South Africa - Part 1
February 19, 2009
Geez, we go off to South Africa in January to
explore the "winelands"....yes, wine farms (like in "Farms in Berkeley"!?), and
upon our return I found my email inbox inundated with inquiries I
could only categorize as follows:
- "There is wine in South Africa?"
"What countries are you going to visit?"
- Did you see the article on South Africa
Cabernet Sauvignon in the January 21st. New York Times?
- Please check out the progress of the new
soccer stadium being built in Cape Town for the 2010 World Cup.
- Did you go on Safari?
- Can I get some more Ancient Peaks Cabernet
Sauvignon?
- Why don't you just stay home and sell California
wine?
The last comment does not deserve a
response. By now, if you have been receiving my email newsletters for any
length of time, you know we try to travel to different wine growing regions
twice a year. January is for the Southern Hemisphere, while the first
half of July is for Europe.
Although we have stocked only a
few wines from South Africa, and until recently a "hard sell"
here in California, this country has been on our "to visit" radar
screen for a long time. Perhaps, it is South
Africa's distance and isolation from the rest of the world that makes most
of us unfamiliar with it in general. I mean, we are
talking about two back-to-back, "beat you up", 11 hour air flights to Cape
Town from San Francisco (via London). The majority of the best wines
produced have been exported to the UK, the Netherlands and
Germany. What limited wines of real quality directed
to American markets are immediately absorbed at entry on the east
coast.
Let me remind you that South Africa has been
producing wine since the mid 1600s, and the trade has been greatly influenced by
Dutch and French settlers. During aparthied (1948 to 1994), the
National Party government dictated who, what, where and
when crops could be planted. Even high volume grape production quotas
were established, with most of the processing handled by the
growers' large KWV co-operative facilities (founded in 1918), but used
to produce primarily cheap, low quality wines and
fortified spirits. Since aparthied ended in 1994, the
previously shackled South African wine trade has been
re-energized by private winery ownership; completely fine
tuned with all of the latest viticulture practices, and
updated by modern winemaking equipment and facilites.
Our itinerary included ten straight days of
extensive tasting appointments with the owners, winemakers, and
managers of the leading and most highly reputed small
producers on the Western Cape. Here, the "winelands"
stretch no further inland than 100 miles from Cape Town. In 1973, the winelands
were divided into groupings of official regions, districts, wards and
estates. The Wine of Origin (WO) system not only defined regionality,
but continues to define label and a
wine's content. Our focus was primarily the Coastal Region,
situated northeast of Cape Town and included Elgin, Bot River, Walker Bay,
Stellenbosch, Franschoek, Paarl, Swartland, and Constantia (along
the pennisula just south of Cape Town).
Although South Africa has been classified as
a "new world" region, overall the wines produced show
remarkable restraint, balance, complexity, and the terroir expression
found in "old world" styles.
Planted red varietals include the five Bordeaux
grapess (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot),
Shiraz/Syrah, some minor Rhone varietals, and a little Pinot
Noir. Also, widely planted, and known known as the country's
signature grape is Pinotage (a viticulture
cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault developed in
1925). Pinotage can be produced in a range of styles
from quaffable rose and Beaujolais-like wines, to full-bodied and
tannic, barrel aged wines requiring further cellaring. Our best experiences
with Pinotage was as a blending component in Bordeaux style blends.
The most widely planted white varietal is
Chenin Blanc, but Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Chardonnay are also
widely planted. Some Riesling, Gewurztraminer and minor white Rhone
varietals are also being produced. Perhaps, most noteworthy are
the successful blends being marketed as red and white proprietary
wines. A WO wine labeled by varietal must contain at least 85% of the
named grape (75% before 2006).
I won't be the first to say this, but many of the
red wines, especially the Cabernet Sauvignon/Bordeaux varietal blends remind me
of the way Napa Valley used to make wine 30 years ago. New oak has been
used judiciously. The alcohols are in check. The youthful tannic
structure has some grip. The wines have refreshing acidity to make
them age worthy, but food friendly. And most importantly, one smells and
tastes complexity, not just one dimensional ripe fruit. The white wines
are fresh with expressive minerality and bright acidity. A
large percentage of the white wines are made with little or no oak
treatment.
Although phylloxera always looms, and decimated
South Africa's vineyards in the late 1800s, the biggest threat
to South Africa's viticulture is the viral grapevine leafroll
disease. Primarily transmitted by virus carrying mealybugs,
the disease is common and wide
spread. Only easily detected in autumn on red grape vines,
if left untreated by systemic insecticides, leafroll will cause
the quality and yield of the vine's fruit to
deteriorate.
Regretfully, "old vine" vineyards are rarely
found, but recently a trove of miniscule plantings have been discovered in
the remote hills of Swartland. It's a modern day "gold rush".
Honestly, we were totally unprepared for
South Africa's excellent overall quality, and the
range of values we discovered on our visit. Just as the beauty of the
topography mesmerized us.....all 360 degrees, the wine
experience surpassed all expectations. I will continue an ongoing
commentary of our experiences in more detail, and as our orders for
South Africa wines are stocked in the coming months. In a
relatively short period of time, we have discovered the best South
Africa wines are on par excellence with other world class
wines.
HOT
TIP!
Everywhere you go in the Western Cape of
South Africa, especially in restaurants, wine shops, and winery tasting rooms, you will see people checking a light purple (2009 edition's color), hard
bound hand book called the "Platter's South
African Wines". Yes, everyone loves their wine in South
Africa! This annual comprehensive guide is considered gospel, and held as the reference point for rating all producers and their respective wines on a five star system. Only 33 wines received this most coveted recognition in
the 2009 guide. Many of these top award winning wines have not been
released yet. The wines with 4 & 1/2, and 4 star ratings are
nothing to sneeze at either!! The guide even provides the results of other rating competitions and awards. Details range from vintage evaluations to tips for touring the wine regions, and excellent maps (we never got lost!). Even recommendations
for restaurants, accommodations and wine shops are listed. Not that we agreed with every rating, and even if you do not plan to visit South Africa, we found Platter's guide indespensible. You may order to download electronically, or have the latest
Platter's guide shipped to you.
Just go to > www.platteronline.com/home
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