Deliverence in Durbanville

Durbanville may not be as famous as say Stellies but it sure does offer a few interesting alternatives....take D'Aria for example. They are a new winery, having only launched their own label in 2005, a Sauvignon Blanc as expected. They have also just completed their new impressive modern cellar and tasting venue. The tasting venue is straight out of Deliverence with a lake side wooden deck surrounded by woodland forest...there is even a DANGER/GEWAAR sign warning you not to swim in the swamp.

But do not fear as the tasting room experience is a pretty good one. For R60 you can buy a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and cheese platter for two. Not bad value at all. On the day of our visit we were lucky to have the place to ourselves and got great service from our host Isabel. She certainly was friendly and had more than enough knowledge of the wines on offer to answer most questions the average wine drinker could threw her way. She also did a great job of handling a rowdy buss load of revellers that manged to spoil the peace.

Being a new winery they don't have a huge range of wines, I sometimes think this is better, the mantra bigger is better doesn't always hold true when it comes to wine. The range consits of a Sauvignon Blanc, Rose, Merlot and a Merlot/Cab Blend. The Sauvignon Blanc, as you would expect was great. I can't think of many Sauvies from Durbanville that I wouldn't recommend, and now you can add the D Aria to the list. The premium Sauvi, The Songbird 2008, is a lovely wine with just the right amount of fruit to acid. The Rose and Reds are all drinkable, but being a young winery I think these are still a work in progress. So if you are looking for somewhere a little different with a great deck to enjoy fine chilled Sauvignon Blanc this summer, then D' Aria is a great choice.