Recent releases: Four white blends
28 November 2007

Wines from Bilton, Miles Mossop, Nederburg, and The Winery of
Good Hope

Bilton

• White 2007 R48 14.5

According to the press release, winemaker Rudi de Wet (winemaker at this Stellenbosch winery only since late 2005, where he has the benefit of being able to consult veteran Giorgio della Cia ) calls this a ‘sublime blend’. But I suspect he didn’t say that at all, that it is embarrassing PR words put in his mouth, and that he knows perfectly well that it’s much more straightforward stuff than that – if not, it doesn’t leave him much space for rhetoric when he tries for a more ambitious wine (one dreads to think t\what the PR people will say then!). This is a pleasant, agreeable, unpretentious wine – which looks marvellously fresh in its green-tinted, condensation-beaded bottle, and tastes nicely fresh too. The green flavours of the sauvignon blanc base play in satisfactory fashion against the richness of chenin and semillon, leading to a dry, pithy finish. It will be a good food accompaniment, if not superb (another silly press release adjective on offer – when will PR people realise that we like to pretend to make our our quality judgements?) –TJ

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Miles Mossop Wines

• Saskia 2006 R120 16.5

Yet another fine, characterful white blend with mature-vine Perdeberg chenin at its core, here with Stellenbosch viognier contributing 33%. Miles Mossop, winemaker at Tokara, produces just this (named after a daughter) and a red (to be reviewed here shortly) on his own account, and they’re in the same poised, sophisticated style as his other wines. The peachy viognier doesn’t really assert itself until the end here, and it’s a perfectly welcome addition to the dry-herbal, stony strength that comes before. Not that the wine needs the fruitiness – if that’s what you’re after, this wine is not for you. It doesn’t either need the bit of sweet wood that shows on the bouquet (though only 8% of the 10 months oaking is new wood), but probably that will get well integrated if this serious, rich, powerful and satisfying wine is given the few years of quiet bottle rest it deserves. –TJ

Nederburg

• Ingenuity White 2007 R120 16.5

Nederburg has launched two new ranges destined for its ‘important markets, including South Africa', as the media release rather cheekily states. We shall report on Manor House wines shortly. The other range – of blended wines – is called Ingenuity to highlight the skill and inventive winemaking that often goes into the crafting of these styles. The Ingenuity White proudly proclaims that it features more varieties than any other wine in South Africa. We're unable to corroborate (or deny!) this, but certainly its varietal octet - 40% sauvignon blanc (Groenekloof, Durbanville), 20% chardonnay and 15% viognier (both Durbanville), 10% bush vine chenin blanc (Darling) and 6% semillon as well as 3% each of riesling, wood-aged nouvelle and wood-aged verdelho - produces a very harmonious wine.  A small portion of the sauvignon blanc was oak fermented, while the chardonnay was fermented and aged in new barriques. There are no rough edges here; the wine is elegant and balanced with a sense of completeness that many white blends struggle to achieve. The sauvignon component currently stands out strongest, but this does not detract from the charm, and the oak has been well handled to add structure and just a hint of flavour. It certainly appears to have the pedigree for cellaring. We’ve noticed a gradual improvement in the wines from cellarmaster, Razvan Macici, and team over the past few years, but even so were pleasantly surprised with the considered offering they’ve placed in the bottle here. – CvZ

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The Winery of Good Hope

• Black Rock White  2006 R90 16

The Black Rock range, this white and a red reviewed later, reflects the fondness The Winery's partners have for the southern Swartland, an area they - and many others -  believe is producing some of South Africa's most individual wines. All the grapes in both wines are drawn from predominantly dryland, bush vines growing on the slopes of the Perdeberg. The blend, which the Swartland might by now claim as its own, is chenin-based, with 39% chardonnay and 2% viognier, the chenin coming from particularly old vines of between 40 and 55 years. Both chenin and viognier were part barrel-, part tank-fermented, while the chardonnay was all fermented in barrel. French oak is used, with only a third new – to allow the fruit's individuality full rein. After just over a year, the wine was blended and bottled. In appearance, the gold tint hints at the wine's honeyed richness. For CvZ and IM this is a deliberate stylistic feature, which they both like finding sufficient balancing freshness on the palate. On this showing, I, like TJ, was slightly less forgiving, finding the wine very ripe with an alcohol afterglow. However, another bottle a couple of days later revealed a different story, with no sign of intrusive alcohol – just flavoursome freshness with fragrant yet restrained spice and apricots. For once the cork can't be blamed, as this is closed under screwcap. It will be interesting to see how it develops over the next year or two. - AL

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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
Prices given are approximate retail in South Africa, except where indicated as ex-farm by (f)

Tasters for these wines

TJ – Tim James
AL – Angela Lloyd
CvZ - Cathy van Zyl

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

We would welcome adding your opinions of these wines