Nico Vermeulen's The Right Two Whites

3 stars - perfect midweek summer white blend

Often when I am over at Sian's for dinner I'm faced with wines I'd never normally see, or choose. A lot of this has to do with her being a lot more experimental with regards to wine, which means sometimes gems are discovered around her family table, and sometimes there are wines which would be better sold as vinegar.

One wine, which certainly should never be placed anywhere near the vinegar shelf, is the Sauvignon Blanc/Semillion blend from the cellar at Havana Hills under Nico Vermeulen, called The Right Two Whites.

This is a fantastic and crisp white blend, perfectly balanced; its a fantastic mid week table wine, and when ever there is a bottle open I'm more than happy to have a glass.

Sian picks it up quite cheaply at Mooiberg in the Stellenbosch winelands, but if you aren't so lucky to have a chance to shop at that fantastic wine store, then you can pick it up for approx. R50 through regular retail channels. Sian got a great deal on it, at R50 it might be a bit steep; see what you can get it for, its well worth R35 if you can get it at that.

Perhaps I'm a bit biased, but I really enjoy the wines that are coming out of the Swartland; especially Havana Hills and Spice Route (one of Fairview's labels).

I'm looking forward to a 'fact-finding' expedition to a few more of the Swartland wineries to see what is going down!