Three generations

Following its first democratic elections, South Africa in the mid 1990s turned from pariah to international favourite. Its wine industry simultaneously began to undergo momentous change and dynamic growth - so rapidly that winemakers nearing retirement and those just starting out have experienced very different industries. A wonderful opportunity for Angela Lloyd to capture the views of three active generations on a range of industry topics.

Background and early years
Both Walter Finlayson and Jeff Grier grew up in the Cape winelands with wine as part of the family lifestyle. Before going into winemaking fulltime, both travelled extensively in Europe, tasting widely and gaining perspective on Cape wines. They regard this opportunity as influential on their development.

A career in wine was probably one of the least likely for Mzo Mvemve, and was a matter of good timing after 1994, when the industry took the first tentative steps to broaden its intake to include all South Africans at the higher levels. He was born and brought up in Umlazi near Durban, where he was forbidden to drink alcohol: 'Township children who drank were thought to be into doing bad things!' In response to Jabulani Ntshangase's efforts to recruit black winemaking students, he dropped a chemical engineering programme to study for a BSc at Stellenbosch, where he made his first acquaintance with wine. (See Grape 11 for a full account of Mzo's struggles.)

Education
A point of agreement among these three is that travel, working foreign harvests and wide tasting experience, of local and foreign wines, are as important as formal qualifications from Elsenburg Agricultural College or Stellenbosch University.

Walter recalls: 'Formal training seemed very primitive in the 1960s compared with today. For one thing, I was told I would never be successful with small oak.' Despite his BSc, Jeff reckons the teaching institutions then did not prepare students for their future goals; 'I didn't know how to make wine when I left Stellenbosch,' he claims. And now? 'While Elsenburg probably offers better winemaking know-how and would suit those working on a small, private property, the large corporates require a better qualification, such as a BSc, even though there's no guarantee of a better winemaker.' But he also admits: 'Whilst things have improved, if either of my children were interested in wine, I'd recommend they get an international degree.'

Mzo graduated from Stellenbosch in 2001, so has a more recent take: 'The basic course was good but the university and the industry are too divorced from one another. There needs to be much more communication between the two bodies for both to advance.' Warming to his theme, Mzo comments on the broader spectrum of education: 'The Cape Wine Academy has done a good job, but it now needs to get into the townships and universities, to generate interest in wine among young people.'

Learning, he believes, comes from a sequence of exposure, education, experience, familiarisation, before the final goal of appreciation. 'I taste South African wines most days; I've tasted some French wines and been to France but haven't yet worked a harvest outside of South Africa. I agree this is important but as someone coming from outside the industry, I felt I first had to establish a base here and familiarise myself with the industry and South African wines.' Mzo also points out the difficulties associated with the language of tasting - in his own second language. 'Tasting itself I was soon comfortable with, but it has its own language and if one doesn't know it, one is likely to be thought a bad taster.'

Viticulture
Until relatively recently, vineyards, viticulture and viticulturists were the forgotten arm of wine production. Grapes would arrive at the cellar where the winemaker would see them for the first time. 'The vineyard was disregarded, while the emphasis was on the cellar - but only to make sure the wine was clean and drinkable,' Jeff remembers. Viticultural expertise has come far. When he started, experimentation and research were limited: 'There was little site identification; varieties that would sell were planted anywhere; it was difficult to get other varieties, and this to an extent remains a big issue. Scion and rootstock selection and procedures such as row direction, canopy management and irrigation were poorly considered.'

Walter concurs: 'Canopy management was a viticultural method barely known or understood in the 1960s. Now South Africa has come in line with quality of varieties but not vine material. The problem then, as it is now in the Cape's vineyards, is one of virus.' Not an insoluble problem, according to Jeff: 'We've learnt more about control and spread prevention. We're avoiding virus altogether in the early-to-mid-ripening varieties, but late-ripening Cabernet still gets stress. Even this has been reduced through better crop management and drainage. Today, everyone acknowledges that the correct viticultural practices are critical for quality.'

Since Cape Classics owns no vineyards, Mzo's viticultural experience is largely academic, but he suggests that wine quality should be controlled from the vineyards and, in part, good quality derives from not overcropping. We wondered, incidentally, what Mzo, as a native of Kwa-Zulu Natal, thinks of vitis vinifera expanding into his home province. 'I'd be cautious,' he admits. 'One has to look very carefully at climate, soil and temperature and how they interact. It's easy to say the vines will go into dormancy, but will it be at the right time?'

Winemaking
Once winemakers began to travel more, work in other winelands, taste their wines, and be exposed to the demands of foreign markets, so winemaking techniques changed. Changed, rather than definitively improved, Walter suggests. 'Winemak-ing has gone from a pretty primitive affair to cellars being equipped as well as anywhere, but I wonder if we're not too high tech. The wines are now more difficult to identify. We really need more individuality, more terroir-oriented wines. But this is a worldwide phenomenon, not just in South Africa.' He is positive more differentiation will result from new viticultural areas and paying attention to matching clones and varieties to the right sites.

As one of the pioneers using small oak barrels, Walter recognises the importance of this medium: 'Oak has to be a factor in top quality wines but only if they have the right balance. How much depends on the variety; shiraz, for instance, loses fruit if it's in oak for too long.'

Jeff's views reflect the changes Villiera has undergone over the past 20 years. 'You have to look at why wineries were set up the way they were in the early '80s. South Africa was isolated, we were selling to locals only, so we had to have a broad-based range offering value for money. That approach continues to be successful for Villiera. It is possible to go the small quantity, high price route today, though most wines will be exported.'

Jeff also notes how winemaking techniques had to be adapted to the styles demanded by consumers. `With the popularity of varietal wines, methods such as skin contact, using the right yeast, less interference, pumping - all these became important in the 1980s. A decade on, attention was directed to reductive winemaking, but at the top end this isn't as critical to allow some secondary character to develop; reductive methods are thus being reassessed. With reds, we've gone from introducing small barrels to completing fermentation in them.'

Mzo enthuses that 'everyone is aware of new technology and willing to experiment, which is good'. He too sees oak as an important tool for quality wine, 'when it's used appropriately. There's still too much used in chardonnay, especially now consumers are preferring natural grape flavours.' He is comfortable with the idea of oak staves and chips for cheaper wine but is concerned that the wine needs to be of good quality. 'For that, the quality of the staves or chips and of the grapes needs to be improved, otherwise one is paying a higher price for the wood alone.'

Regulations
Not as regulated as the traditional winemaking areas, yet hemmed in compared with New World countries such as Australia, South Africa has regulations which probably follow rather than lead needs; some favour one type of producer over another, but do they assist the image of South African wine as a whole? Walter has no doubt that the Wine of Origin system does: 'It informs the consumer about what's in the bottle.' But he has no doubt the industry was over-regulated initially, quotas being a particularly bad thing. Jeff agrees: 'That quotas were a mess is shown by some of the best wines now coming from original non-quota regions.'

Both consider controls are necessary under certain circumstances. 'Against additives,' suggests Walter, though this is a practice he hasn't encountered. 'But I think warnings on labels and advertising are unnecessary. They're directed at alcohol abusers, who are often illiterate anyway, so it is wasted on them.' The questionable ability of members of the Wine and Spirit Board's teams to assess quality, leads Jeff to be in favour of verification of vintage, variety and origin and quality as far as faults, but not quality or style.

As for additives, Jeff believes winemakers should get things right in the vineyard rather than patch things up in the cellar. 'The more additives are allowed, the more new ones will appear. This mustn't happen.' But not all additives are used to help wines meet price points or compensate for human shortcomings. 'Acid and sugar should both be allowed - but either/or, rather than both,' says Jeff. Mzo agrees the winemaker should be given the latitude to improve wines, but would opt for sugar rather than acid: 'Artificial acid can be easily tasted, sugar is less easy to pick up.' But he too feels that wine should be made as naturally as possible. 'With additives, where does one draw the line? It's much better to improve quality than cover up mistakes.'

Additives are one thing, techniques such as removal of components through reverse osmosis, quite another. Only Jeff offered views on this. 'We shouldn't close our eyes to new technology. Certainly reverse osmosis would have been useful this year when rain fell before the cabernet ripened. So, I think it's fine to remove water before ferment, but not alcohol afterwards, nor to remove volatility - which has no reason to be there in the first place!' Summarising the situation, he says that 'wine can't afford to be something that's not natural. Anything that one can't control should be difficult to allow. But in the end the market will dictate.'

Media
Ah, the all-powerful fourth estate! If any theme separated the generations it was this. Perhaps because the industry was smaller when Walter started, and everyone knew everyone else, he was reluctant to comment bar suggesting that 'some journalists are knowledgeable, others not. Winewriters have always been important on the local market and certainly the publications help the industry.'

Jeff doubts journalists' influence locally. 'I think ratings are more significant, as is visibility in stores and the wine routes.' He does praise the greater independence of writers, many of whom combine quality journalism with wine knowledge, but warns that 'we still need more new, young journalists'.

Mzo wholeheartedly agrees. 'We should be tapping into students studying journalism at university, introducing them to wine and to wine writing. This needs to be in all the media, not just magazines.' He has some trenchant criticisms for the present situation. 'I find journalists are likely to write what winemakers say without question', he says. Further, 'I mostly question the objectivity of wine magazines. Wine also needs to be put across in much simpler form.'

Competitions
New shows and competitions seem constantly being launched, trying to attract entries and media attention. 'When I started,' Walter recalls, 'there was only the SA Young Wine Show and its top award, the General Smuts trophy, which carried weight. It was very much controlled by the big companies and most of the award-winning wines were blended away.' On the whole, Walter considers today's shows a good thing: 'Wine is subjective; competitions help to raise the quality bar and, for the winners, assist marketing. They are also a necessary vehicle to promote the industry.' How they are run is another matter: 'More people outside the industry need to be involved. And I'd like to see categories for older vintages.'

'A rating beats an advert any time,' Jeff declares, ranking the commercial benefit of a Veritas Double Gold ('a guaranteed sell out') tops, followed by Platter five stars, Wine magazine five or four-and-a-half stars, and the Fairbairn Trophy Show - 'though with its short track record, perhaps it's too early to say. I doubt the value of competitions such as the Michelangelo Awards and Classic Wine Trophy.'

Jeff confirms that Villiera, like many other producers, is taking a more selective approach, entering shows which provide the best commercial benefit. He adds that show acclaim can establish status in the heirarchy, citing Thelema: 'Gyles made the farm's reputation by winning both white and red wine trophies on SAA two years in a row. Their status remains, despite no longer taking part in competitions.'

Shows are a new world for Mzo, who this year was invited to judge on both the SA Young Wine Show and Veritas. 'For now, I'm trying to find my feet, and soaking up the experience. I don't yet feel familiar enough to comment with authority on their value.' Nevertheless, although he knows of complaints, he found the Young Wine Show well organised, and notes that Veritas is 'an evolving system, where things are changing in a positive, inclusive way.' He agrees with Walter in wishing to see panels made up of a broader spectrum of people involved with wine.

Changes: past and future
Whilst Walter acknowledges South Africa's recognition as a producer of top quality wine, he would like more international investment and more, higher profile international journalists visiting. 'Whether the problem is our fault or a generally negative attitude towards Africa, I'm not sure. But I believe our overall image will only improve once the winegrowers consider quality before finances. Also, the industry as a whole needs to work together. There needs to be acceptance of criticism to improve, but presently we're still fighting the Boer War.'

Jeff reels off an extensive range of issues: 'The whole political issue; concern for the environment and springing from that genetically modified additives (which I don't write off as they do have benefits in yeasts, but we can't use them as they are generally unacceptable at present); the alcohol issue - we must ensure wine remains the number one choice with food and for a healthy life style. With our cleaner vine material, phenolic ripeness is easier to achieve, but alcohol levels have gone through the roof. The next challenge is to achieve phenolic ripeness at lower sugar levels and thus lower alcohols to under 14%. The anti-alcohol lobby will, however, continue to work against wine; the drinking and driving message is already affecting restaurant sales. The foetal alcohol syndrome - we must make sure the producers' end is clean.'

Mzo naturally wants to see more young people educated about wine. 'I don't believe in creating a wine especially for young people; rather get them to associate drinking wine with a pleasant experience - a bottle of wine with a picnic. Coolers with varietal names aren't in the best interests of the industry; they only create confusion as they sit on the same shelves as proper wine in general grocers' stores.' He'd also like to see more blends, terroir-reflective wines, and screwcaps.