Weisser? Rhine? Paarl? Cape? What’s the difference? It’s all a case of mistaken identity really, because the Paarl/Cape Riesling is not a Riesling at all.
Actually a varietal of the ‘Crouchen’ grape (mainly grown in the Pyrenees region of France) our locally named ‘Riesling’ is thought to have been translocated to South Africa in the mid 19th century, and incorrectly named due to some identification error.
The true German Riesling grape (‘Cepage’) is known as the Weisser, or Rhine Riesling in South Africa (and only in South Africa) mainly to differentiate it from its poor local cousin. As of 2010, only Weisser or Rhine Riesling may be labelled and sold as Riesling in South Africa.
On the nose: expressive bouquet offering a potpourri of dried rose petals,peach, honeysuckle, lime and tropical fruit notes interspersed with distinctive candied orange peel botrytis character.
On the palate: it follows through with an unctuous, yet uncloying, medium-bodied elegance and a riveting limey minerality on the finish.
