Always exciting to taste and review new producer’s wines. I’d heard of the Dorper wines but until now had not yet tasted any, so was very pleased to sit down with their white Chenin Blanc and their Pinotage red both from the newly released 2022 vintage.
Dorper is the own label started by winemaker Reg Holder, previously of Delheim winery but who is now also running Lautus De-Alcoholised Wines. The name comes from the Afrikaans word for “dorp” or small town following a philosophy to use small old vine vineyards in and around Stellenbosch town itself that reflect a certain sense of terroir and place.
Dorper Chenin Blanc 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 13% Abv.
This is impressive Chenin Blanc from a blend of vineyards in and around the Bottelary Hills in Stellenbosch that were fermented and aged in old oak barrels. The aromatics show an archetypal wet river stone, granitic mineral aromatics intertwined with notes of crunchy pear, white peach, wet hay, and dried herbs with subtle hints of dry bushveld after early summer rains. With a modest 13% alcohol, the palate displays a very decent depth of fruit and glycerol weight in the mouth with yet more wet stone liquid minerality, green pear, pithy apple skins and delicate white citrus nuances. One of the highlights is undoubtedly the wine’s deliciously vibrant tangy acids that carry the mineral laden fruits with notable length on the finish. Quite a serious, grown-up expression of Chenin Blanc for sure. Drink on releases and over 8 to 10+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Dorper Pinotage 2022, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
1.8g/l RS | 5.3g/l TA | 3.75pH
This is another Pinotage expression that helps trumpet the stylistic revolution that this cultivar has undergone over the past decade. Made from fruit sourced from two old vine parcels, one grown on decomposed granite soils in the Helderberg and the other on shale soils in the Bottelary Hills, the grapes were destemmed but not crushed, using a portion of whole bunches, this is a lively, perfumed, energetic Pinotage with complex floral aromatics of black and blueberry fruits, hints of black cherry, cranberry and saline crème de cassis nuances. A real cornucopia of flavours and texture, but always siding with fine grained, elegant tannins supported by the most delicious tangy sweet-sour acids. A wine very much centred around the purity of the fruit and the mid-palate harmony with just the most subtle wood spice notes on the dry mineral finish. A complete pleasure to drink! Drink now and over 5-8+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The wines are imported into the UK and are available to trade from Graft Wines.
The previous Lievland Wine Estate can certainly be counted as one of the grand old Cape brands of the 1980s and 1990s and I can confirm that I certainly drank my fair share of their famous value red blend, the Lievlander, as well as plenty of their Shiraz and their delicious DVB Cape Bordeaux Blend. In 2017, it was announced that MAN Family Wines had acquired the 110 hectare estate with ambitious plans to build a new cellar facility and also slowly replant some of the 60 hectares under vine.
Lying on much respected Simonsberg Stellenbosch terroir, immediate neighbours are Natte Valleij, Warwick, the old Uitkyk, Kanonkop and Le Bonheur. I recently caught up in London with their head winemaker, Riaan Möller, to taste through a current selection of the Lievland Vineyards wines.
Lievland Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2022, WO Elgin, 13% Abv.
Deliciously exotic aromatics with peach skins, apricot, gooseberry, melon and green apple pastille. 100% stainless steel fermented with several inoculated yeast strains. From Sandstone soil vineyards, south facing, the grapes yield deliciously cool crystalline fruits boasting white peach, green pear, white pepper, rocket leaf and hints of lychee. Sleek, vibrant and wonderfully energetic with a really youthful vivacity and a delicate tropical kiss on the finish. A delicious cool climate expression.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Lievland Vineyards Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2022, WO Paarl, 13% Abv.
Made from a Certified Heritage Vineyard planted between 1977 and 1987 from Agter-Paarl with the use of up to 30% barrel fermented portion. The aromatics show a fruity candied opulence with notes of smoky straw, fynbos, peach rock candy and hints of green pear. The palate is rich and expressive with mouth watering layers of spicy white peach, greengage, green apple and hints of fig preserve on the long, persistent, textured finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Lievland Vineyards Liefkoos Shiraz / Mourvedre / Cinsault Rose 2023, WO Stellenbosch, 12.5% Abv.
An attractive pale salmon colour, the wine shows bright dusty chalky aromatics packed full of pear drops, crushed granite, crushed red cherry and crunchy wild strawberry fruits. The palate is cool, sleek and very precise with a delicious weightless concentration, lovely purity, mineral pithiness and impressive length. One for the lovers of Provençal Rose.
(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Lievland Vineyards Bush Vine Pinotage 2021, WO Paarl, 13.5% Abv.
From a vineyard on the westerly slopes of Paarl mountain planted in 2000/1 with a small 5% addition of Grenache. Only a small amount of new large oak is used (15%) and mostly multi-passage 225 and 300 litre used barrels. Packed full of vibrancy and freshness with notes of bramble berry, forest fruits, tilled earth, black plum and hints of red apple. Super polished and sleek, the texture is silky, elegant and delicately exotic with lovely purple rock candy, Parma violets and a mouthwatering Fanta Grape-flavoured allure. The finish is bone dry, spicy and mineral with real balance and length. A very individual expression of Pinotage, but undoubtedly delicious.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Lievland Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, WO Cape Coast, 14% Abv.
High altitude fruit from the Helderberg and Agter-Paarl, makes for a very classy Cabernet Sauvignon with a sneaky 5% Cinsault, 4% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc blended in. The aromatics show sweet red berry, red plum, red currant, raisined cranberries, cassis, tilled earth and delicate notes of sweet tobacco and tannery leather. On the palate the soft, seductive silky layers dominate, revealing a very fine textured, compact mouthfeel. A very impressive wine with great complexity, lovely granitic minerality and a delicate salinity on the finish.
Fruit from original vineyards on the farm planted 2001. 86% Syrah and 14% Mourvedre with 20% whole bunches, were fermented and aged 100% for 16 months in mostly used neutral 225 litre barrels with a 15% new French oak portion. The aromatics are lush and seductive with blueberry, black cherry, tart plum and subtle hints of dried herbs, cumin and peppercorns. Wonderfully pure, delicate and elegantly fresh, this is a very classy, considered, light touch Syrah made with real attention to detail. The finish is intense and focused with a fine weightless concentration.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Lievland Vineyard wines are imported into the UK by Berkmann Wines.
As someone who is very fortunate enough to have access to almost any winery and winemaker in South Africa, I often get asked who I think are the most exciting new talents emerging on the South African wine scene. Of course, there are so many phenomenal young producers emerging in the colourful wine industry landscape of the Western Cape that it makes picking out one or two almost seem foolish. But every now and then you meet special personalities and taste new releases that leave you contemplating the wines days or even weeks after tasting. One such producer is Bernhard Bredell.
The Granietsteen Chenin Blanc tastes and smells just like the vineyard from whence it comes!
Bernhard Bredell is the 7th generation of a family that has farmed in the Lower Helderberg area of Stellenbosch for over 160 years and his own Scions of Sinai label is a project he started in 2016 in an effort to save old vineyards that were planted by his grandfather Koos Bredell around a particular granitic hill known as Sinai. Bernhard’s winery now processes 20 tons of fruit producing around 1,250 cases of wine that are incredibly exciting, premium in quality and distinctly terroir driven.
The view from Sinai across the valley towards the Helderberg Mountain range.Old Vine Chenin Blanc planted in 1978.Bernhard tasting the Granietsteen Chenin Blanc 2021 in the vineyard it’s grapes come from with friend and mentor Ian Naudé in March 2022.
I myself grew up buying and drinking the excellent fortified wines of Anton Bredell, Bernhard’s father, made under the JP Bredells Cape Port label. But over the years, with fortified wines falling out of favour with the mass market, and after a series of unsuccessful still wine brands together with expensive marketing projects going awry, the family winery was eventually closed and sold off in 2011.
But Bernhard Bredell has winemaking in his DNA and coursing through his veins, so any notions of opting out of the wine industry to pursue other interests was never an option. The Scions of Sinai winery was launched with the 2017 vintages made from grapes sourced from vineyards grown on Firgrove, 4kms from the Atlantic Ocean. Bernhard currently uses five single vineyards and then some smaller half hectare plots. These include a Grenache Blanc made from a vineyard located in the Klein Karoo near the Swartberg Mountains and Meiringspoort, planted in 2009 on Schist and Shale soils, producing 600 bottles called the Gramadoelas; the Granietsteen Chenin Blanc; the Heldervallei Cinsault; the Swanesang Syrah; the Feniks Pinotage and the Nomadis Cinsault / Pinotage Blend. All vineyards are secured on contracts and have been farmed organically for over 5 years.
Scions of Sinai Range Tasting:
Scions of Sinai Granietsteen Chenin Blanc 2019, Helderberg (1978)
Sourced from a Chenin Blanc vineyard planted in 1978 on decomposed granite soils with very low fertility, high drainage and very low cropping levels that helps create intense flavour development in the grapes. There is a pre-fermentation maceration for around 3 nights for 70% on skins, 30% wholebunch pressed. Grapes are picked when they express the purity of the vineyard site while retaining naturally high acids. After fermentation, the wine is aged in large 400 litre barrels and kept on its lees for 9-10 months before being bottled unfiltered and unfined.
Bernhard Bredell Scions of Sinai Granietsteen Chenin Blanc 2019, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
After tasting the excellent maiden 2017 vintage a few years ago, Bernhard delivers another very self-assured performance with this delightful 2019 Chenin Blanc. Made from another seriously good white vintage from 43 year old vines planted in 1978, this wine is rich and expressive and boasts fabulous aromatics of pear puree, white flowers, yellow orchard fruits and seductive top notes of freshly baked apple strudel. The palate is fresh and bright with hints of toasted hazelnuts and walnuts, pithy peach stone fruits, pineapple pastille and a delicate note of maritime salinity and brine on the finish. Wonderfully textural and concentrated, this wine makes your mouth water with its deliciously tangy acids and enticing umami characters. Dry, intense and packed full of liquid minerality from the decomposed granite soils, this wine is already building up a solid cult following among the hardcore Chenin Blanc cognoscente. Drink now or enjoy over 8 to 10 years.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Scions of Sinai Feniks Pinotage 2019, Helderberg (1976)
In 2018 Bernhard moved into the old Helderberg farm called Klein Helderberg and has since produced four vintages there from old vine dry farmed bush vines yielding 3.5 to 4 tons per hectare. The vines produce tiny grapes on very small bunches. The soils are high in silica (fine sand) making for very fragrant wines compared to those made from vines grown on heavier clay soils. 70% of grapes are whole bunch and 30% destemmed, with around 10% undergoing semi-maceration carbonique in tank. Basket pressed after 12-13 days on the skins into 400 litre oak barrels that are normally a minimum of 4 years old for 12 months of ageing.
Bernhard Bredell Scions of Sinai Feniks Pinotage 2019, WO Stellenbosch, 12% Abv.
There are many styles of Pinotage being produced in South Africa, but it is perhaps the fresher, earlier picked, brighter style that has started to resonate the loudest with international fine wine consumers and this is another of these vibrant examples that simply bristles with crunchy red cherry fruited energy. Fabulously energetic and intense, the aromatics boast mouth-watering notes of black cherry, black currant, lavender, dried herbs, incense and a hint of bramble berry spice. Despite its lower alcohol and bright super fresh acids, this wine manages to retain an impressive depth of fruit, ample concentration and a fine, linear texture. I’m hesitant to say this is the future of Pinotage in the fine wine market as there are so many who pour scorn on the lighter, crunchy Pinot Noir-styled Pinotages, but there is certainly a massive following already developing for this purer style of wine. Drink this on release or you can certainly expect some flavour fireworks after 5 to 8+ years of bottle ageing. Very much worth seeking out. (864 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Scions of Sinai Swanesang Syrah 2019 (1996) – SH1A Clone
Produced from apparently the last known bushvine Syrah in the Helderberg that yields spicy dark fruits loaded with rosemary and thyme herbal nuances.The fruit also retains a very low pH and crisp acids… 12.5% to 13.2% Abv. Combination of whole cluster, 30% stems intact, used for the very slow fermentation followed by 5 to 6 days maceration on the skins before being pressed to 400 litre barrels for 12 months ageing with an additional 2 to 3 months ageing in bottle.
Bernhard Bredell Scions of Sinai Swanesang Syrah 2019, WO Stellenbosch, 12.5% Abv.
There is no doubt that Syrah is the hot property on the South African market garnering high critical praise and scores from international critics far and wide. Of course there is Syrah, but then there is Syrah on decomposed granite… a soil profile that definitely raises the perfumed aromatic profile of a wine while simultaneously dropping the pH levels and adding incredible freshness and tension. The Swanesang is made from fruit from a young vineyard ‘only’ planted in 1996 and the profile of these single clone SH1A vines is definitely on the purer, fresher, more perfumed red fruited spectrum of the scale. Once again, the granitic soils perform their transformative magic on the vines. In this specific cuvee, between 30 to 50% of whole bunches were employed delivering a fabulously expressive nose of violets, sweet baking herbs, red cherry, cranberry and alluring liquid mineral notes. The palate is super fresh and bright with intense red fruited concentration, revealing tart Victoria plum, cranberry sours and yet more red cherry fruit with just a smattering of black pepper and granitic minerality. A thoroughly engaging wine. Drink now and over 10 to 12+ years. (1,204 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Bernhard Bredell Scions of Sinai Granietsteen Chenin Blanc 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 12.5% Abv.
Another real terroir expression from old vine Chenin Blanc planted in 1978. Harvested on the 29th of January, this single vineyard expression from bush vines displays an impressive aromatic intensity with layers of peppery white citrus, white flowers, crushed granite, dried herbs green herbs and subtle fynbos notes. Like many Chenins grown on decomposed granite that aren’t picked too late, the nose and palate are dominated by an intense liquid minerality that dances across the palate with fresh zippy Sherbety acids, notes of almond skins, tart green pears, citrus peel and yet more liquid minerality. If ever a wine expressed the terroir of the vineyard it’s sourced from, this is it. Drink now and over the next 10 to 15+ years. (1,950 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Bernhard Bredell Scions of Sinai Heldervallei Cinsault 2020, WO Stellenbosch, 12.5% Abv.
Produced from beautiful old bush vine Cinsault vines planted in 1988, situated right next door to Bernhard’s Chenin Blanc vineyard. The aromatics are powerful and intense unfurling with layers of red and black berry fruits, sweet exotic grilled spices, damson plum, rose petals, grey slate and smoky crushed granitic minerality with a hint of juniper. On the palate there is real precision and focus but also Bernhard’s trademark liquid minerality, dried herbs, pithy cranberry, hints of cherry pips and phenomenal dry, stony fine grained tannins. Quite a unique style that has more in common with a young premier cru Cotes de Nuits Pinot Noir tasted from barrel than a Cinsault. This wine is fabulously delicious but also shows serious ageworthy depth and intensity. Drink now to 2030+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Wines are available in the UK market from merchant Indigo Wines.
Wines of South Africa in the UK do a wonderful job promoting South African wines and the various diverse wine regions in South Africa on a pretty meagre shoestring budget. From premium wines to mass-market high street brands, all producers get a look-in through the year as the full breadth and depth of the industry is conveyed to the UK marketplace. This weekend is National Pinotage Day and to celebrate, Jo Wehring and the WOSA UK team organised a fascinating webinar and tasting with Dr Etienne Terblanche PHD and L’Avenir winemaker, Dirk Coetzee, featuring some excellent examples.
Pinotage knowhow has matured extensively over the years and is now able to highlight new and unique insights into the broader Cape wineland terroirs thanks to the variety being so widely planted and with a relatively large quantity of older vines in the ground. The cliché of Pinotage being a real “marmite” wine is starting to fade as producer after producer starts to produce high quality wines that more than anything else, represent the regional terroir the grapes are grown on.
Pinotage, like Chardonnay, does often allow the winemaker to make their personal mark stylistically, but one thing is for sure, the variety’s true strengths and unique selling points include being able to make a variety of dry red styles, wines with lots of juicy fruit, most wines possessing excellent ageing ability and also the versatility of the variety to make dry reds, Rosé, Method Cap Classique sparkling wines and numerous dessert styles.
Dirk Coetzee and Dr Etienne Terblanche PHD
The pinnacle of quality Pinotage production in South Africa often manifests itself through many of the Cape’s single vineyard wines grown on the three main soil types of Sandstone (300-400 million years old), Shale (Malmesbury Group) and decomposed Granite, which covers all the wines tasted for this seminar.
The Diversity of Pinotage:
Kaapzicht Skraalhans Pinotage 2020, WO Bottelary – Stellenbosch, 12.5% Abv.
A young vine trellised vineyard situated at around 90 to 100-meter altitude on pure washed out granitic soils. Picked early to respect a lighter style with 20% whole bunch, fermented on the skins for three days before being racked off into large old barrels to complete fermentation. Youthful and vibrant, the aromatics are very perfumed and lifted showing wonderfully inviting notes of red cherries, cranberry and red currant. Palate is super soft, fine boned and supple, very cool and precise, showing a delightful light touch extraction. There is layer upon layer of tart red cherry fruit with bright bristling acids that give the mouthfeel incredible energy and mouth-watering freshness with soft powdery tannins and a long, brambly mineral finish with just a subtle hint of flinty reduction. A truly delicious expression.
(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
B Vintners Liberté Pinotage 2017, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.
Made from 20-year-old bush vines on a south facing False Bay vineyard on washed out granitic soils utilising around 40% whole bunch during fermentation. The aromatics show a cool, savoury red cherry fruited complexity with plenty of maritime sea breeze salinity, sappy cranberry and bramble berry fruits, sweet grilled herbs and hints of potpourri. The palate is exceptionally polished, tight knit and fine grained with a drying tannin density, bright citric acids and a cool, stony, mineral length with a tangy salinity on the finish. Another very accomplished expression from Bruwer Raats and Gavin Bruwer Slabbert.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Sangiro Pinotage 2018, WO Piekenierskloof, 12.5% Abv.
A vineyard located three hours north of Cape Town in the Piekenierskloof at 300 to 400 meters altitude with dry grown vines. Made by Rudiger Gretschel (of Reyneke and broader Vinimark winemaking fame), the wine shows plenty of raspberry herbal tea spice, notes of dried herbs and fynbos nuances over red and black berries and damson plums. The palate is rich, plush and structured with spicy tea tannins, black cherry, stony mineral grip, round tangy acids and yet more layers of black cherry and black plum with an intricate apricot stone pip finish. Mineral, savoury, focused and rather bold… this is quite an individual expression of Pinotage.
(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Ashbourne Pinotage 2018, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, 13.5% Abv.
An impressive rich, savoury and expressive red from 16-year-old trellised vines planted on Bokkeveld Shales. Matured for 10 months in 400 litre barrels, 40% of which were new, with approximately 10% of sun-dried stems added back for additional structural complexity during fermentation. The aromatics are lifted, fresh and perfumed with opulent notes of black cherries, red berries, eucalyptus, peppermint crisp milk chocolate and sappy spicy oak nuances. The palate reveals attractively rich, plush, textured fruit notes with bright tangy acids, plenty of red berry freshness and ample mineral fine grained tannin characteristics. An attractive multi-dimensional wine that shows a lot of pedigree.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
L’Avenir Single Block 02 Pinotage 2018, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
A dryland grown single vineyard planted in 1994 on decomposed shales with plenty of exposure to the salty coastal sea breezes of the False Bay. The aromatics are cool, refined and broody with great precision, purity and focus but also offer up ample depth of black fruits, hints of kelp, liquorice and raisined black cherry liquor notes. The palate is powerful and intense, with piercing sweet – sour acids, rich intense salty black fruits and a long, dense, bold finish with fine grained graphitey, stony, mineral tannins. Undoubtedly a very confident, well-made Pinotage that will appeal to a lot of fine wine lovers.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Beeslaar 2018 Pinotage, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.
Made by Kanonkop winemaking legend Abrie Beeslaar from 25-year-old dryland bush vines grown on decomposed shale soils with a small portion of decomposed granite. Fermentation took place in open top concrete tanks with regular punch downs performed every 2 hours to maximise extraction. After fermentation, the wine was aged in 40% new 225 litre French oak barrels for 21 months. On the nose, there is plenty of density and broody black fruited depth together with intricate notes of raisined black cherry, raisined cranberry, damson plum and hints of Christmas pudding, incense and crème bruleed caramel oak spice. But for all the richness, intensity and depth, the palate shows a freshness and vitality that is quite startling, helping to balance the expansive fruit concentration and sweet, creamy tannins. Where the 2017 showed a more weightless perfumed concentration of vibrant red fruits, this 2018 is darker fruited and more savoury with plenty of sweetness on the front of the palate but also a fine, drying, tangy finish. Very classy.
This is a super exciting new wine from South Africa made in association with the Protégé Programme run under the supervision of Andrea Mullineux (Mullineux Wines), the current Cape Winemakers Guild Chair.
Imvini Wethu means “our vines” in Zulu, and the 2019 vintage is the maiden release of a wine conceived by the German trade with the intention of empowering future winemakers and protecting South African wine heritage, with the Cape Winemakers Guild’s Protégé Programme and the Old Vine Project run by Rosa Kruger and Andre Morgenthal being the specific beneficiaries.
Imvini Wethu Old Vine Cinsault Pinotage 2019, WO Western Cape, 13.5% Abv.
All this wine needed was 15 minutes in a decanter before it really started to perform! A blend of 70% Cinsault and 30% Pinotage, this wine shows the very best of both varieties in a wonderful synergy. The Cinsault grapes come from a Franschhoek vineyard planted in 1932 and the Pinotage from a vineyard in Stellenbosch planted in 1973. There is plenty of perfume and lift with seductive notes of Turkish delight, rose petals and violets. The nose is packed full of red and black berry fruits, black cherry, dark sweet plum, vanilla spice and a dusting of mocha choc powder. The palate is fleshy and fresh, juicy and accessible with a sleek seamless texture, soft creamy tannins and a long harmonious finish. A wine that delivers a whole lot of frolicsome pleasure in a very more’ish manner. Drink now and over 6-8+ years.
The Kanonkop estate in Stellenbosch is synonymous with not only one of the most premium Cabernet Sauvignon based Bordeaux blends in South Africa, the Paul Sauer, but also the most serious expression of Old Vine Pinotage produced in the country.
This super premium Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage is made from one of the oldest Pinotage vineyards in South Africa planted in 1953 on a site that has over the years continued to produce fruit of specific excellence, deemed special enough to be bottled under its own label.
This new Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage 2018 was matured for 18 months in French oak, of which 100% was new.
Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage 2018, WO Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.
Fantastically dense, brûléed and opulent, this plush textural expression shows complex notes of black plum compote, mulberry, powdered mocha, cinnamon powder and a sweet sappy cedar spice. With the senses reeling, the palate gets assaulted by a plush, fleshy, round weight of black and red berry fruits, spicy brûléed vanilla notes, charred barrel spice and a grippy, youthful tannin on the finish adding a perfect frame and structure for the fruit concentration. Beautifully open and upfront, round and expressive, this wine shows a real accessibility, a soft cool acidity and a perfect amount of grip. Not quite the precision and fresh perfumed purity of the 2017 but certainly not far off. Another very well endowed beauty. Drink from 2022 to 2040+.
I’ve been involved with the activities of the Cape Wine Auction Charity on and off since it’s first auction seven years ago. In 2020, I was very privileged to be invited to be their Honorary Global Fine Wine Ambassador and attend this special event that helped raise over R17 million rand for 25 well deserving wine land children’s charities, but which also crucially, took the seven year total raised to over R100 million to date! (£5.1m)
A brace of Pinotage unicorn wines.
One of the lots sold at last years auction in 2019 was an uber rare lot comprising of two barrels worth of Pinotage, one made by Hamilton Russell winemaker Emul Ross from Ashbourne Winery fruit and the other made by Swartland rock star Eben Sadie with fruit from the same vineyard at Ashbourne. Each wine was vinified in their own home cellars without the two winemakers liaising or comparing notes. In fact, after harvest, the first time the two spoke together again was around two months later and neither tasted the others wine until the actual day of the auction.
Emul pointing to the thin wedge shaped vineyard that provided the grapes.
The two barrel auction lot was bottled and labelled and offered exclusively at the 2019 Cape Wine Auction, which in the end, after frenzied bidding, raised £1m Rand and was divided between four bidding parties, with each paying R250,000 for just over 150 bottles, or just under R2000 per bottle.
The Ashbourne barrel.
Man & Soil Ashbourne Pinotage 2018, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, 13.5 Abv.
Emul’s version obviously bears a great resemblance to the flagship Ashbourne Estate Pinotage that he also makes. Wonderfully bright, pure fruited and crunchy on the nose, one anticipates vibrancy and vigour to follow on the palate and you’re not disappointed. There are expressive notes of black and red cherry, damson plum, wet leaves and tart black bramble berry fruits. The palate shows incredible freshness and energy with tart crisp acids framing pure notes of raspberry, blueberry and mineral laden earthy black plum. The oak is almost imperceptible allowing the wine to confidently boast its finest fruit and mineral characteristics. Very impressive.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Sadie Family barrel.
Man & Soil Sadie Family Wines Pinotage 2018, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, 13.5 Abv.
Incredibly, this wine shows an earthy musky Swartland perfume and fragrance that is certainly not just in my subconscious. There are seductive notes of fresh potpourri, crushed rose petals, Jasmin and Iris blossom melting into sun raisined cranberry, damson plum and pink musk complexity. The palate shows a softer, rounder, riper more generous fleshy accessibility that reaches all corners of the mouth and washes over the tastebuds in waves of sweet earthy savoury black plums, loganberry and earthy red currant complexity. Plush and seductive without lacking any structure, this wine exhibits all the fabulous Sadie X factor that has made his other wines so famous!
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
None of these bottles are commercially available and therefore register pretty high up on the ultimate unicorn wine list. The fact they are such high quality but also age worthy and made by two of South Africa’s best winemakers seals their legendary cult status. A real privilege to drink these two bottles with Emul and friends a few hundred meters from the vineyard itself!
You simply don’t get bigger names in South African winemaking folklore than Beyers Truter who undoubtedly made his name and established it on the global wine map producing the fine wines of Kanonkop. While winemaker there he won numerous prestigious awards including the highly coveted Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Trophy for the World’s Best Red Blend with his iconic Paul Sauer 1991 Bordeaux blend.
But the true love affair in Beyer’s life has always been another grape variety, Pinotage which will probably be the one that defines his lasting legacy and high standing in the South African Winemaking Hall of Fame.
Like a school boy watching their Springbok rugby idols on tv, I used to stand in awe of Beyers whenever I’d attend a wine tasting. But of course many of those school boys came good and ended up playing rugby alongside their idols. I too grew up, became qualified in wine and now feel honoured to call people like Beyers Truter a good friend. One will never shake off the surreal feeling that accompanies these unique paths in life.
In 2019 it was with great honour that I was invited to judge on the ABSA Top 10 Pinotage Competition overseen by the Pinotage Association and of course Beyers Truter. It was a truly fantastic and enlightening experience getting to taste and assess so many top expressions of Pinotage in one moment. But after judging was completed, I could not pass up on the opportunity to visit the great man himself at his eponymous winery Beyerskloof to taste through a fabulous archive selection of his wines.
The Stellenbosch estate was planted in 2003 and started using their own fruit from the 2007/8 vintages.
Beyerskloof Pinotage Reserve 2005, WO Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch, 14 Abv.
Normally a combination 30% New oak using a selection of 2 or 3 better blocks. Bright earthy brambly nose with graphite an wood spice. Bright crisp acids with vibrant nervy black fruits and a savoury, steely finish. Holding up very well.
(Wine Safari 90+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Beyerskloof Pinotage Reserve 2004, WO Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch, 14 Abv.
Rich savoury oak complexity with boot polish, black cherry and graphite notes. Palate shows sweet and sour plum, plenty of punchy depth, mineral tannins and fine pin point freshness.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood)
Beyerskloof Pinotage Reserve 2003, WO Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch, 15 Abv.
From a warm, dry year, the nose shows slightly riper baked, sun dried fruit notes, strawberry jam, raisined cranberries and a round opulence with a creamy oak profile, plenty of generosity and great drinkability. The aromatics may have suffered from the heat but the palate fruit is certainly vital and punchy.
(Wine Safari Score: 89/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Beyerskloof Synergy 2006 Cape Blend, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5 Abv.
A blend of 41% Pinotage, 41% Shiraz, 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot. Rich bright youthful nose, this is a really complex melange of black fruits, and savoury meaty fruit. On the palate there is a smokey charcoal embers spice, gun smoke and sweet black fruit, cured meats and clean bright acids.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Beyerskloof Synergy 2005 Cape Blend, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5 Abv.
A blend of 50% Pinotage, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot. Savoury ripe brambly fruits, earth and wood spice. The palate is vibrant yet mature, but shows a beautiful texture and polish demeanour. There are some stewed fruit notes to begin but the lasting impression is overt opulence, good purity and a harmonious texture.
(Wine Safari Score: 90/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Beyerskloof Synergy 2004 Cape Blend, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5 Abv.
A blend of 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Pinotage, 30% Merlot and 10% Petit Verdot. Opulent nose of sweet wet tobacco, cassis, black cherry and blue berry fruits. Wonderfully sleek, lithe, harmonious and finely poised with light touch tannins, superb acidity and an overall youthful persona. Delicious.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Beyerskloof Field Blend 2009, WO Stellenbosch, 14 Abv.
A blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon and 37% Merlot. Aged in 100% new French oak for 21-23 months. Attractive fragrant nose of dried mint leaf, potpourri, violets and savoury black currant and black plum. Grilled herbs and spice show a more compact, dense vintage that is 2009 with multi layers of flavour, texture and nuanced black berry complexity. A very smart expression.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Beyerskloof Field Blend 2008, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5 Abv.
A blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon and 37% Merlot. Dark deep, broody black fruit with notes of grilled herbs, sweet tobacco, black currant and leafy spice. The palate shows a sappy sweet / sour note, spicy wood tannins and good opulence but the showy nose is a little less revealing on the palate finishing with stewed red fruit notes.
(Wine Safari Score: 89/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Beyerskloof Field Blend 2007, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5 Abv.
A blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Merlot. Cool dark broody nose with earthy sweet smokey spicy black fruits, tobacco and tannery leather, mint leaf and savoury black currant. Fleshy, balanced, a touch of sappy leafy fruit and a graphite finish.
Kaapzicht has been a family owned estate since 1946 producing high quality wines from their Bottelary Hills fruit. With the winemaking reins now firmly handed over from patriarch Danie Steytler Snr to next generation Danie Steytler Jnr, some incredibly exciting new wines are already being produced.
I recently caught up with Danie Steytler Jnr in London to talk wine, Stellenbosch politics, old vines, the future of Kaapzicht and also taste some of his exciting current releases.
Kaapzicht Estate Skuinsberg Bush Vine Cinsault 2017, WO Stellenbosch, 12.5 Abv.
80 to 380 metres aspect vineyard. All 1991 dry land bush vine on 3.3 hectares. Lovely dense earthy savoury sun dried strawberry and bramble berry fruit nose. Full and fleshy, this is showy, bright and mouth watering, displaying a crunchy edge, saline acidity and a fine sweet macerated red currant finish. Delicious.
(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Kaapzicht Estate The 1952 Bush Vine Cinsault 2016, WO Stellenbosch, 12.5 Abv.
This wine was made by Danie using grapes sourced from a 1952 block planted on Bellevue. One ton with 30% whole bunch in two 500 litre barrels for fermentation. A much more fragrant, lifted perfumed nose with sweet cherry, sun dried cranberry, rose petals and Turkish delight. Very pretty and deliciously complex with a tantalising sappy, stalk spice character. Palate speaks confidently but softly and is beautifully nuanced, vibrant and premium in feel. Another wine that shows the great potential of Cinsault.
(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Tasting with the talented winemaker Danie Steytler Junior.
Kaapzicht Estate Pinotage 2016, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5 Abv.
Dark deep depth of black plum with an opulent, slightly reductive nose of black cherry, mulberry and stewed plum. The oak is very subtle and integrated playing to the strengths of the fruit purity and precision emphasising the wines wild edge. Texturally there is impressive focus, balanced finesse and a classy, cool, elegant mouthfeel punctuated with soft supple black fruits and oak spice. This is an impressive expression of this uniquely South African variety.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Kaapzicht Estate Kliprug Chenin Blanc 2016, WO Stellenbosch, 14 Abv.
Grapes from Bottelary, Stellenbosch. 6000 bottles produced, 60% in 500 litre oak, 20% in concrete egg and 20% stainless steel tank. Rich, deep, complex nose of bruised yellow fruits, white peach, creamy and plush, showing honied pineapples, leesy yellow fruits. Plenty of gravitas, fruit weight, focus and textural complexity.
(Wine Safari Score: 90+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Kaapzicht Estate The 1947 Chenin Blanc, WO Stellenbosch, 14 Abv.
From 70 year old vines, the aromatics are super complex and spicy with lovely nuances of wet straw, dusty white citrus, honied yellow peaches, fynbos and sweet pineapple confit. There is such focused depth, full bodied plump texture and complexity with fabulous nuances of tangerine peel, naartjie pulp, lychee concentrate and a honied bon bon intensity. A super impressive wine with power, breadth and weight but a balancing harmonious acidity. The true personification of delicious old vine Chenin Blanc statesmanship. World class from every angle. Drink now and over the next 25 years.
“The 100pt rating was most certainly a terrific boost for the brand,” says Johann Krige, co-proprietor of Kanonkop. “We have never experienced such a demand for the Paul Sauer and it looks as though the interest is spilling over into our next release, namely the Black Label Pinotage 2017 of which only 6 900 bottles are available – far less than the Paul Sauer 2015.”
Black Label is made from one of the oldest Pinotage vineyards in South Africa, one planted in 1953 on a site that has over the years proved to produce fruit of specific excellence and deemed special enough to be bottled under an own label. According to Kanonkop cellarmaster Abrie Beeslaar, the 2017 vintage was truly excellent for the Black Label. “It did not initially look as if this was going to be the case, as 2017 was the third very dry year in a row on the farm,” he says. “We only had 500mm of rain, 250mm less than the long-term average.” But the final results are captured in the bottle and are results worthy of adoration.
Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage 2017, Stellenbosch, 14.5 Abv.
When it comes to Pinotage, there may certainly be bigger wines, bolder opulent wines or more funky wines on the market but nothing ticks all thefine wineboxes like Kanonkop Black Label. The 2017 release marks the dawning of a new era where the local sales in the home market are properly mirrored with an enthusiastic international collector market pre-release offer for the first time. And what better way to do this with than with the 2017 expression which now comes from noble 67 year old vines which create a majestic elixir matured entirely in new French oak for 18 months before release. What Abrie Beeslaar has created in this vintage is a marvel to behold marrying new world hedonistic opulence with old world, Bordeaux’esque delineation and structure. This is a block buster that tantalises and teases the palate in the most intellectual sense and rewards the palate with a cornucopia of stimulation. The bouquet is positively bursting with lifted maraschino cherry, kirsch liquor, clove spice, blueberry, earthy mulberry and plum coulis. But it doesn’t stop there, before this block buster even gets out the starting blocks and close to your palate there are complex notes of sweet cloves, wood shavings, branded oak, iced tea and fresh oregano, sage and rose petal to behold. The palate is equally complex and alluring, exotically seductive in the most sensual sense of the word, showing the succulent delineation you would hope for and expect from a wine of this pedigree and price point but also a complexity of sweet bramble berry fruits, cut hedgerow, freshly tilled Stellenbosch earth and cherry kirsch liquor chocolates. But the stand out quality of this wine is undoubtedly the bright, crunchy yet sultry saline acidity that leaves you coming back for one sip after another. The lasting impression of this wine on the palate is the vitality, precision, knowhow and authority that beam from the glass akin to facing down a glass of Romanée Conti Burgundy. But I’ll stop there… the rest is up to you… the consumer! Dive in now or over the next 20+ years.
