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.
]]>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.
]]>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).
]]>I’m not sure what I was expecting as I boarded the Big 5 Wine Safari vehicle at Warwick Estate in Stellenbosch but it wasn’t a comparison between a white rhino and Sauvignon Blanc, that’s for sure. But life is full of surprises.
Wrapped in a fuchsia pink blanket to stave off the cold spring day, our tour guide Ivan took us around the wine safari, also known as a vineyard tour.
“Cabernet Sauvignon,” he said “is like a lion. The lion is the king of the jungle. When Cabernet is young, it is aggressive on the palate; as it becomes older, the tannins calm down, just like when a lion ages.”
Hmm, a bit tenuous, but I see what you’re driving at Ivan and I’ve never heard a wine compared to a wild animal before. It’s refreshing for a wine journalist who has seen enough stainless steel tanks and barrels to last a life time.
Sauvignon Blanc…which of the Big 5 safari animals would it be? The white rhino, of course. The link was fresh green grass: the rhino eats it; the wine smells like it.
Cabernet Franc is apparently like an elephant because they both have thick skin and you can keep the wine for a very long time. Warwick does a single varietal Cab Franc, a relative rarity in South Africa, but I couldn’t see any relation to Dumbo or Nelly.
The buffalo is another safari favourite but it’s unpredictable and wild hence the comparison with Pinotage. And last but not least Merlot gets likened to a leopard – because it’s smooth. For wine connoisseurs, it might seem a bit silly but the wine industry needs a bit of fun injected into its rear end. It’s a great way to educate the consumer, link the wine trade with a successful tourism industry - and make wine seem less elitist.
]]>So, at today’s Romeo Bragato conference in Marlborough, Stuart Smith, chair of New Zealand Winegrowers, made a balanced and wise speech.
Falling profitability, oversupply, and the strength of the NZ dollar have been the crux of the problems the industry now faces, leading to Kiwi wine companies struggling or going out of business. Winegrowers also called for another harvest of 265,000 tonnes after two record harvests of 285,000 tonnes in 2008 and 2009.
Having spent seven months in New Zealand I don’t profess to be an expert but there are things I have noticed on my way round the country’s wine regions that have surprised me. I believe there’s naivety among the smaller players of the trade. No doubt, that occurs in many other wine producing countries. Consulting for an independent wine merchant in the UK for the past seven months and looking for new wines for its portfolio, there’s a lack of awareness of what’s going on outside New Zealand. Poor branding (or lack of it), dated labels, and an unwillingness to negotiate on ex-cellar prices makes you wonder if they’ve ever been to the UK, US or Australia to look at what’s on the shelves and the competition they’re up against. Obviously, many New Zealand producers are on the ball but many smaller wineries are making wine for themselves.
Here’s some snapshots from Smith’s address, offering another insider’s insight into the industry:-
After two decades of sustained growth, we are all now experiencing the worst trading conditions since the mid-1980’s. The global recession and markets trading down combined with issues specific to our own sector have seen grape and land prices fall sharply, bulk exports lift, in-market wine prices down, the NZ dollar is high against the UK pound and the US$ … times are tough, very tough indeed.
He later added: “Falling profitability is the major issue for growers and wineries right now. It is the issue that must be addressed – but it in turn is a function of a number of different issues. Supply and demand, the value of the NZ$, tax rates, compliance costs - these are all issues affecting profitability, so we need to have a range of strategies to address these issues as far as we can.
“...So going forward we must continue to be market led, harvesting no more grapes, making no more wine than the market can profitably absorb.
In that vein, we have been asked frequently in recent weeks ‘What is the demand for New Zealand wine out of the 2011 vintage?. Our assessment at this stage based on information from our wineries and looking at market trends is that a vintage of 265,000 tonnes which is the same size as 2010, would be sufficient to meet demand for NZ branded wine in the next year.”
]]>The old foie gras/blue cheese and Sauternes are so deeply entrenched that it’s going to have to take one enormous effort to alter perceptions.
Thomas Dejean of Chateau Rabaud Promis, admits: “Sauternes, foie gras, Sauternes, foie gras. It’s a reflex. We have to create more moments. As an aperitif, it’s fantastic - like a Sauvignon Blanc it’s incredibly aromatic.” Yes, but it’s not dry Thomas - and that’s the issue.
There certainly are plenty of other occasions that you can drink Sauternes but it’s a bit of a push to serve it at every course. Similarly, the Champenois try and force fizz down your throat at every course too, and that gives you really bad guts and makes you yearn for a still wine.
Nevertheless, I have to admit that there were some fantastic combos thanks to ex-sommelier and consultant chef, Georges Gotrand. He works his dishes around the wines - not something every chef would do for a sweet wine but then he’s getting paid to do it.
Nevertheless Chinese-style chicken marinated in sesame oil and soya sauce with coriander was sticky and viscous and a lighter-style Cadillac worked famously with it.
Likewise curried monkfish with dried coconut and an ‘04 Sauternes both married well. The sweetness complementing the delicate spices and the viscosity of the wine working with the creaminess of the sauce.
There were plenty of surprising matches and I have to say it did change my mind but will I get a bottle of sweet Bordeaux out next time I have a coconut-based curry? I’d like to say yes but then I’d probably be lying.
]]>No.
There’s been a slow trickle of grape-growing and wine producing companies that have gone into administration in the past year but I believe Awatere Vineyard Holdings’ demise could push the flood gates open.
Vineyard plantings have tripled since 2000, with grape prices falling as much as 50% following two consecutive bumper harvests, in 2007 and 2008. There have been a host of new entrants to the industry with romantic dreams of making their own wine or investors wanting to jump on the bandwagon and make a quick buck. If only they had done their research before making the plunge, they would have found that the soil wasn’t flecked with gold.
Central Otago producers Anthem Hodings and William Hill winery, and Marlborough’s Cape Campbell have already fallen victim to the oversupply and economic downturn and others will follow.
It’s a sad situation for those affected but the imbalances that have been created in the last three years need to be redressed. We’re likely to see the bigger companies getting bigger as they swallow up vineyard land; vineyards will be pulled out and replaced with other crops, and life will go on. Hopefully, the industry will have learned its lesson too.
]]>With higher prices and lower allocations of the top wines, the only way everyone can get a piece of the pie is through six-packs. Nick Pegna, MD at Berry Bros & Rudd Hong Kong tells me: “I think six packs are becoming more relevant. We saw them first in 1998 and 2000 when prices started rising.”
Indeed, Chateau Lynch-Bages packed 30% of their 2008s in six rather than twelve packs and it is believed that will increase this year.
Pegna adds: “In a vintage where there isn’t a lot of stock, it makes it fairer. Once everybody’s been allocated a little of what they want, you can then look at what’s left at the end of the campaign and start allocating more.”
While the wines will taste the same in six vs 12-pack cases, can investors realise the same returns with the smaller units? Pegna claims they have good resale value and lucky for us, fine wine trading site lix-ev has been hearing the same story from other merchants re six-packs - and they’ve kindly gone and done the research for us.
According to its August Market Report, six packs have, on average, traded at just 0.7% discount to 12s in the past year. Interestingly, the returns on magnum cases (6 x 150cl) and larger size formats were much lower than on the 12 x 75cl cases. The moral of this story is buy your bottles in 75cl if you’re planning on selling rather than drinking your Bordeaux jewels.
]]>The Medoc marathon already has two rival events in the region - in Blaye and Gujan-Mestras. But three marathons isn’t enough for the Bordelais, so next year the sweet wine appellations of Sauternes and Barsac are launching their own marathon. Put the 4 June 2011 in your diary and get training. The appellation’s wine body, the ODG, have been the driving force behind the marathon and producers will open up their cellar doors for tastings while the marathon winds through the area’s vineyards. There’s even talk of putting on swish dinners at the chateaux for the runners. I’m not sure if foie gras and running are much of a match, however.
It’s hoped there will be 800 participants. Will you be one of them?
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Yet, if you head down to your local Oddbins this week, you’ll find the 2009 Stratum Pinot Noir from Sherborne Estate in Waipara down from £10.99 to less than seven English pounds.
Back in January at New Zealand conference Pinot Noir 2010, producers argued that their Pinot Noir could not be made and sold for under a crisp tenner - unless you wanted to go out of business. You might see some of the bigger Kiwi companies like Villa Maria selling their entry level Pinot Noir at a relative snip but that’s because they’ve secured a deal from their UK distributor to take a specified amount of their higher priced wines.
John Ferris, director of sales and marketing at Villa Maria Estate, said, ‘It is a very low margin for us but if you can strike a deal on selling quantities of your upper ranges in return for cheap prices there’s huge opportunities in the sub £10 category. But it’s essential to keep your cost-of-goods down”
Many other premium producers have said sub £10 Pinot Noir is not viable for most New Zealand wineries, and they should be concentrating on the on-trade and independent sector. Yet the average price for a bottle of New Zealand Pinot Noir in the UK is just under the £9-mark. Or, you can go down to Oddbins and buy a bottle for £6.99. However, things are still comparatively buoyant for New Zealand - the average price for a bottle of Chilean Pinot is around the £6-marker.
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Sauvignon Blanc accounts for 80% of the wine that leaves Kiwi ports yet the Specialists didn’t have a Savvy in their portfolio, claiming there were few producers who specialised solely in the variety.
It’s also a price-sensitive variety, as Chris Canning of The Hay Paddock, told me in an article for decanter.com ‘Sauvignon Blanc is such a cut-throat market.’
‘There was a little prejudice toward the variety. We want to decouple ourselves from the New Zealand wine brand image that is slanted toward Sauvignon Blanc,’ he said back in January.
However, the group’s tune has changed - they have just announced Marlborough’s Fairbourne Estate will be the sixth member of the Specialists, dedicated to Sauvignon Blanc.
According to the press release, Fairbourne has been on the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc scene since the early 1990’s. Embarrassingly, I have never visited them, tried their wines and heard very little about them, so I can’t tell you whether they are any good! I will endeavour to change that.
Fairbourne joins Waiheke-based The Hay Paddock and Destiny Bay; fizz producers No.1 Family Estate; Gewurztraminer specialists Vinoptima and, Wooing Tree from Central Otago.
]]>So, I can’t say I was too happy in the sweet wine appellations of Bordeaux this week when every resident appeared to have an aggressive dog on their property. The first dog I met at Chateau Biac, Charlie, was no worries although it took a liking to my left shin and insisted on licking it at any opportunity. I tried to tell it I had recently showered but it didn’t seem to care.
My next run in with a chien was just 12 hours later with my nemesis - an Alsatian - at Ch. Rabaud Promis in Sauternes. Thank God, it was elderly and didn’t seem that interested in any of my body parts. However, it turned out the dog liked Sauternes and every time we went to spit on the gravel drive (no spittoons here) its party trick was catching whatever we spat out.
Cycling around Sauternes is a great way to see the area although if you’re on the road between Chateau d’Yquem and Ch. Raymond Lafon, watch out for a ferocious Jack Russell. Once again, the French dog was going for my legs, trying to bite my ankles. I don’t think I’ve cycled so fast in a long while trying to get away from it. Unfortunately the tourist office’s bikes are not exactly racing bikes so while my legs were going like billy-o, the Jack Russell was managing to keep up. I finally shook it off after a couple of hundred metres.
Bear in mind, this was all within a 24-hour period. I was yapped at by many dogs throughout the cycle ride but luckily they were fenced in.
My dog problems were not over, however. My last visit in Loupiac involved a rottweiler. it burst through some bushes and went for us. I froze, thinking Lady Luck had deserted me. Baring its teeth and barking, my blood pressure was on the up. Suddenly it jerks backwards and the metal chain around its neck has extended as far as it can. Suddenly, it’s funny. Nevertheless, I might invoke a no-dogs policy on my next trip to a wine region.
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It has recognised that beyond the prized ‘classed growths’, the financial state and the structure of the region’s grape growers and winemakers is pretty dire. The economic crisis has precipitated their demise but it was always coming, particularly with the decline in consumption in the domestic market.
While it is widely recognised that Bordeaux is the most prestigious region in the world, the generic brand has been damaged by low quality players who provide poor value for money. Bordeaux under £10? I wouldn’t bother.
The region is too serious and elitist compared to Australia, for example. The labels are confusing and the wines can be somewhat austere when tasted next to friendly, fruit-filled New World Cabernets.
Bordeaux Tomorrow is a 27-page plan to address the region’s strengths and weaknesses on a global stage.The main points are:
-make the offer easier to read by the consumer
-enhance the level of perceived quality
-help non-competitive players to become more successful
-encourage consolidation of cooperatives
-become stronger in generic appellations
-fight counterfeit wines
The scheme will be rolled out over the next three years.
Part of the plan is to categorise the wines in a similar vein to Wine Australia. It does not have Brand Champions or Regional Heroes but Art, Exploration, Fun and Basique. This seems rather airy-fairy to me but we’ll see what they do with it. It looks like they’re going to try and select a small selection of wines in each category for particular export markets to fight the good fight.
They don’t say how much money is going to be behind this new push but they will need more than simply good intentions to make this a success.
]]>So, when Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH), spelled their Cognac arm ‘Hennessey’ on the first line of its first half results, I just had to pull them up about it.
The corridors of power at LVMH are long and winding and you’d expect the press release they sent out with their results would have been read and read again before the send button was pushed.
So, it’s the hall of shame for them this week. Not that they’ll care: they’re laughing all the way to the bank.
I may be poor but at least I can spell my name: Rebecca Elizabeth Gibb. See?!
Oh, and can anyone tell me why Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy is now being referred to as Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton despite still being referred to as LVMH? Surely, it should be MHLV?
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