A blend of red (shiraz) and white (viognier) grapes to make a fine red wine is an increasingly fashionable strategy in the Cape, as Angela Lloyd discovers

On the face of it, blending a white grape with a red in pursuit of a classic red wine doesn’t sound very promising. But, in fact, marrying – a little – white viognier with red syrah does produce many benchmark wines from the Côte Rôtie appellation of the northern Rhône valley.

With syrah/shiraz in vogue internationally and viognier fast spreading its roots throughout the world’s vineyards, this combination is growing in popularity beyond its traditional boundaries. Already a big hit in Australia, the category has come from nowhere in South Africa to the ten wines Grape managed to unearth for this tasting. Quite possibly there are more infant examples still slumbering in Cape cellars.

Yet while so-called New World countries have adopted the blend with some passion, it is ironic that producers in the Côte Rôtie are moving away from including viognier in their wine and from growing it in their vineyards. Some background will help put the current situation in perspective.

Remington Norman MW, an authority on Rhône wines and author of Rhône Renaissance, joined the tasting panel to explore this new category in South Africa, and also offered some details on the unlikely grape partnership.

Co-planting viognier with syrah in the Côte Rôtie dates back to the mid-1800s. It is not certain whether this was a deliberate move to help soften the somewhat macho style of shiraz produced in the area or whether the nurserymen, less knowledgeable than they are today, were unaware of what vines they delivered. Given that viognier is grown in the neighbouring vineyards of Condrieu, confusion is perhaps understandable. Whatever the case, today’s appellation contrôlée rules stipulate that, if both varieties are used, they have to be co-planted, harvested and fermented. Viognier may be added up to a maximum of 20 percent – though this proportion is rarely if ever found.

The trend away from including viognier in the Côte Rôtie today has possibly a dual explanation. Firstly, vinification methods have significantly improved over the years. In the old days stems and all, whether fully ripe or not, were thrown into the fermentation vats – doubtless responsible for some of the rustic, brutal tannins whose rougher edges a dollop of viognier would ameliorate. Nowadays, de-stemming the bunches is the order of the day and tannin management is much better understood. It is also much easier to work a vineyard with one variety only, especially as shiraz ripens later than viognier, which factor can also cause a headache in the cellar.

Fashion and experimentation

So what should one expect from a shiraz viognier blend, whether a Côte Rôtie or New World version? ‘The point of viognier is to freshen the wine, lighten the flavour and lift the shiraz character’, Remington explains. ‘What you definitely don’t want is the smell of apricots (a major varietal characteristic of viognier).’

It is early days for the style in the Cape, and the blend is presently probably more driven by fashion and a lust for experimentation and discovery than by any conclusively demonstrated benefit to the wine. Anthony de Jager was the first to release a shiraz-viognier blend here – inspired by the harvest he worked with the illustrious northern Rhône producer Chapoutier. De Jager’s maiden Homtini 2000 was awarded a Platter five-star rating. This achievement, as well as the increased presence of both viognier and shiraz in Cape vineyards, helped to promote interest in the style.

Apart from pioneering the shiraz-viognier blend on his own account, as winemaker at Fairview Anthony has had extensive experience with the white grape. Fairview’s owner, Charles Back, began planting it on his Agter Paarl farm slopes around 12 years ago and produced South Africa’s first varietal viognier in 1998. As the vines have matured, so Anthony has noticed viognier’s naturally tannic character has diminished. But both he and Ridgeback’s Cathy Marshall agree the grape has to be picked very ripe to harness those tannins. This demands attentive viticulture, as the canopy has to be sufficiently open to allow the grapes to ripen, but at the same time they shouldn’t be exposed to the risk of sunburn.

Even though the vine is a naturally shy bearer, Anthony say that green harvesting is still necessary, reducing the size of the crop early in the season to ensure that the remaining grapes will ripen without stress – ‘otherwise the juice will lack flavour’. Both Fairview and Ridgeback viognier is cropped at levels of between four and five tons per hectare. The downsides of full ripeness are a high alcohol level – anything between 14 and 15 percent – contrasted by a low acidity, around 3.5 to 4 grams per litre. (A similar analysis to that found in Côte Rôtie, incidentally).

Both winemakers believe it’s important to co-ferment the grapes, rather than blending separately wines afterwards. ‘Adding the wine has no merit’, says Anthony: ‘the viognier skins are needed for flavour; there’s also a tannin interaction between the skins.’ In our tasting, as many of the wines were their winemakers’ first or second attempts, some were blended rather than co-fermented – though all see co-fermentation as the way to go.

South Africa and other countries not bound by the French appellation regulations have several advantages, helping to explain why the blending practice might thrive here while it declines in Côte Rôtie. We have the possibility of choosing specific sites to suit the two varieties, allowing for different ripening times. Shiraz tends to ripen much later than viognier; for those who haven’t planted them in sites which will allow both to ripen at more or less the same time, it’s a question of leaving the viognier on the vine until the shiraz ripens, which is not satisfactory, or very expensively chilling the viognier grapes while waiting for the shiraz.

Both Anthony de Jager and Chris Williams (maker of The Foundry wines) draw from two shiraz vineyards. In each case, one ripens more or less at the same time as the viognier and the grapes are harvested at the same time in order to co-ferment; grapes from the other shiraz vineyard are vinified separately, and the wine blended in later.

On that score, unlike in Côte Rôtie, New World winemakers are not bound by having to harvest and crush both varieties together. A satisfactory expedient used by many of them, including Cathy Marshall and Anthony de Jager, is to crush and gently press the viognier alone, using the juice to make a white viognier (bottled as a varietal wine) while the the still-wet skins are added to the fermenting shiraz.

Fermentation over, further choices regarding early maturation have to be made, of course. Oaking remains as sensitive a subject with shiraz viognier blends as it is with varietal shiraz. Remington Norman warns against the over-use of new oak: ‘It tastes sexy for a day or two and that’s it.’ He was pleased that the wines in this tasting generally showed good oak treatment – though there was, he thought, occasional evidence of some overdone American wood.

Fine-tuning

Since the tasting was seen as trying to come to a better understanding of work in progress rather than being a beauty contest, the wines were not rated, though they were tasted blind; tasters were asked to pick out those they liked and this has been reflected in the notes below.

The first flight was particularly well liked. ‘Most were consumer friendly wines, showing some perfumey lift, good palate sweetness and tannins’, said a pleased Anthony de Jager. Both Cathy Marshall and Remington Norman noted how well the viognier merges with the shiraz, leaving plenty of shiraz character to the fore. Remington was ‘amazed and delighted at the elegance of many of these wines’ – warning that a blockbuster shiraz cannot be transformed into something more refined by adding viognier. ‘And the quality of viognier is important,’ he pointed out. ‘Add too much and it sits uncomfortably on top. One should approach the blend with the thought of fine-tuning shiraz rather than highlighting the viognier.’

In the same vein, Cathy finds a viognier component ‘more complementary in the elegant rather than robust, bold wines.’ As well as elegance, Ingrid Motteux was pleased to note a positive fresh character without loads of alcohol in many of the wines.

If these were the panel’s thoughts, what reasons did winemakers advance for combining viognier with shiraz? ‘Viognier brings softness and accessibility and highlights shiraz’s spice and pepper; the blend should be elegant and feminine’, suggested Jacques Conradie, responsible for Karusa Vineyards’ The Fifth Element and also winemaker at Bon Cap. Fixing colour, adding perfume, freshness and complexity are among the motives specified by other winemakers – all characters which we noted to some degree in the wines.

If the second flight was considered a little less even in quality, the reason could be because – quite coincidentally as the samples were placed randomly – it contained all the barrel samples.

Despite many wines being in an experimental stage, the panel is upbeat about the future. While varietal shiraz is unlikely to be outnumbered by the blends, this is a style with long-term prospects rather than a fashion fads. And as other Rhône varieties such as mourvèdre and grenache increase, we can expect South Africans’ love affair with shiraz to extend into a wider and exciting spectrum of different blends.

Tasters
• Remington Norman MW Author of Rhône Renaissance
• Anthony de Jager Winemaker at Homtini and Fairview
• Cathy Marshall Winemaker at Ridgeback
• Ingrid Motteux Grape

Comments on the wines

 In the order tasted – they were tasted blind

• La Motte Shiraz Viognier 2003 R91 (f)
90% shiraz 2003: 10% viognier 2004, blended as wine
Mid-weight, fresh with lively acid; quiet but opens with sweet mid-palate richness; attractive spice with peachy apricot background notes. Very well liked by one taster. One taster thought it a shade underripe.

• Leatherwood Shiraz Viognier 2002 R45
Made for Chris de Wet of Prospect Farm by Philip Louw at Ashton Winery
95% shiraz 2002, 5% viognier 2004, blended as wine
Some development with freshness; chunky oak dominating spicy, smoked meat, red berry melange; light texture, firm acid with savoury flavours; a little lean, lacking concentration.

• The Foundry Syrah 2003 R150
98% shiraz 2003, 2% viognier 2004, blended as wine
Version one, closed with screwcap (third in line-up): Youthfully deep, dark; restrained perfumed lift to ripe dark berries and spice; still tight, vibrant with plentiful fruit richness, firm dry tannins. Big wine but well-structured and balanced. A good wine though still closed. Well liked by two panel members.

Cork-closed version (seventh in line-up): Brilliant, dark youthful hue; expressive ripe spicy dark fruit, floral aromas; great fruit richness, length backed by excellent acid and tight tannins; still young but should develop most attractively. Two tasters found it too oaky. One taster’s top wine; well liked by another.

• Karusa Vineyards The Fifth Element 2004 R80 (f) (to be released in 2006)
88% shiraz ,12% viognier, destemmed, crushed and fermented together
Three tasters found this dominated by new oak which masks ripe berry/plum aromas with floral lift; big wine, intense palate with massive, good sweet fruit but cut short by oak. Liked by one taster.

• Graham Beck The Joshua 2003 R135 (f)
92% shiraz, 8% viognier, co-fermented
Shows some colour development; subdued, slightly reduced aromas; rich, very ripe palate, creamy texture with berry sweetness, good acid; obvious high alcohol a detraction for three tasters.

• Joostenberg Shiraz Viognier 2004 R75 (f)
92% shiraz, 8% viognier, co-fermented  (Closed with screwcap)
Fine, limpid youthful colour. Vibrant, clean ripe berry aromas with pronounced floral, perfume lift and nice oak backing; succulent, creamy texture, good freshness, grip, balance and length. The overall favourite wine of the tasting.

• Homtini Shiraz Viognier 2003 R95 (f)
93% shiraz, 7% viognier, co-harvested and fermented
Three different opinions on this wine (Anthony de Jager’s comments not included): One taster appreciated the ripe red fruit aromas, rich, extracted style, obvious oak balanced by fruit, its serious style. Two were less enthusiastic, one finding it very ripe, forward, juicy by with dry tannins and a touch bitter; the other thought the soft, plump slightly raw fruit lacks depth and nuance.

The following three were unfinished barrel samples, so no notes are given:

• Ridgeback His Master’s Choice Syrah Viognier 2004
94% shiraz, 6% viognier, co-fermented

• Brampton Shiraz 2004
Shiraz 90%, mourvèdre 8%, viognier 2%, co-fermented

• Fairview Shiraz Viognier 2004
96% shiraz, 4% viognier, co-fermented; to be blended with other wines