RECENT RELEASES
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Recent releases: A range of reds Wines from Cloof, Du Toitskloof, Fleur du Cap, Miles Mossop, Nederburg, Paul Cluver, Stellenzicht and The Winery of Good Hope
But is this all window-dressing intended to take our eye off the wine quality ball? Not at all, Cloof’s wines have always been well made, if not always to everyone’s taste. The property’s ‘trademark bold-flavoured richness’ (their phrasing) is sometimes a little OTT for, dare I say it, ‘classic’ palates. The three new releases – two of them maidens, Inkspot and The Dark Side – certainly are intense and concentrated wines. The Inkspot Vin Noir (named for its dark colour) is 78% pinotage, 12% shiraz and 10% old vine (1966) cinsaut; 30% of the cinsaut juice was drained off prior to fermentation for rosé. Colour wise, it lives up to its name, followed by a creamy strawberry nose and palate, with piercing whiffs of iodine. Fruit- and alcohol-sweet, with just a gentle tug of oak tannins (only 12% of the wine spent a year in small French oak), it makes a decent quaffer although certainly needs a hearty meal to mop up the noticeable 14.8% alcohol. ‘You’ve got to enjoy pinotage in this style,’ says AL. The Dark Side Cabernet/Shiraz (billed as ‘a wine with curves where others don’t have places’) is less refreshing, harder work. From cabernet plus 11% shiraz, partially wood fermented and partially oak matured for a year in French barrels, it has lovely liquorice and mint notes with an intense ripe fruit, almost raisin character That’s the ‘light’ side; the ‘dark’ side includes hard tannins and a very dense, almost soupy texture. That said, we’ve tasted wines in a similar vein before and they – unlike this one – had delusions of grandeur judging by their prices. The Dark Side’s tag is fairly modest.
The Bordeaux-style Cloof Lynchpin, from bush vines on
relatively cooler east-facing slopes in Darling, is far dearer, and
rightly so. Mainly merlot, with 25% cabernet franc and 4% cabernet
sauvignon, it is matured for 14 months in predominantly new French oak.
While the two maidens are decidedly fruity, this is more floral and
herbal. It is also decently balanced and integrated, has fine long
tannins and a persistent, plush fruit farewell. This is the only wine in
the line-up we’d cellar, expecting 3-6 years to lend complexity and a
greater sense of completeness. – CvZ
This Rawsonville cooperative is not content with its
well-earned reputation as a ‘good value’ winery, with all the inherent
implications of ultra-modesty. The farmer members are, says cellarmaster
Philip Jordaan, ‘working diligently’ to improve their vineyards, while
facilities and skills in the cellar have also been upgraded. Hence a
new, more ambitious (though still small) range of wines is now available
– we looked at the white blend a few
weeks back. More ambitious perhaps, but this blend of merlot, shiraz and
a little petit verdot is still blissfully unpretentious (though a touch
too oaky), and reasonably priced. As you might expect from a well-made
wine from this warm part of the world, it is ripe and sweetly, juicily
fruity; but it is also quite fresh and well-balanced, with a firm but
friendly tannic handshake. Someone at the table remarked that it had no
‘lightness of being’, but the wine is aiming at something more down to
earth than that, really, and achieving it pretty satisfactorily. – TJ
Justin Corrans, maker of the Fleur du Cap reds, must have
been delighted with a place for his modestly-priced Stellenbosch wine in
the ABSA Top Ten Pinotage competition this year. Opaque at core, there’s
no shortage of extract in this youthfully purple-rimmed, toasty, ripe
red. Sweet mulberry fruit fills the front palate, underpinned by plenty
of oak tannins from 15 months in 2nd fill French barrels, and
giving the impression of seriousness. Serious too is the whack of high
(15.28%) alcohol, contributing to the sweet, almost confected finish. We
all agreed with TJ’s remark that it’s a popular choice of style, and
feel that it will certainly go down smoothly (if rather warmly) in its
intended market.
With his Saskia white wine (reviewed previously) Miles Mossop – who’s also the winemaker at Tokara – ventured out to the Swartland in search of characterful old chenin; his Max is a blend of 56% cab with merlot and petit verdot that speaks of its spiritual roots in Bordeaux and its literal ones in Stellenbosch. That is, it’s modern-traditional, evidences a very warm summer, and is suavely sophisticated. It’s ripe and fruit-filled, giving it a soft and sweetish charm, and has a decent underlying structure of fresh acidity and smoooooth tannins to support the succulence. If that makes it sound rather squishy – no, it’s certainly not that, but it is immensely approachable already, though it should mature with benefit for a good few years. A few nights after the bottle was first opened, the wine was still delicious and very drinkable (and was cheerfully drunk). – TJ
Manor House is a new range from the Nederburg stable. It comprises varietal wines and is named for the iconic Cape Dutch manor house on the farm just outside Paarl. Grapes are sourced from Nederburg’s top-performing vineyards. Fruit for the 2006 Shiraz was sourced from two low-yielding vineyard blocks, one in Philadelphia (80% of the blend) and the other in Paarl. According to cellarmaster Razvan Macici, the flatland Philadelphia vineyards are cooled by Atlantic breezes in summer and so ripen more slowly to provide intense colour and flavours, while the Paarl vines produce grapes with riper flavours and more pronounced tannins. The fruit is vinified in open-top fermenters and the wine aged for a year in new and seasoned oak, mostly small, from France, Eastern Europe and America. I find the oak too dominant on the palate, IM is also doubtful, finding it sweetish with a carbonic maceration character but TJ and AL's opinion is that it's an honest expression of the syrah grape with peppery and floral notes. So, a wine with defenders and attackers; not so the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, which struggled to find a real champion. Ten-year-old, dryland Paarl vineyards provided fruit for this wine, which spent between a year and 14 months in new and used barrels. Unfortunately, we all agree, the oak overpowers the fruit on both nose and finish, leaving the palate of sweet cassis and salty liquorice in the lurch. An honest, sensible wine in general, if a bit tannic.
The final red in this line up is from Nederburg’s
Ingenuity range of blended wines, named to pay homage to the winemaker’s
blending skills. While we were recently impressed by the
white blend, we’re a little less
convinced by the 2005 red. Combining 50% organically grown sangiovese
(from Darling), 40% barbera (Durbanville) and 10% nebbiolo (Simondium)
vinified separately before being aged for 20 months in 500 litre French
oak, it struck AL/CvZ/TJ as ‘just another well made red blend’ with no
truly discernable Italian character. That said, the trio did find it
well-structured with firm tannins and a satisfying but light-textured
finish. IM, on the other hand, is more positive, declaring it savoury,
and with sufficient aromas and flavours to gain complexity with aging.
Which brings us to the packaging: a skittle-shaped bottle which I doubt
would easily slot into many cellars alongside the more traditional
Bordeaux or Burgundy shapes. It does seem rather odd to put ageworthy
wine in bottles that seem destined to end up as candlestick holders.
– CvZ
In a vertical pinot tasting hosted a few months ago by
Paul Cluver and winemaker Andries Burger for this popular Elgin winery,
this 2006 vintage was the one most favoured by journos and trade for its
expressive redcurrant and cherry character – mixed with tones of
earthiness and fine cured meat – and silky texture. Oaking has been
trimmed as compared with previous vintages at only 20%, yet it still
remains obvious in the wine's youth (perhaps the wine was not showing
well on this occasion – it had appealed more at the earl;ier tasting).
Nonetheless, it is well judged, providing sufficient tight structure to
allow the wine to gain in complexity in bottle over the next six years.
The tannins are beneficially lighter than for previous vintages of this
wine, with acidity playing perhaps a bigger role in the structure. We
all feel it needs time for further integration and development before
broaching; it might then rate higher. – IM
In contrast to the easy appeal of the Golden Triangle
version, the first pinotage to be released under the Cellarmaster’s
label is much harder work. High-toned sweet mulberry fruit reflects an
overly ripe, almost porty character, which is embellished with far too
much new oak (a mix of French, American, and a touch Hungarian) for our
tastes. Concentrated, showy and bold, it will easily find its fans – as
it did at Michelangelo this year, where it won a double gold (Grand
d’Or). Lack of refreshment quality, however, makes it a more challenging
food partner than the petit version above. –
IM
If the composition of the Black Rock white blend
reviewed previously is a Swartland
original, the red has its roots in southern France. The varietal
quintet, led by shiraz (66%) with carignan, grenache, mourvèdre and a
tiny splash of viognier, is again all Perdeberg fruit. These are the
same partners, in different proportions, to the 2005. Vinification is
carried out according to the desired outcome for each variety – for
instance, grenache and carignan were vinified to retain fruit. The
oaking regime is equally complex, with only around a third new and this
component certainly doesn't taste out of balance with the wine; the
imbalance is left to the alcohol, far more apparent than in the 2005,
yet at the same declared level of 14.5%. The four of us were rather
disappointed in our expectations of the 2006, and were as one in deeming
it overripe. There's just a hint of savouriness but generally the wine
lacks the individuality its makeup suggests possible, in fact it came
across as somewhat insipid to us, probably because of the
ultra-ripeness. It did show a bit more guts when accompanied by a spicy
chorizo pasta – an unlikely partner – the following evening, but the
best advice is probably to open the wine soon before the fruit dries and
share with something unpretentious, spicy or otherwise. The wine is,
incidentally, closed with a screwcap. – 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 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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There’s a palpable energy and dynamism in everything the
Cloof people do, and a desire to connect with ‘lifestyle’ consumers (as
opposed to ‘serious’ consumers) that is arguably unsurpassed elsewhere
in the winelands. For example, searching the web site for technical
information about the wines featured below, I discovered they’ve created
a Cloof group on Facebook (if you have to ask …) and laughed out loud at
the names of bands they suggested could be playing at their annual
‘Rocking the Daisies’ music festival. Punctured Papsak, The Boom Town
Vats, The Grapeful Dead, Elton Demijohn and Phyll Oxera and the Roots
were some of the funnier ones. 
The Golden Triangle range is produced by this Helderberg
farm every vintage, while the Cellarmaster’s Release is a once-off for
small batches of wines in vintages deemed exceptional by winemaker Guy
Webber (right). The straight version here, from 2006, is fresh and lightly
textured, with appealing dark cherry, slightly medicinal aromas, juicy
fruit and well-handled firm, ripe tannins. We find it a balanced and
more-than-pleasant rendition of this variety, one Webber says is his
favourite to work with. Rewarded with a place in the 2007 ABSA Top 10
(the third consecutive year for his pinotage) it should probably be
enjoyed over the next few years (bobotie and other lightly curried
dishes would make good and interesting partners).