Werfdans

The 2017 vintage has, over the years, become one of the most lauded and sought after quality vintages for red wines in South Africa, potentially even surpassing the famed block buster expressions of 2015. Falling right in the middle of the drought years, the vineyards all around the Western Cape had finally started to readjust to the new perpetuated heat and drought conditions. I tasted some of Ian Naude’s 2017 Cinsault barrels not long after harvest and realised very early on that this was going to be a very special vintage indeed.

The 2017 harvest was slightly larger than 2016, following another dry season. The growing season, post-harvest, was very hot and dry and winter arrived late in most wine regions. Spring arrived on time with cooler nights throughout the growing season and an absence of significant heatwaves during harvest time helped buffer the effect of the ongoing drought. Higher rainfall brought some relief in certain regions although it still was very much below average. The dry conditions did contribute to very healthy vineyards and smaller berries with good colour and flavour concentration. The harvest season kicked off somewhat later due to cool night temperatures however ripening accelerated by mid-February and the harvest ended earlier than usual.

Walking the vineyards with Ian Naudé in March 2023.

Ian Naude has always had a knack of confounding critics when they taste his cool, crystalline, flavour-packed wines and then realise that they are often only 11% or 12% alcohol wines with ample texture, depth, structure and ripeness. Ian confirms that the challenge is always to interpret the vintage conditions correctly in order to monitor the natural fruit / acid balance in the grapes and of course, getting the picking dates correct. This can only be achieved with regular visits to the vineyard, tasting the grapes and then understanding when the flavours tell you to pick, not the laboratory results.

I had an opportunity to taste the 2017 Cinsault in November 2022 in London at a tasting with Ian Naude and then again in March 2023 on my recent visit to the Cape winelands. Watch out for this new release in early May 2023!

Naude Wines Werfdans Old Vine Cinsault 2017, WO Darling, 12.5% Abv.

1.6g/l RS | 5.2g/l TA | 3.51 pH

Finally ready for release 6 years after vintage, the 2017 Werfdans Cinsault is undoubtedly one of the most exciting wines Ian has released to date under his own Naude Wines label. From an exceptional vintage, the 2017 is altogether tighter, tauter and more compact than the opulent and gregarious Werfdans 2016, coming across as a more serious, confident and highly composed expression of old vine Cinsault. Ian already makes some of the most regaled expressions of serious old vine Cinsault in South Africa, but the 2017 takes quality up another notch or two. The aromatics are initially a little more broody and restrained with a slow perfumed release of pressed violets, red bramble berry fruits, wild strawberry, sour cherry, sun raisined cranberry and the signature top notes of rose petals, crushed granite minerality and Turkish delight. The palate is packed as tight as a sailor’s sea chest, with a fruit density, concentration and power delivered with an effortless elegance. Always deliciously fresh and crystalline, the bright acids help frame the youthful palate fruit adding further structural integrity, finally yielding on the finish to delicately drying, mineral, fine grained stony tannins. This is an incredibly striking, long awaited fine wine release that all committed Cinsault aficionados are going to be seduced by. Drink on release and over the next 20+ years.

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

Wines are imported and distributed in the UK by Museum Wines. http://www.museumwines.co.uk at an approximate retail price of £39 per bottle.

If Chenin Blanc has become Ian Naude’s white wine calling card, then there is no doubt whatsoever that Old Vine Cinsault is his red equivalent despite the cult following for his incredible Grenache wines. Ian Naudé was recently over in London to launch a comprehensive selection of his new vintage releases including his Platter 5 Star Langpad Colombard 2021, his Platter 5 Star Oupa Willem 2019 Cape Heritage Blend, his Grenache 2019, and of course his long awaited Old Vine Cinsault 2016.

This benchmark expression of Darling / Swartland Old Vine Cinsault has now been labelled the Werfdans, an Afrikaans name for the small dust whirlwinds that spin and dance around the dusty coastal vineyards of the Swartland. If you are not familiar with Ian Naude’s Old Vine Cinsault wines, be sure not to miss this new creation that rivals the greatest expressions produced in South Africa from the likes of Eben Sadie, Duncan Savage, Donovan Rall and Mullineux Family Wines’ Leeu Passant venture.

Naude Family Wines Werfdans Old Vine Cinsault 2016, WO Darling, 12.5% Abv.

The fruit for this 100% Darling 43+ year old vine Cinsault was sourced from the late Boetie van Reenen’s farm in the Swartland. While the 2014 vintage was a slow burner that sizzled invitingly until it finally exploded with exuberance after a few years in bottle, the 2015 release was and is a long-standing icon wine that came close to redefining premium Cinsault in South Africa. In the 2016, Ian Naudé has shifted into sixth gear, coaxing some of the most seductive textures and flavours out of his old vine fruit. The aromatics are positively brimming with marzipan, Turkish delight, dried coriander seeds, violets and rose petal perfume with a subtle kiss of lychee exoticism. On the palate the quality shift is witnessed in full focus with a beguiling combination of sweet seductive red berry fruits, harmoniously textured concentration and a long, full, persistent finish that simply crashes the senses mainframe and announces something very very special indeed. This certainly is next level seductive Cinsault quality from the old vine master himself. Drink the 2016 now and over the next 10+ years.

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