Bretty Ernie 8 January 2007

A lowlight of the festive season (which we temper with a few highlights too)

GO DIRECTLY TO LATEST COMMENTS (MOSTLY ABOUT STORAGE)

From Clive Sindelman:
The worst wine of festive season: Without a doubt, two bottles of badly brett contaminated Ernie Els 2004. I haven't had a good bottle of EE right from the 2001 vintage and the problem is always the same. So why does Platter's AL [Angela Lloyd] always give them 4½ to 5 stars with nary a mention of big bad brett?

Response from Angela Lloyd:
Well, it hasn't taken long for big bad Brett to raise its big, bad head in 2008. I'm really sorry, Clive, that you've found this problem with not only the Ernie Els 2004, but all vintages back to 2001, as, inherently, it is among South Africa's best reds. This is not only my humble opinion, but also that of the Platter tasters who - at the blind five star tasting - have confirmed it worthy of this ultimate rating for no fewer than three vintages (01, 02 and 04) out of the five vintages released to date. Publications other than Platter and people other than myself have also acknowledged the quality of these wines.

I think you should remember too that wine tasters have different sensory thresholds; maybe you can recognise it at even low levels.

With regard to mention Brett per se in Platter – without having a wine analysed it might be problematical pinning the label a wine that might be proved to be clean. Often if a Platter taster suspects its presence there might be reference to such qualities as Band Ad, truffles, mshrooms and the like (it should be obvious in the context that these are negative terms).

I do hope other wines Clive uncorked or even unscrewed over the festive season were less troublesome. Apart from an Alain Graillot Crozes Hermitage 1995, which was utterly memorable, I opened a few local wines that provided some pleasant surprises. A 2004 Oak Valley Sauvignon Blanc was still deliciously fresh and lively, proving yet again that sauvignon isn't a one-year wine. Kanonkop Paul Sauer 1991 was also a pleasure though is unlikely to get any better. For some reason we have a number of old bottles of Cap Classique that got lost in the cellar. With not much optimism I opened a 1992 Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel; it had a gloriously bright yellow gold colour, the bubble was still there, even if very languid and somewhat diminished, but the wine had a lovely creaminess and, though not complex, had good depth and length. All the more satisfying because it out-performed my expectations.

From Tim James:
As I noted in response to an earlier comment from Clive, ‘it was the 2002 version of this wine which Wine mag had analysed, after a panel member tasting blind insisted it was contaminated by Brettanomyces (see the March 2005 edition) – and so it proved  The 2003 has also been found problematical in this regard (though with both vintages there seems to be bottle variation).’

I personally am not implacably opposed to brett under all circumstances, but have been at a blind tasting attended by a number of senior members of the Brett Police, when a provenly Bretty bottling of Ernie aroused no adverse comment at all. Either threshholds of awareness are not always consistent or – more likely – there is some bottle variation with regard to Brett populations. Maybe Clive has been very unlucky. As to Platter tasting: I think it fair to say that Brett is less obvious when the wine is very young, and we tend to sample wines for Platter before they're even released (a lame excuse?).

On the pleasanter subject of festive drinking, my own most interesting SA wine was probably the 1975 Nederburg Edelkeur, which was dark tawny in colour, and very delicious (though it came at the end of a long and splendidly vinous dinner at Aubergine, so my critical faculties were admittedly rather blurred). The best local reds I had over the period were both old favourites, from 1998: Cordoba Crescendo and Paul Sauer. Best white was a lovely Sadie Family Palladius 2003. Fortunately nothing nasty or disappointing at all….

It would be good to hear about other people’s drinking highlights and lowlights over the holiday season, if they’d care to share them with us. Clive: I hope you had some good drinking too....

From Clive Sindelman:
Re: Elastoplast Els: I took to heart your insight that I might have been unlucky so I opened a bottle of 2001 EEls and lo and behold at last a wine almost befitting its price. If there's brett on this wine it's of the sort that adds complexity and flavour. A well crafted example of a warm climate bordeaux style blend perfect for drinking now. If only it could reproduce more consistently.

Some good older white wine experiences

From retailer and MW student Roland Peens (congratulations on your bursary, Roland):
Some of my highlights over the festive season were local vintage whites. More and more it's affirmed to me the benefits of perfect cellaring (constant 13 degrees) to ensure that fine wines mature as they should. Rijks Semillon 2002, is now starting to sing at 6 years of age and with time in the bag. Hamilton Russell Chardonnay 2001 was really composed, and even the warmer climate Glen Carlou Chardonnay 2002 still rich and firm. Go SA whites!
 

From Melvyn Minnaar:
I too had some splendid oldies over Xmas, including two brilliant bottles of De Wetshof Bateleur Chardonnay 1998! And L'Avenir Chenin Blanc 1997.

And a bit more on storage

Further

From Stewart Prentice:
Well, less illustrious no doubt, but a Welgemeend 2001 Douelle and Estate were memorable. We also found a 1997 Neethlingshof Shiraz which had been lying unnoticed and will be tested soon.

On the second topic - storage temp: would it be fair to assume that a lower temp (e.g., a constant 10 degrees) enables slower maturity than a higher one? If so, then similar vintages maturing at different rates may not only be at the optimum levels of enjoyment at different times (measured in years I
guess), but could the end-product be altered so that two otherwise identical wines have very divergent tastes even if the time-lag is factored in? Assume for the above that nothing is stored above 18 degrees so as not to cause undue damage. Let's say wine #1 at a constant 10 and wine #2 at a constant 18 in otherwise good cellaring conditions.

Response from Tim James:
It certainly seems to be the case that the slower the maturation (as determined primarily by temperature), the 'better' the maturity. Up to a point at least. At a low enough temperature, there would be scarcely any maturation process at all – which is why 100-year-old wines kept in deep, perfectly humid cellars beneath Scottish castles have apparently sometimes proved comparatively fresh and sprightly. (Leaving aside for now the question of what happens to the sealability of corks over a long time.) But a rapidly matured wine (ie one kept at 25º) will reach the end of its life (maturity?) in less satisfactory condition, and/or arguably less pleasingly complex, than one which reaches its peak over a much longer period, having been kept at, say, 15º. The consensus seems to be that about 10-16º is fine.

If this is true, a sensitive, experienced palate should be able to distinguish between the two wines in your example, and the wine that's matured at a slower rate should be 'better' than the 18º example.

But, of course, peak maturity is not one easily definable point, but a process (rather like maturity of fruit) and different people will not always agree on what perfect maturity is for a wine (or a grape). Even more of a but, and a very relevant one: most people who have stored a case of wine for a length of time are only too well aware that there is often a big difference in condition (maturity, if you like) between bottles identically stored. At least, this is a question of the seal of the bottle – quality of cork, how it fits the bottle; but perhaps also of other things like tiny differences in the amount of oxygen that was sealed in the bottle, etc.

Another great question of course would be how your two wines would compare to the identical wines sealed with screwcaps rather than cork and kept in identical conditions....