Marlbrontes and Torronbec - the next big thing for Argentina?
Monday 13 September
There’s nothing new about a Shiraz/Viognier blend but what about Malbec/Torrontes? And why haven’t we thought of this before?
At Decanter’s Argentina tasting this weekend, I tried a Malbec which had an attractive yet unusual orange blossom/flora character that I’d never experienced before. Does it have some Viognier in, I asked? No – Torrontes. Argentina’s two signature grapes in a blend together equals genius idea.
Tapiz’s new 08 Bicentanario is a blend of Malbec, Bonarda and Torrrontes. It was interesting and bloody delicious. The Torrontes really lifted the wine aromatically and provided freshness. But Tapiz was not the first to have come up with the idea…
Mauricio Lorca claims to be the first to release a Malbec Torrontes under the name ‘Malbrontes’! It seems like an obvious idea now it’s been done but why has it taken so long to someone to do it? Lorca says, “I don’t know. The general mentality of the commercial guys is that unusual things don’t sell so this kind of things has to come from a small producer.”
“When I first did the blend I showed the wine to my friends and they thought it was such an easy and friendly wine.”
It is a soft, juicy wine without much complexity but that’s what it’s meant to be – and at £8.99 in Harrods, it’s probably one of the cheapest things you’ll find in the store.
The Tapiz is a bit more serious, which you’d expect for £18.
Both producers ferment the varieties separately and then blend them together. Tapiz ages both the Malbec and Bonarda in oak before blending with the Torrontes while the Malbrontes sees no oak. Interestingly (if you’re an MW student, winemaker or geek), Lorca takes the Malbec juice off its skins after just 3 days of fermentation to minimise tannin extraction and then completes the ferment like a white wine in stainless steel at 18C. This maximises the aromatics giving blackberry, violets and lovely juiciness. For the Torrontes part of the blend, Lorca picks some of the fruit slightly underripe to give more acidity. Malolactic fermentation is avoided to maintain freshness.
So, are we going to see some more Malbrontes or Torronbec in the future? I hope so.
Confusion surrounds water additions in South Africa
Thursday 9 September
Several weeks ago, I reported on decanter.com that a proposal to legalise adding water to must in South Africa was actually in breach of EU wine law.
The creators of the proposal, Wine Cellars South Africa, claimed that the proposal could come into law as early as autumn 2011. And, having met many winemakers in the Western Cape last week, it seems they also think it will be allowed next year. Guys, it won’t, so you’d probably better not do it or those nasty Wine of Origin inspectors will come and give you a hiding!
Yes, adding water to must to bring down alcohol levels is allowed in California but they have a bilateral agreement with the EU permitting this. South Africa does not have the same bilateral agreement and thus if you want to water down your musts in South Africa, you’ll be flouting OIV and EU rules.
I spoke to Su Birch, head of WoSA at the end of my trip to South Africa over a tasty glass of Chenin in Cape Town. She clarified things:
“There are some producers who only make wine for the local market and they want to be able to do this.” So, perhaps domestically this could be allowed (?) but the EU won’t have any of it.
Birch added: “It’s legal for Californian producers but we will have to negotiate. We would need to have a bilateral agreement and it would need to be passed by the OIV.” And this isn’t something that’s going to happen as quickly as next year.
“Good winemakers are never going to do it but it’s certainly a more natural intervention than, say, spinning cone.”
Current EU laws allow producers to reduce alcohol up to 2% using spinning cone technology.
I hope that makes things a bit clearer. In short, stay away from the black snake.
Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc continue to dominate shelf space in 2010 but does that mean they are the future too?
Having judged at the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show in 2008, it’s clear there is growing interest in non-international varieties in the New World, and South Africa is no exception.
The latest industry figures show Chenin Blanc still leads the planting chart with Cabernet Sauvignon, Colombard, Syrah, and Sauvignon Blanc completing the top five. There are still relatively few hectares of Mediterranean varieties including Sangiovese, Barbera, Roussanne, Grenache, and Mourvedre but visit many wineries in the Western Cape, and they are quite the fashionable thing to be planting or adding to a blend.
Francois Haasbroek of Waterford Estate says, “I think that more people are opening up to the fact that Cabernet and Shiraz are not the be all and end all.”
So, is the emergence of varieties better suited to Mediterranean climes a consequence of global warming? Not necessarily, claims Wilhelm Pienaar, red winemaker at Nederburg. “We are anticipating people getting bored of the traditional varieties.”
“There’s a big drive to experiment and use new varieties like Tempranillo – and we are looking at it quite intensively,” he added. The major producer has an experimental vineyard, trying out 30 lesser-known varieties.
Chris Williams, winemaker at Meerlust, has his own label The Foundry, specialising in varieties like Grenache Blanc, Viognier and Roussanne. “Yes, there’s increasing interest in Mediterranean varieties,” he said, “but I don’t think they will ever be the majority: Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon do well and always will.”
It’s good to see that there’s a willingness to experiment. Ok, so the end of Cabernet is not nigh but this is one trend that is adding interest to the South African portfolio.
The strapline for generic body Wines of South Africa (WOSA), is ‘Variety is in our nature’. Until you visit the wine regions of South Africa, it’s not really clear how wide, and confusing, its variety is.
It’s easy enough to pinpoint a wine style from Rioja or Bordeaux, and explain it to consumers but how do you communicate what a ‘Stellenbosch style’ is? The answer appears to be you can’t. The sub regions of the area like the Jonkershoek Valley and Simonsberg have certain stylistic styles but trying to find a common thread across the region’s diverse vineyards with their vast range of varieties, from Sauvignon and Chardonnay to Barbera and Shiraz, is virtually impossible.
Wine producers admit other visitors have the same problem.
James Dare, sales and marketing manager at Warwick Estate says, “It’s very difficult to get foreign journalists to get a grip on South Africa because it is so diverse; trying to get a handle on Stellenbosch is just as hard – there’s no regional style.”
So how can you communicate this, I wonder? Francois Haasbroek, winemaker at Waterford Estates claims it’s virtually impossible to provide a ‘This is Stellenbosch’ guide to the outsider. “This is our problem,” he said.
“The only thing you canll sell in South Africa is your own brand and it’s enormously frustrating” “We have amazing potential but I can’t go to Stockholm and say this is our example of Stellenbosch Cabernet; it is our Cabernet. We can’t talk for the region or country,” he added.
While I only had two days to get a handle on Stellenbosch, I’m not sure a lifetime would be enough.
Waterford Estate’s wine range impressed including its 2009 Sauvignon Blanc with a friendly 12.3% alcohol (18.5/20 rating) and the fresh, lean 2008 Kevin Arnold Shiraz (19/20).
Raats 2008 No 1 Chenin Blanc was also a star with apple, marzipan and musk on the nose, zippy freshness, linearity (if that’s not too much of a snobby wine word) and lovely minerality (19/20).