RECENT RELEASES
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Recent releases: October (2)
Wines from Avontuur, Bilton, Clos Malverne, Fleur du Cap, Lammershoek, South Hill Vineyards, Spier and Stellenzicht
Avontuur Estate This latest offering joins the trio already making up Avontuur’s flagship ‘black label’ range – like the others, it has been named for one of the horses that graze in the paddocks that surround this winery-cum-equine stud farm. Sarabande, an ex-champion, is now a prized brood mare. The decision to add a sauvignon to the range was taken when Avontuur acquired a chardonnay block adjacent to its existing landholdings. Within this block is a small parcel of sauvignon vines; the bounty from these vines has been bought in and jealously guarded by Rustenberg/Brampton for many years. Avontuur winemaker Adél van der Merwe kept the fruit separate from her other sauvignon crop, and also left it on its lees for 4½ months to gain complexity, depth and texture, stirring only once every two weeks. On the day, it proved to be one of the more controversial wines we’ve tasted for a long time. Despite being a wine from this year’s vintage, it is not water-white like young sauvignon often is, but rather a light straw colour. White pepper and capsicum drive its bouquet, and its palate is creamy and long. I and AL didn’t find much flavour or complexity there, but think it an excellent food companion; TJ/IM are far more enamoured with the style: they find it elegant and nervy, with rich flavours from winemaking – not fruit – and an interesting tannic/phenolic tug from the lees contact. – CvZ
Bilton Sir Percy 2005 R90 (f) 15.5 Situated in the Helderberg’s ‘Golden Triangle’, Bilton has plenty to offer the visitor: lush picnic spots, a boules court, jungle gym, and wine and chocolate tastings. Their newly-released Bordeaux-style flagship red is named in honour of owner Mark Bilton’s philanthropic grandfather, knighted for his charitable deeds, though he never publicly used the title. The cabernet, merlot and petit verdot (60:30:10) were fermented during Rianie Strydom’s short winemaking tenure here; after a 20 month spell in (mostly French) barrels, the components were blended by new incumbent, Rudi de Wet and vini consultant Giorgio dalla Cia. The ripe (though not overly so) character and ample extraction is typical of this property, while the cigarbox, cinammon and cassis aromas signal the serious intentions of this showy wine. Attractive spicy dark fruit flavours are balanced by sufficient acidity and kept in check by firm tannin; the wine finishes with a warm savouriness, which impresses CvZ less than the rest. – IM
Clos Malverne • Devonet Sauvignon Blanc 2007 R36 13.5 • Devonet Chardonnay 2006 R34 12 • Devonet Rosé 2006 R30 10.5 • Devonet Cape Blend Merlot Pinotage 2006 R39 12 • Devonet Merlot Shiraz 2006 R39 13 • Devonet Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 R39 12.5 The original member of this Devonet range, the Cape Blend Merlot Pinotage, was apparently introduced as a result of requests for an entry level red by Clos Malverne's customers. Its success encouraged winemaker, IP Smit to broaden the range, thus suiting a wider spectrum of palates. The Sauvignon is the most successful, pleasantly light in body with tropical fruit, some lees enrichment and balanced freshness, though it does end rather abruptly. For IM there's also a sense of phenolic harshness. The Chardonnay, all barrel-fermented and matured for three months, has unusual funky, paw-paw aromas and from the lean, simple flavours is more reminiscent of an unwooded style. At this level, it is surprising to find an 18-month old Rosé just released – and its age is indicated in the coppery tint and tiring iodine/oystershell aromas. There's also a recurrence of the Chardonnay's paw-paw character (could there be some bacterial problem?). With a dominant sweetness and hot finish, it's the wine we like least. The reds, all barrel matured, are all essentially equal partnerships. They are clearly styled as crowd-pleasers, with some obvious – to us – residual sugar (technically each registers only 3.2 grams per litre, comfortably within the official limits of dryness – but these things in reality are all about balance), which increases the thick, soft feel. There is no shortage of acid, but this seems unknit with the ripe fruit. Lack of integration is an aspect CvZ also finds with regard to the oak. In their favour, each wine has pleasant, individual aromas, indicative of the make-up of each blend. Not for keeping, the trio will be best accompanied by solid, country-style dishes. – AL
Fleur du Cap • Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 R86 16 • Unfiltered Merlot 2005 R80 15 This remains one of the more interesting ranges in the huge Distell output – though some of the Nederburg labels are perhaps overtaking it in quality (especially for reds) if not yet in public recognition of the fact. The new red winemaker, Justin Corrans, only handled the later stages in the development of these two wines (both from vineyards in Stellenbosch’s Bottelary district), and it’ll be interesting to see if he can bring the Fleur du Cap reds up to the level of the whites. The Merlot in the top Unfiltered range is not really likely to send reputations of either the variety or the label soaring, however. The aromas are fresh and a little medicinal, with ripe red fruit and an oak toastiness together with typical merlot choc-mint notes. It’s quite a rich wine, though the tannins tend to the big and stalky. Altogether well-knit and respectably long if rather inelegant. The Cab is good, solid, conservative stuff, which a few years of development should make more graceful and interesting, taming the big tannins and bringing them into harmony with the fresh acidity and good cabernet fruit. This style of wine really does need putting away and forgetting for a few years to do it justice. – TJ
Lammershoek • Roulette 2005 R90(f) 16 Paul and Anna Kretzel bought Lammershoek – a large, co-op-supplying farm on the slopes of Perdeberg in the Swartland – in 1995, before being tempted by the quality of the fruit to make their own wines in 1999. (They still sell prime grapes to the likes of the Winery of Good Hope, and lease vineyards to Eben Sadie.) For this southern Rhône-inspired red blend, winemaker Albert Ahrens macerated the carignan and grenache for three days prior to co-fermenting the pair; he also added unpressed viognier skins to the fermenting syrah. The final blend of syrah (72%) carignan, grenache, mourvèdre and 5% viognier spent 16 months in French and American barrels, 20% new; it was neither fined nor filtered before bottling. Expressive red fruit and garrigue spiciness convey a warm Mediterranean feel to this generous, sweet-fruited, though deliciously savoury, well-integrated wine. The high natural acidity of the carignan buffers the softly fruity grenache flavours, while the syrah and mourvèdre contribute structure to the blend. The 14.3% alcohol is judged by all to be well assimilated in the wine’s rich texture and concentration, both of which will assure a comfortable six years in bottle. – IM
South Hill Vineyards • Sauvignon Blanc 2007 R50 16 • Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé 2007 R35 15 • Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 R60 (f) 16 Neglected apple and pear orchards have made way for 28 hectares of vineyards on this new Elgin estate – judging by what is coming off their still-young vines, we aren’t complaining about the change. The 2007 is South Hill’s second Sauvignon (the others here are first releases), and while unlikely to be a crowd pleaser, its elegant, dry and vibrant minerality will appeal to many, as it did to all of us. More evidence, incidentally, of Elgin’s propensity for excellent sauvignons of this style. Not that there’s a lack of fruit, but the passionfruit and other tropical tones are subtle, toning in well with cool-climate greenness. The Rosé was made as such – it’s neither a concoction of left-overs nor a by-product of a dark, blockbuster red. Cabernet is not all that commonly used for rosé, and this is a good advertisement for the practice. There’s enough varietal character for it to qualify as a very light red, but also there’s the happy fragrant fruitiness (aided by some Muscat, cleverly added) that one wants from a summery wine. Just the style to convert those who still think of rosé as sweetish pink stuff. The Cabernet is under screwcap like the others, but more disconcerting than some might find this, is that the wine is remarkably delicious now, without being too trivial (it lasted well, even improved, over a couple of days, prompting an extra notch for our rating). Possibly when the vines mature, the wine will be more seriously styled – less softly charming, with more tannic grip – while ideally retaining the current offering's fruit purity and freshness. It should also keep a few years and perhaps even improve. Judging by these early releases, and unless it’s all beginner’s luck, this looks like a property to watch, with Sean Skibbe’s intelligent and sensitive winemaking a major asset. – TJ
Spier • Private Collection Chardonnay 2006 R75 14 The Private Collection range is considered the ultra-premium selection in Spier's portfolio, inclusion being dependent on the availability of suitable quality fruit. Lack of such quality has denied chardonnay a place in the range for the past nine years, until cellarmaster, Frans Smit found suitably premium grapes in the Helderberg area. The team's goal with this, as with the whole PC range, is for elegance and freshness, ‘as opposed to a showy blockbuster' Smit explains. In other PC wines we have found their objective to be well realised but this Chardonnay has of a more showy nature, immediately announced by a vivid yellowy gold colour. Toasty oak tones are apparent, along with ripe, tropical fruit. The texture is creamy and rich, but more from residual sweetness than real fruit concentration and probably for this reason the acid stands apart. IM is more positive than the rest of us, finding the acid balanced and adding focus to a wne she believes will find plenty of fans. – AL
Stellenzicht AL had recently attended a vertical tasting of shiraz from this respected producer of the Rhône variety, and was delighted to pick up many of the characteristics she’d then identified, in the new release we’d just received to review here. ‘Clean leather’ and ‘precise yet well-fruited mouth feel’ were two she highlighted. The fruit for the 2002 comes from Plum Pudding Hill, a single vineyard on the slopes of the Helderberg within Stellenbosch’s ‘Golden Triangle’. After 19 months in predominantly French oak, the wine is opaque with red-black flashes. Its bouquet of wet earth and smoky oak is highlighted by red berries and cassis, and its palate is fruity with a handsome tannic grip and persistent finish. While recognizing its class, we think its acid (6.3g/l) and alcohol (15%) are rather standout at the moment, and that it isn’t, currently, very refreshing. AL, who was the most positive among us and perhaps best equipped to predict development of this wine, pointed out that the oak component had been deftly handled by winemaker, Guy Webber (right). Previous vintages from this vineyard have brought the property and its winemakers much acclaim: for example, the 2001 won the trophy for Best South African Shiraz at the 2004 International wine Challenge in London. Time, which should extra complexity and harmony, will tell if this vintage will reach the same heights. – CvZ
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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 for these wines
TJ – Tim James IM – Regular guest taster Ingrid Motteux, Cape-based 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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