What I Drank Last Night

Rudera winemaker Adele Swart.

The Rudera brand has had its ups and downs in recent times but finally seems to have a happy and potentially prosperous future ahead of it. It was founded by renowned winemaker Teddy Hall and wife Riana in 1999 but when they split, ownership fell to Riana and a succession of winemakers followed.  Wines under the Rudera label remained of remarkably high quality but a perilous air hung over the endeavour…

Johan “Twana” Jansen van Vuuren, a leading businessman whose last project saw him and his co-founders sell Eland Platinum mine in the North West province to global diversified mining group Xstrata, bought Rudera in 2008, Riana staying on as a minority shareholder and executive manager.

Jansen van Vuuren, now ostensibly retired, nevertheless says that Rudera is more than a hobby. “Rewards in the wine industry are out of line with the alternatives – you can make good but not exceptional returns. My involvement with Rudera is to follow my passion for wine and take the brand to bigger heights”.

Rudera is now situated on the d’Olyfboom property, Napier Street, Paarl with winemaker Adele Swart installed as winemaker since January 2011. Swart did harvests with Teddy Hall when he was at Kanu in the first part of the previous decade and also has experience in California. She gave up winemaking briefly to go sailing but is now fully committed to the Rudera project.

Post a blessing of the harvest ceremony today, a chance to taste the current release wines. Stand-out was the De Tradisie Chenin Blanc 2009, from Stellenbosch grapes and as made by Jasper Raats, now at Longridge in Stellenbosch. On the nose, citrus, peach, burnt matchstick and some leesy character. The palate shows pure fruit, lemon-like acidity and carefully judged oak before a long, dry finish. A wine which manages to be both intellectually and emotionally satisfying. Score: 17/20.

A cracker.

How easy is it to tell the superlative from the super-quaffer? That was the theme of a social tasting last night. The line-up was tasted blind, my tasting notes and scores as follows:

DeMorgenzon Reserve Chenin Blanc 2009 – Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines of 2011
Intense and complex. Peach, spice and some leesy notes. Attractive oxidative character. Thick texture offset by zesty acidity. Long finish. Great presence.  Score: 18.5/20

Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap White 2010 – Platter’s Superquaffer of the Year 2012
Wide spectrum of flavour including green melon and yellow apple. Has both breadth and depth. Tangy acidity. Complex and sophisticated. Score: 18/20

Standveld Sauvignon Blanc 2010 – Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 2011, Veritas Double Gold 2011, 5 Stars in Platter’s 2012
Focused and pure. Lime and paprika flavour. Lean in the best sense with racy acidity and a very long, dry finish. Score: 18/20

David Nieuwoudt Ghost Corner Sauvignon Blanc 2008 – Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 2008, Veritas Double Gold 2008
Very green on nose and palate. Pyrazine driven – ashtray aroma on nose! Rich and full with bracing acidity and a long, saline finish. Very particular. Score: 17/20

Tokara Director’s Reserve 2010 – 5 Stars in Platter’s 2012
An idiosyncratic wine that ppears very ripe on nose and palate. Flavours of green melon through to apricot. Gives a sweet ‘ns our sensation. Tangy acidity. Score: 16.5/20

David Nieuwoudt Ghost Corner Sauvignon Blanc 2011 – Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 2011, Veritas Gold 2011
Pyrazine driven – intensely herbaceous on nose and palate. Also green pepper. Great line of acidity and a long, dry finish. A love-it-or-hate-it wine.  Score: 16/20

De Grendel Pinot Gris 2011
Yellow fruit and a touch of spice on nose and palate. Good concentration and zesty acidity. Great drinkability. Score: 16/20

Kleine Zalze Cellar Selection Bush Vines Chenin Blanc 2011
Great fruit expression and fresh acidity –well balanced. Should have wide appeal. Score: 16/20.

Bergsig Woolworths [WHAT]? Sauvignon Blanc 2011– Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 2011
Shy nose while the palate shows lime flavour. Clean and fresh but no great complexity, finishes a little short. Score: 15/20.

KWV The Mentors Grenache Blanc 2010 – 5 Stars in Platter’s 2012
Heavily reduced. Rich and full but lacks precision. Score: 15/20

Some general observations: The DeMorgenzon 2009 is sensational and a huge improvement on earlier vintages, which I’ve tended to think were clumsy and overdone. This wine is big but perfectly proportioned.

The Wolftrap White (67% Viognier, 19% Chenin Blanc and 14% Grenache Blanc) was not universally liked, some finding it flat and dilute. But at R40 a bottle from the farm , you’d be crazy to be too pre-occupied with its shortcomings. The Kleine Zalze Chenin Blanc at R35 a bottle also offers fantastic quality relative to price.

My sense about the Tokara Director’s Reserve 2010 is it is a wine were winemaking trumps terroir, not that this necessarily detracts from it…

Three examples of Sauvignon Blanc from Elim. The Strandveld 2010 is a complete wine and no surprise that it’s triumphed in pretty much in every forum it could have while the two vintages of David Nieuwoudt are extreme in their green-ness and I’m not sure how much currency this style still has.

I rated the De Grendel Pinot Gris only 2½ Stars when I reviewed it for Platter’s 2012, but based on last night’s showing, it probably deserved more. Softly be it spoken but perhaps there is a future for this variety locally…

Bergsig Woolworths [WHAT]? Sauvignon Blanc 2011 appeared pretty humble in this line-up and must be considered lucky to have placed in last year’s top 10 (yes, I know I’m implicated).

The biggest disappoint of the night was KWV The Mentors Grenache Blanc 2010. A wine with which I’ve previously been very impressed, it showed severe reduction last night. It’s under screwcap which no doubt contributed to its unhappy state and just goes to show that whatever the shortcomings of cork, screwcap as an alternative closure option is not without its complications, too.

Which of these two wines is "optimally ripe"?

Not wishing to be overly dramatic, I nevertheless suspect the recent “IBMP tasting” at De Grendel will go down as a pivotal moment in how top-end reds are assessed among local critics. Here it emerged that many of those actively involved in passing judgement on wine quality are inclined to prefer wines towards the greener end of the flavour spectrum, the justification apparently being that such wines are more elegant.

In the modern era of wine, a tension exists between two basic theories of wine aesthetics. The classicists prefer wines of elegance and balance, these supposedly better able to express terroir while the modernists advocate better fruit expression, more palate weight and less aggressive tannins, this all achieved via more precise viticulture and winemaking technique.

The pendulum tends to swing back and forth between these two positions, and it just might be that wines which are under-ripe and overly green have been excessively privileged for the last little while.

Apropos of the above, it is always interesting to contrast the vintages of 1997 and 1998 with regards to Stellenbosch reds. Cool, wet 1997 tended to produce refined, medium-bodied wines while relatively warm 1998 produced rich, full-bodied wines. For a long while, I thought I preferred the 1997s but after my “re-education” at the hands of De Grendel winemaker Charles Hopkins, I’m inclined to re-look the 1998s in a more positive light.

For dinner recently, Cordoba CWG Cabernet Franc Merlot 1998 next to Kanonkop Paul Sauer 1998. The Cordoba was better than regular release Cordoba Crescendo 1997 drunk recently (see here) being less mean and tart, although still very much about red rather than black fruit and medium bodied.  Lots of savoury character and firm but fine tannins. Score: 17/20.

The Paul Sauer 1998 was rock ‘n roll but sitting at stylistic extreme. During a blind tasting in March last year, I scored this wine down (15/20), noting “super-ripe fruit, hollow mid-palate, astringent finish”. Drinking it sighted now, I found myself much more favourably disposed to it. It has a very expressive nose of cassis, cigar box and earthiness while the palate displays plenty of pure, concentrated fruit, smooth but not slippery tannins and moderate acidity. Depending on your frame of mind, it can easily be considered a superlative wine (18/20).

Doing what we do best.

Lunch yesterday with Hennie Coetzee and Maggie Mostert of Batonage.com at Mexican restaurant El Burro in Green Point. Huge fans of the wines of Jean Daneel, they insisted I share their last bottle of Jean Daneel Signature Chenin Blanc 2003 with them after I recently wrote a favourable review of the 2006 vintage of this wine (see here).

Wine geeks will recall that the 2003 was rated 5 Stars and nominated as Wine of the Year in the 2005 edition of Platter’s. Our bottle yesterday showed citrus and vague tertiary aromas and flavours. There was relatively good fruit concentration and fresh, almost tart acidity, the finish particularly long and dry. Overall, classically styled and rather austere. Somehow a little more attenuated than I’d hope for although asking it to stand up to build-you-own tacos was perhaps too optimistic. Score: 16.5/20.

Red is the colour of the new republic.

The Pinotage Assocation in conjunction with main sponsor Absa has launched a new booklet promoting the variety called South Africa’s Pinotage Wine Guide 1995 – 2011.

The booklet contains much background information about the variety but at its core is the Top 20 Pinotage Classification 2011. The Pinotage Association was founded in 1995 and the first ever Pinotage Top 10 Competition was held in 1997 – the results of the first 15 years of the competition have been combined in determining the most successful  Pinotage producers in that time.

These are:

Top 10
Beyerskloof
De Waal
Kanonkop
L’Avenir
Rijk’s Private Cellar
Simonsig
Spier
Stellenzicht
Wellington
Windmeul

The rest (a further 12 on the basis of three tying for 20^th place in the rankings)
Altydgedacht
Anura
Clos Malverne
Fairview
Kaapzicht
KWV
Laibach
Longridge
Lyngrove
Môreson
Schalk Burgers & Sons
Tukulu

8 000 copies of the booklet have been printed and it is available from the Pinotage Association free of charge. Speaking at the launch function, Beyers Truter of Beyerskloof announced that Absa would continue to sponsor the Assocaition to the tune of “a few million rand”, the previous deal having run from 2007 until last year and worth a R1 million a year.

Lean vs. phat.

Why has Lars Maack, owner of Constantia property Buitenverwachting, removed his Riesling vineyards just when interest in what can be done with the variety locally finally seems to be reaching a meaningful level?

To answer the question a bottle of his Rhine Riesling 2006 next to Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 2005 from the Mosel in Germany. Not an entirely fair comparison as the Buitenverwachting was more in a Kabinett style (from normally ripe grapes) while the Dr Loosen necessarily had extra weight and concentration by virtue of being an Auslese (from very ripe, late-harvested grapes selected cluster by cluster). Even so, Maack was attempting to demonstrate that Riesling from South Africa is never going to match the Mosel for fruit purity and complexity.

The Buitenverwachting was lean, its flavours more towards the green end of the spectrum and the acidity a little hard (abv 11% and RS 6g/l). The Dr. Loosen, meanwhile, was definitely richer with more yellow fruit flavours. There was however also bright acidity ensuring great balance (abv 7.5%).

“Riesling is a cool climate variety. To make great wine from it, you need a proper winter and a fresh spring [unlike South Africa],” he says. “In any event, Riesling is a low yield, high cost variety in Constantia. If I can’t sell it above a certain price point, then I can’t play that game.”

Going forwards, Sauvignon Blanc is set to dominate even more on Buitenverwachting than it has historically. No bad thing when revisiting the absolutely splendid Husseys Vlei 2010. This wine won gold at last year’s Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show, and just seems to be getting better and better. Intense, pure fruit, good palate weight offset by a great line of acidity and a very long, saline finish. What’s currently most striking is the broad range of flavour from parprika through green and yellow pepper to yellow apple. Score: 18/20.

Lovely bubbly.

Despite producing 350 000 cases of own label wine a year, Darling Cellars remains resolutely low profile. The top end wines termed Limited Releases are pretty nifty however and not to be overlooked. I’ve written before about the excellent wine blend called Lime Kilns (see here) and yesterday drank the Méthode Cap Classique Blanc de Blanc Brut 2008, which was also very impressive. 20 months on the lees, this wine shows good focus with pure citrus fruit upfront, moderate acidity, a creamy mousse and a pleasantly savoury finish – a place for everything and everything in its place. Score: 16/20.

4ng/l vs. 42ng/l

“Are South African wine producers and judges not sensitive enough to greenness in Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot?” was the question posed by Charles Hopkins of Durbanville winery De Grendel at a workshop for some of the country’s leading critics held yesterday.

Methoxypyrazines are the chemical compounds responsible for “green” aromas and flavours in wine , 2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine or IBMP giving Cabernet Sauvignon a bell-pepper character and  the particular focus of Hopkins’s presentation.

IBMP has an extremely low threshold value, with it theoretically detectable sensorially at a concentration of 2ng/l in water. Hopkins said that outside of South Africa, reds with an IBMP concentration of over 10ng/l are considered problematic , those over 30ng/l outright faulty.

As part of the exercise, a blind tasting of a line-up of six wines, either straight Cabernet Sauvignon or Cab blends with each taster asked to nominate his or her most preferred wine as well as the wine with the highest IBMP count. Suffice to say, there was little unanimity as to the best wine overall and some leading tasters have a very high tolerance for IBMP!

The line-up of wines with their respective IBMP concentrations was a follows:

1. Chateau Pichon-Longueville au Baron de Pichon-Longueville2008 (4ng/l)
2. Rust en Vrede Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (10ng/l)
3. Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (21ng/l)
4. Graham Beck Chalkboard #3 Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 (25ng/l)
5. Hillcrest Hornfels 2008 (41ng/l)
6. Meerlust Rubicon 2007 (42ng/l)

My most preferred wine on the day was the Rust en Vrede (score: 16/20) and the wine I found the most excessively green was indeed the Meerlust (score: 15/20) but context is everything as I have previously found the latter to be a pretty smart wine.

The Pichon-Longueville with the lowest IBMP was criticised by the likes of Michael Fridjhon and Tim James as being over-ripe and dilute. My tasting note was: “Ripe dark fruit and an oxidative note on the nose. Rich, full and apparently sweet on the palate with smooth tannins and soft acidity” and my score was 15.5/20.

This is a wine that Robert Parker of Wine Advocate scored 95 on the 100-point scale and Jancis Robinson MW 17+ on the 20-point scale (see here). After yesterday’s exercise, it does seem that local and international judges are operating in significantly different if not completely contradictory paradigms.

Bang for your buck.

Flagstone is owned by the prosaic Accolade Wines, previously known as Constellation, at one time the biggest wine company in the world. Luckily, it’s run by the often lyrically minded Bruce Jack, who’s just added a new tier to the range consisting of a Sauvignon Blanc 2011 and a Merlot 2010 under the name “Poetry”.

These are “lifestyle” wines, which is to say they are entry level – the Sauvignon Blanc set to sell at R36 a bottle and the Merlot 2010 at R39.60. “Unbeatable value for money” claims the media release. “After all, we want poets to enjoy our work too!”

The Sauvignon Blanc 2011 offers great quality relative to price. A multi-regional blend, it appears a bit shy on the nose but has lots of juicy fruit and relatively soft, tangy acidity. There’s a relatively broad flavour spectrum from lime through melon as well as some herbaceousness and the residual sugar of 5.1g/l is well concealed. Score: 15.5/20.

The Merlot 2010, sadly, is not quite in the same league. Matured on a combination of American and French oak staves, there’s no denying a coffee character on nose and palate. The palate is light bodied with red fruit and somewhat tart acidity. Score: 14.5/20

Arise, Sir Percy!

What to make of Bilton in Stellenbosch? The Bilton 2006, a straight Cab which underwent 500% new oak and got priced at R3 000 a bottle ultimately seemed excessively attention seeking no matter the merits of the wine (see here) and none of the property’s other wines haven’t really captured the imagination to date.

I therefore broached the Sir Percy Classic Blend 2006 (a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 17% Petit Verdot, 22 months in French, American and Hungarian oak) with no great expectations.

The wine, made in honour of the Bilton patriarch, the late grandfather of current owner Mark Bilton, is obviously intended to be taken seriously (the price is a not insubstantial R170 a bottle) but hopelessly cheesy packaging (“Sir Percy” in a generic cursive font and a die-cut label featuring a bird of prey perched on a shield above the motto “Experience) didn’t help.

In the end, it proved surprisingly fine.  Great fruit intensity, moderate acidity, soft but not slippery tannins (score: 16/20). Drinking well now, I thought it was as good as most of its ilk and worth seeking out.