didn’t you tell me that you had SO much to offer!!

Thursday, 15 April, 2021
Darling Wine Routes
Darling has never been about bells and whistles and whilst the wine people here are certainly not shy to tell you about their wines, I believe that the best spokesman for a wine is the wine itself.

Darling is indeed something of an enigma in that although there are only 4 producing Cellars located in Darling some of the most respected wine brands in the country either have their own vineyards in Darling, or source their finest fruit from our vineyards.

So what makes Darling special:

  1. The ancient soils are so well suited to grape growing.
  2. Our soil structure is ideal for moisture retention – some 86% of our vineyards are dry-land and unirrigated – no other region in the country can boast this.
  3. Dry land vines have had to learn to dig deep for their nutrients, to cope with a dry year, which allows Nature to perfectly balance the yield.
  4. With 33 different grape varieties planted in our vineyards we have an abundance of choice.
  5. We have the icy Atlantic evening breeze cooling our vines after those hot summer days and it is this that prolongs the ripening period and enhances the natural varietal flavours.

And if you keep reading - you stand a chance to win an awesome Darling experience - valued at R2000+, which includes a weekend at the Darling Lodge Guest House (Bed & Breakfast for 2), as well as a real Taste of Darling in the form of a delicious hamper of all things Darling - Darling wines, Darling olives, Darling sweets, gin and more 

Click on the image below or HERE to take a trip through Darling's fun quiz and try your hand at winning this wonderful prize.

The draw will take place on Mother's day - 9th May - so you can give your mum the treat she deserves.

Darling is all about diversity as the following anecdote indicates so well:

The year before last, WOSA identified Darling as a key region to visit and we were delighted to be invited to host regional representatives from all over the world.  We were then told we had to have a theme, as all the other regions had a theme – and this is where it became very interesting, indeed even heated at one stage!

As we pointed out:

  1. While we certainly make some great blends – we are not JUST about blends;
  2. While we certainly make some great varietals - we are not JUST about varietals;
  3. We do not claim to “own” any varietal as some other regions do;
  4. Our theme is our DIVERSITY and our common aim is for our individual wines to “speak for themselves”.

Indeed, if you look at the wines from Darling that have been attracting awards and a lot of attention recently you will find SEASALTER, LIME KILNS, CHARLES DARLING, LADY ANNE, SALT OF THE EARTH, DRIE PAPENFONTEIN, LYNCHPIN, HOMTINI, THEODORE EKSTEEN and  ROAN RANGER – and the list goes on.
You can have a shop of all of these wines at the Darling Wine Shop.

ALL of these wines reflect their uniqueness and that is what makes them so attractive to serious wine people – people order them by NAME and not by the varietals which they may contain.

Darling simply does not do “boxed in” in thought or deed. The last decade especially has seen probably more innovation than the previous 20 years; it is all so exciting.

PS: There was an interesting postscript to our “diversity spat” in that when Tim Atkin MW, also a recent visitor to our area, released his report he listed “The 10 Things you need to know about South African Wines” and a key paragraph was headed as follows: DIVERSITY IS THE ESSENTIAL SPICE OF LIFE.

Thank you, Tim – please come back soon – Darling is Diversity.

Darling Wine Routes is your invitation to come and taste these unique offerings and share the diversity that Darling has to offer.

Visit www.darlingwineroute.co.za for more information or find us on Facebook.

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A taste of delicious Darling goodies to win
A taste of delicious Darling goodies to win

Darling Lodge Pool Suite
Darling Lodge Pool Suite

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