Jasper Wickens

The New Release Old Vine Swartland Single Vineyard Wines from Jasper Wickens – Tasting His Tiernes Chenin Blanc and Wolwekop Semillon from 2023…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

There are now so many famous names producing incredible red and white wines in the Swartland. The region has gone well and truly global with trade wine buyers and fine wine collectors snapping up the top offerings, all of which are now becoming quite tightly allocated. While most of the “young gun” growers and Swartland “Rhone Rangers” are now heading into their 50s, Jasper Wickens still represents a younger generation of vignerons that are pushing the boundaries of quality and terroir vintage after vintage.

Every new release from Jasper is eye opening and head turning, as collectors and enthusiasts are increasingly seduced by his wine’s incredible quality at still very modest prices – a true rarity in the world of collectable fine wines. Of all Jasper’s wines, no new releases are more anticipated that his old vine 1982 Chenin Blanc and 1963 Semillon. I recently tasted Jasper’s 2023 releases along side his 2023 Swerwer Chenin Blanc. I was not disappointed!

JC Wickens Swerwer Chenin Blanc 2023, WO Swartland, 13% Abv.

2023 was an incredibly concentrated and power packed vintage in the Swartland especially for white wines and this Chenin Blanc from Jasper Wickens is a super charged classic. The aromatics are supremely rich and expressive, laced with wet straw, white peach, clementine and tangerine fruits over subtle honied lemon tea notes. The white peach and tangerine fruits continue on the palate that shows impressive concentration alongside a vibrant freshness, all harmoniously interwoven together with incredible purity and precision. At this price, this is a must buy Chenin! Drink now to 2034+.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

JC Wickens Wolwekop Single Vineyard Old Vine Semillon 2023, WO Swartland, 12.5% Abv.

Tasting the big-name premium producers of the Swartland has become a lucrative business for some of the world’s leading wine critics with no shortage of big scores being bestowed on said wines. However, almost all of them are guilty of merely paying lip service to the great single vineyard Old Vine wines of Jasper Wickens, most notably his Wolwekop Semillon that is harvested from a special vineyard that was planted in 1963 and which offers up, vintage after vintage, incredibly detailed, intense, focused, fresh Semillon whites that rival and often surpass anything produced in South Africa. Jasper is of course on a stellar run being awarded 97/100 for his eye catching 2021 and 96/100 for his deliciously accomplished 2022.

This 2023 turns the volume up once again and delivers a most melodious expression of this noble cultivar. Bright crystalline yellow gold in the glass, the aromatics of this new release are incredibly pure, fresh and focused showing notes of lemon grass, waxy lemon peel, white peach and hints of green apple all underpinned by a wonderfully dusty decomposed Granite Paardeberg minerality. With more in common with fresher vintages, there are no oily, lanolin nuances yet but rather fresher lemon and lime white citrus characters, Japanese green tea and a crystalline brightness with pinpoint purity. Seamless and harmonious in the mouth, the sleek lemon citrus intensity is pure and bright, supported by an incredibly well integrated tangy acidity that adds frame and definition to the long, stony, mineral finish. The oak influence is imperceptible and the focus and carry on the finish is mouthwatering and moreish. A fabulous wine that underlines the concentration and fruit power of the 2023 vintage in the Swartland. Drink from 2026 to 2038+.

(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

JC Wickens Tiernes Single Vineyard Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2023, WO Swartland, 13% Abv.

The wonderful thing about an accomplished old vine cuvee like Tiernes is its sheer depth, intensity and presence. Imposing in the glass, this 2023 shows all the muscle and flesh neighbour Eben Sadie was so profusive about with his entire range of old vine whites and reds from 2023. The aromatics simply soar like an eagle – plush, complex and packed full of waxy lemon and white citrus, white peach, dried herbs, and intense savoury leesy nuances. The palate is rich but classically restrained, reined in by a fresh tangy acidity that frames an incredibly broad, fleshy, expansive mouthfeel that is also incredibly focused, harmonious, and seamless, yet wonderfully effusive, showing dried peach, quince, and garrigue spice, before the archetypal wet stone granitic minerality closes out the finish. The clear standout elements of most top 2023 Paardeberg whites are their muscle, fruit power, and understated depth and intensity. Not in a loud and shouty style, nor in a big and brash manner – this wine simply strolls into the room silently and commands your attention. What not to love about an old vine Paardeberg Chenin Blanc from such a distinguished single vineyard? This is undoubtedly a wine to seek out and buy on release. Drink from 2026 to 2040+.

(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Jasper Wickens wines are imported into the UK by specialist South African merchant Museum Wines. Single vineyard wines sell for £150 IB per 6 on release.

Jasper Wickens Reaching New Quality Heights with His Two Old Vine Masterpieces – Tasting the Tiernes Chenin Blanc 2021 and Wolwekop Semillon 2020…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

It’s always exciting visiting producers in the Swartland, whether it’s Eben at Sadie Family Wines, the Mullineuxs at Roundstone, or Adi Badenhorst at Kaalmoesfontein. But I certainly love how Jasper Wickens continues to beaver away producing some of the most exciting white and red wines on the market at the moment. Of course, there is plenty of competition in the Swartland, but Jasper’s wines continue to represent incredible value for money in an era when prices of the top wineries’ wines have continued to rise and rise.

If we are honest, Jasper is still a genuine Swartland young gun… not just being under 50… but under 40 years old! Full of energy, ideas and ambition, Jasper’s Swerwer brand is an incredibly exciting array of wines that continues to improve year after year, as he fine tunes and experiments in the winery to make ever more exciting wines. There are few more exiting Old Vine Chenin Blancs on the market than his Tiernes and with the Wolwekop Old Vine Semillon 2021 about to be released in the UK market, I thought I would take another look at these two exceptional white expressions that typify the supreme quality of premium fine wines in the Swartland.

Tasting the 2022 Tiernes with Jasper in March 2024. More excitement to come!

JC Wickens Swerwer Tiernes Chenin Blanc 2021, WO Swartland, 13.5% Abv.

A visit to the Swartland Waterval farm of Jasper and Franziska Wickens is always enlightening. But it is only when you walk around the upper reaches of the farm, high up in the old vine Tiernes Chenin Blanc vineyard planted in 1983 that you see, smell, and taste the true terroir of the decomposed Granite-rich soils of the Paardeberg. Planted on deep granitic deposits, these vines yield an exceptional expression of Chenin Blanc that in cooler, fresher, more crystalline vintages like 2021, reveals the true majesty of this cultivar. Bright, fragrant and notably mineral on the nose, the aromatics display a complex interwoven array of white blossom, peach stone, green pears, waxy green apple skins, wet hay, sweet baking herbs, fynbos, crushed granite and dried lemon peel nuances. In the mouth this medium-bodied wine simply shimmers, illuminated by its fresh vibrant acids and an intense, concentrated, harmonious melange of nectarine, peach and pear fruits infused with a salty liquid mineral essence that grows incrementally in the glass as the wine continues unfurls. This is an incredibly special wine graced with a real presence, finesse and stand apart greatness. But you do need an extraordinary vintage like 2021 to realise this kind of exceptional quality and also an agile, skilled, artisanal mastermind like Jasper to capture its essence and bottle it for others to experience. Drink this beauty on release and over the next 10 to 15+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

JC Wickens Swerwer Wolwekop Old Vine Semillon 2020, WO Swartland, 13% Abv.

This enticing Swartland single vineyard old vine Semillon planted in 1963 shows a brightly polished bronze colour in the glass before delightfully lifted aromatics of sweet yellow honeysuckle, lemon custard, lemongrass, iced tea, white pepper, lanolin, dry bushveld and a dusty granitic mineral spice. Like the nose, the palate also reveals an incredibly plush, harmonious integration with seamless layers of textural and flavour complexity. In true old vine Semillon fashion, the flavours coat the mouth from corner to corner, lingering to display a cornucopia of honied yellow fruits, lemon pastille, pineapple confit, glacé orange peel and a subtle savoury, buttery, pithy white citrus spice on a long, dreamy finish. This really is an astonishingly delicious and profound expression of old vine Semillon that comfortably rubs shoulders with some of South Africa’s greatest expressions, most notably from the Swartland and the Franschhoek Valley. Definitely a savouring, cerebral style of Semillon but also one that every connoisseur will want to have in their cellar. Drink on release or cellar for 10 to 12+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Swerwer wines are imported into the UK by specialist wine merchant Museum Wines and retail for circa £36pb.

http://www.museumwines.co.uk

Jasper Wickens Muscles His Way Into the Leading Pack of Top Syrah – Shiraz Producers in the Swartland…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Jasper Wickens and his viticulturist wife, Franziska Wickens, live and make wine on her family farm, Waterval (Waterfall), in the very heart of the Swartland. Neighbouring some of South Africa’s most sought-after Swartland producers in the Siebritskloof Valley on the northern side of the Paardeberg, they are in the proverbial thick of it with people like Adi Badenhorst, Jasper’s previous employer on Kalmoesfontein, Eben Sadie on Rotsvas, and David & Nadia Sadie.

The Paardeberg, with its 500-million-year-old magma and the resulting domes of granite and microclimates, makes for an intriguing winegrowing terroir. The different soil types, specifically decomposed granite, offer a freshness unique to the Valley to both whites and reds – something the whole wine-drinking world has started cottoning on to. With an unusually cool and slow ripening vintage like 2021, Jasper Wickens has produced some of his most profound wines yet.

Jasper’s Waterval farm wine cellar in the Paardeberg.
Tasting new vintages with Jasper in March 2023.

At a recent tasting, I caught up with famous wine critic Dr Jamie Goode from the Wineanorak.com and shared a bottle of the latest release Swerwer 2021 Shiraz from Jasper. We were all suitably impressed.

JC Wickens Swerwer Shiraz 2021, WO Swartland, 13.5% Abv.

The Swartland is a warm, dry grape growing environment which makes this beautiful new release Shiraz 2021 from Jasper Wickens all the more remarkable. A bright vibrant ruby red colour, the expressive aromatics simply burst out of the glass, teasing the senses with incredibly intense, pure floral aromatics of violets, cherry blossom and rose petals that melt into pristine notes of sweet red cherries, tart red plums together with hints of cranberry and wild strawberry. The subtle notions of white pepper and salty red liquorice follow to the exquisitely elegant tight-knit palate that displays wonderful freshness and energy, drawing on the cooler vintage conditions of 2021 to offer up such impressive purity and precision matched by a deft pinpoint structure. The finish is delightfully cool, mineral and restrained delivering a deliciously focused raspberry and cherry fruited saline persistence that will definitely lure you back again and again for another sip. A truly noteworthy expression of Swerwer Shiraz. Drink on release and over the next 6 to 8+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The JC Wickens Swerwer wines are imported and distributed in the UK by South African specialist merchant Museum Wines.

Tasting a Beautiful Pair of Wines from the Jasper Wickens Swerwer Range…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Jasper Wickens started working with Adi Badenhorst at the Kalmoesfontein property in the Paardeberg in 2009 and was a central character in the whole Swartland Revolution movement. As the dynamic Swartland movement gathered pace, Jasper met his now wife, Franziska Wickens (néé Schreiber), who is the third generation of a Swartland farming family in the Siebritskloof Valley in the Paardeberg and studied viticulture at Elsenberg with a focus on cellar management. Their relationship grew at a similar pace to the popularity of the Swartland’s red and white wines and were finally married in 2016 on Franziska’s Waterval farm.

Exactly 10 years after he first moved to the Paardeberg, Jasper completed his final harvest at AA Badenhorst Family Wines in 2018 as he prepared to move full time into the repurposed wine cellar at his Waterval farm next door to focus on his own Swerwer range that was established back in 2012 with the sole purpose of creating authentic “wines of place” that represented the true essence of their local terroirs. Franziska owns and manages extensive family vineyard plantings and now supplies some of the most sought after Swartland grapes to producers such as JH Meyer, AA Badenhorst, Blacksmith Wines, Paul Jordaan’s Bosberaad, John Seccombe, Samantha Suddons’ Vinevenom label and Martin Lamprecht’s Marras label.

Jasper’s Swerwer range is now quite extensive and includes, among others, a Chenin Blanc, an old vine skin contact Tiernes Chenin Blanc, a Semillon Gris, as well as reds made from Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, Tinta Barocca and Touriga Nacional. Jasper is undoubtedly making some of the most exciting wines in the Swartland that will surely become a lot harder to buy as his reputation for quality continues to grow year by year. So if you haven’t tasted the wines from his Swerwer range yet, the Chenin Blanc and his Red Blend made from Cinsault, Grenache, and Tinta Barocca are the perfect place to start your discovery. Jasper is definitely a Swartland producer to follow closely.

JC Wickens Swerwer Chenin Blanc 2020, WO Swartland, 13.5% Abv.

This is another beautifully expressive Chenin Blanc from warm granitic mountain slopes in the Swartland region. Jasper and Franziska Wickens own and farm some truly profound vineyards in the Paardeberg area and this Chenin Blanc is a classically styled steely white shaped by its decomposed granitic terroir. The aromatics are cool and supremely mineral with layers of crushed gravel, dried green herbs, oatmeal biscuits, lemon rind, yellow orchard fruits and sweet wet hay nuances. The palate reveals lovely textural tension and fruit / acid intensity without losing any elegance and precision, showing plenty of pineapple pastille, bruised yellow orchard fruits, wet river pebble minerality and a pithy, leesy finish. This is a wine that speaks volumes of its origin, expresses its unique terroir and seduces the drinker in doing so. There are many far more expensive Swartland Chenin Blancs on the market but few which reach this level of complexity and palate-appeal for a similar price. Drink now and over the next 5 to 8 years.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Cinsault and Grenache were sourced from vineyards growing on well drained, granite soils. Cinsault was often known as the workhorse variety and of the rare Grenache only very few old vineyards remain. Tinta Barocca has proved itself in the Swartland already for decades and completes this traditional blend. Here it is sourced from a warmer clay–rich vineyard.

JC Wickens Swerwer Red Blend 2020, WO Swartland, 13% Abv.

An eclectic blend of Cinsault, Grenache, and Tinta Barocca make for a truly delicious Swartland red blend. The deep, dark aromatic base notes of the Grenache and Tinta Barocca are raised out the glass by the delicate rose petal perfumed lift of the Cinsault before more complex notes of cured meats, bramble berries, red cherries, cola, and Turkish delight come to the fore. The palate is both compact, concentrated, and sleek but also wonderfully light on its feet, enlivened by a mouth-watering red berry acidity, hints of cranberry, wild strawberry and smoky, meaty charcuterie savoury nuances. This certainly is a very impressive versatile red that can be sipped on its own or paired with almost any food dishes. Jasper Wickens is truly a master craftsman and this fabulous red is a tribute to his winemaking skills. Drink now and over the next 3 to 5+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Wines available in the UK through Museum Wines.

https://www.museumwines.co.uk/shop/?_sft_wine_brand=swerwer