South African variety: a blessing or a curse?
Friday 3 September
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).
Hi Rebecca, Good to see you again and don’t forget to try that bottle of 2006 Iona Sauvignon Blanc for Planet Wines when you get back to NZ!
South Africa is indeed diverse and this extends to regions and wards as borne out by the difference in styles you found in Elgin and we are only 100 sq km in extent.
Historically we planted the noble French cultivars but not much attention was paid to which cultivar does best in a particular climate and farms became a bit of a “fruit salad”.
This is changing now particularly with premium producers, with recognition that the best wines are grown in the vineard and cultivars must suit the climate.
Pay special attention to Wine of Origin on the label as even though a wine is produced in Stellenbosch, it might well be made from grapes from another region.
I would be interested to know if the Sauvignon Blanc you enjoyed from Kevi Arnold’s Waterford was made from Elgin grapes?
Andrew Gunn
Iona
- by Andrew Gunn, Iona