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November 2006 (2): Wines from Barton Farm, Constantia Uitsig, Dornier, Hidden Valley, Kleinood and Radford Dale 15 November 2006
Barton Farm Established in 2001, Barton Farm is located in the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, where owners Peter Neill and Charles Lousada entrust their 28 hectare to viticulturist Noeil Vorster. White wine-making is in the hands of Onderkloof’s Danie Truter. This property also provides the cellar space, as does Iona, where Niels Verburg makes the red wine. The Wine of Origin Walker Bay Chenin (the grapes come from Barton Farm), was fermented and aged for four months with French oak chips. The wine split the tasting panel. CvZ and IM found it a balanced, if uncomplex, easy drinker, nicely dry with subtle peardrop tones … but also with a slightly annoying high alcohol burn. The 14.5% alcohol more than annoyed TJ, who also found the acid rather harsh, while AL experienced a bitter finish. That said, no-one wanted to argue for a higher rating. Drink soon, well-chilled. The 60/40
shiraz and cabernet sauvignon blend is lightly filtered and unfined.
This, coupled with a regular pump-over programme during fermentation,
has resulted in a deep, dense appearance. The shiraz portion is cool
climate Elgin while the cab is from the warmer Bot River area, a ‘cross
regional’ blend reflected in its WO Western Cape designation. Post
fermentation, the blend was lavishly oaked for a year in French and
American barrels (80/20), split equally between new and second, third
and fourth fill. Unfortunately, the oak aromas and flavours are too
dominant, a great pity as the underlying fruit is pure and sweet. We
think the fruit intensity and rather disjointed acidity possibly not up
to the task of oak and fruit marrying over time and suggest consuming
the wine within two years accompanied by heartily flavoured food to
stand up to the oak.
Constantia Uitsig This Constantia Valley farm's wines improve steadily with each vintage, so here’s hoping the vines will be spared in the long term (as promised, how convincingly is debatable) by the shareholders of this valuable real estate, whose planned luxury housing development is awaiting the authority’s go-ahead. Viticulturist André Rousseau and his vineyard team deliver grapes to neighbour Steenberg, where André is assisted with vinification by Steenberg’s winemaker, John Loubser. The range of whites is stylishly packaged – and all bottled under screwcap. From the 2006 vintage, all chardonnay is being made in an unwooded style. With the inclusion of fruit that previously went into the oaked reserve label, and the addition of a small percentage of ‘warm’-fermented (17º C) fruit, this vintage has gained significantly in terms of depth and complexity. Rich, bright white-gold in colour, with overt white peach and winter melon aromas, the concentrated, zesty stone-fruit flavours benefit from a fine acid thread throughout, which carries through to a vibrant, clean and flavoursome finish. Drink now as a versatile accompaniment to food, or keep a year or two. More
seriously styled, the semillon flaunts a limpid gold colour, with the
signature dusty aromatic notes associated with this part of the
Constantia Valley. Subtle French oak (none new) adds dimension and
structure to the bright lemon fruit flavours. Crunchy, balanced acidity
contributes to the firm, pithy, lime-flavoured finish. Semillon (70%)
leads sauvignon in the flagship Constantia blend; this vintage has
benefited from spending less time in – all used – oak than the usual ten
months, exhibiting more brightness and freshness as a result. Attractive
gold colour with complex aromas and flavours of citrus, lime and white
peach, it shows breadth and very good length. Fruit richness is
abundant, and TJ felt the five grams of residual sugar on top of this is
detraction. Development of complexity of both these wines will be the
reward for bottle ageing over the next 3-5 years. –
IM
Dornier
Apart from impressing with its spectacular architecture, this prime Stellenbosch property, stretching along the Blaauwklippen Road, aims to ‘creatively fuse seriousness and pleasure, complexity and simplicity’. Having accomplished the seriousness in their first label Donatus red and white, winemaker JC Steyn is delivering the more simple pleasure with the new Cocoa Hill Range (or more fully The Pirate of Cocoa Hill). Fashionably and smartly labelled (artist-owner, Christoph Dornier’s taste well reflected here) and packaged under screwcap with modest price tags, fruit for both wines is grown on the property. The Chenin
Blanc is surprisingly bland, given that it was five months on the lees,
and part of it spent time in oak (both new and older, apparently). TJ
was more positive about the shyness of the wine, the rest of us found it
just dilute and thin. The youthfully purple-coloured Red, a cabernet,
shiraz, merlot blend (41:36:23) pleased the Michelangelo judges, who
awarded it a gold earlier this year. Fruit richness (berries galore),
structure and alluring spicy edge ensure it delivers well at this
unpretentious price: well-calculated and appropriately made for an
earlier-drinking second label. Although ready now, the fruit structure,
and the tannins acquired during 16 months' maturation in 2nd
fill barrels, will help ensure further positive development in bottle
over the next couple of years. – IM
Hidden
Valley Excuse us for pedantically stressing the subtle difference in the names of these wines from this Helderberg property: there’s Hidden Valley and Hidden Agenda … and a big difference. Hidden Valley is the top tier range, famous for its Pinotage (initially made under the watchful gaze – and no doubt active involvement – of Grangehurst’s Jeremy Walker) and now including a Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz. Hidden Agenda is the second label and is named for its ‘social agenda’ to fund further staff housing. Winemaker of both is New Zealander Chris Kelley. The unwooded Chenin is one we’d happily sip on warm Cape summer evenings this festive season – properly cooled, of course. It has a distinct floral varietal character enriched by beeswax and dried apricots, both imparted by the 10% dollop of viognier Chris has added. There’s also a dab of sauvignon blanc, which possibly enhances the typical chenin freshness. There’s a good mouthfeel and appeal, while the 13% alcohol is pretty respectable. I particularly enjoyed the unusual curry leaf notes, and we all liked its breezy attitude and balanced finish. There is also nothing too complex or taxing about the Hidden Agenda Shiraz, which includes 9% cabernet sauvignon and 5% pinotage. It has basketfuls of sweet berry fruit, as well as soft, plump tannins. Both are key ingredients for early consumption with friends while you natter about frivolous matters. On the down side, we did wonder if those with a more savoury tooth would find the structure just a little too soft and flavour just a little too sweet after a few glasses and would wish for a spurt of refreshing acidity to give it length and spine. It also has a substantial whack of alcohol (14.9%), and the light oaking is a touch intrusive on the finish. More
impressive – and rightly so, given the price difference – is the ripe,
rich and ready Hidden Valley version. Its fruit spiciness and rampant
buchu notes marry very well with the creamy oak vanillin, and here the
the 14.5% alcohol is almost unnoticeable in the balance. While some on
the tasting team would prefer less oak – the wine spent 13 months in a
mix of new and 2nd fill barrels, some of it American oak – we all agree
it slips down easily now but has the acid/tannin/fruit structure to
improve for at least 3-5 years. The wine was made by in Elgin by Niels
Verburg, whose own Luddite shiraz bottling is earning him something of a
reputation as a master of this grape. – CvZ
Kleinood
The 22 ha
Kleinood farm, bought in 2000 by civil engineer Gerard and artist wife
Libby de Villiers, was originally part of the Stuttaford family’s
Stellenrust landholding in this very fashionable part of the Helderberg
in Stellenbosch (Dornier is a neighbour). In English, the farm's name
means ‘something small and precious': the ‘precious’ part reflecting the
quality of hich its owners are confident; ‘small’, because only 12 of
the property’s 22 hectares are arable, these being divided between olive
trees (2ha) and vines (10ha). Tokara’s Aidan Morton consults in the
vineyards, while Willem Grobbelaar makes about 1200 cases of shiraz.The
strikingly simple, understated and unvarnished Tamboerskloof label,
hand-pasted on to the bottle, is the work of design maestro Anthony
Lane. The wine within is intensely coloured at core, with a youthful
purple rim, and is a step up on the previous vintage, with fuller aromas
and flavours, better balanced and integrated acidity, and decent
structure. Maturation in a mix of French and American oak serves to
underpin the spiciness and freshness of the red fruit flavours, which AL
finds elegant and harmonious; TJ though, found it too sweet and soft for
his tastes.– IM
Radford Dale • Gravity 2004 R200 (f) 17.5 The Winery,
the innovative Stellenbosch-based wine company of which Radford Dale is
the flagship brand, has recently received a healthy financial boost from
Australia: Barossa-based Yalumba, Australia's oldest family-owned winery
(established 1849) has purchased a one fifth stake in the partnership.
More capital will probably translate into ever more enthusiastic
research and experimentation by Alex Dale and his team, who use a
special process to make Gravity, a blend of cabernet, shiraz and merlot
from Stellenbosch fruit (Helderberg and Devon Valley). The process
involves use of a ‘gravitational’ portion of wine where the grapes are
crushed only by the weight of the pomace, drip-draining the juice
overnight directly into second-fill demi-muids (600 litre Fr oak casks).
The ripe red and black fruit aromas (as well as hints of expensive oak)
which introduce this second vintage deliver their promise on the palate
with a compact core of ripe fruit and seamlessly integrated tannins. It
is easy to underestimate the structure at first because of the rounded
softness of the wine, before the persistence builds up to a supple
‘thwang’ on the finish, driving the wine even further forward! It hit
the spot for TJ, CvZ found integration and balance key, and AL relished
the finesse and polish, but thought it too young to drink now. I had
little problem ‘re-sampling’ the wine with food over a couple of days,
which only confirmed the quality and ageing potential. All agreed the
wine worth the rating – an unusually high one for this panel. Three
quarters of the wine has apparently already been sold, so grab some
while you can. – IM
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Scoring Grape’s interpretation of the 20-point rating scale 0-10: Faulty or just unpleasant 10.5-11.5: Dull, uninteresting but sound 12-13.5: Pleasant enough, decent but basically simple quaffer 14-15.5: Good and enjoyable, but no real excitement 16-16.5 Very good wine, offering something special 17-17.5 Fine and beautiful world-class wine, among the best in SA 18-20 Truly excellent, some even among the world’s finest !!! indicates especially good value
Prices Tasters
TJ – Tim James IM – Guest taster Ingrid Motteux, wine consultant; taster for the Platter Guide For more information regarding the tasting procedures, tasters, etc, see the Recent releases contents page |
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