RECENT RELEASES
Return to
the Recent releases index
Return to
the Grape home page
|
A mixed bunch for early 2008 1 February 2008.
Wines from Avontuur, Blaauwklippen, Dombeya, Flagstone, Hamilton Russell Vineyards, Ingwe, Kumkani, Lammershoek, Newton Johnson, Solms-Astor, Withington and Zonnebloem
Shiraz 2005 R70 (f) 13 This vintage was Lizelle Gerber’s last at this Helderberg wine and stud farm, Adél van der Merwe having now taken over as winemaker. [See correction at end] Substantial extract and youthfulness of the 2005 vintage are evident in the opaque core and crimson rim. Baked blackberry fruit and spice aromas hint at late picking, confirmed on the palate by meaty ripeness and a hot alcoholic finish; acid, added to offset the ripeness and try to bring some freshness, stands out too obviously. But no doubt the ultra-ripe fruit, sweet American oak flavours and high (15%) alcohol will please others more than us, and the wine will have its fans. – IM
BVS White Zinfandel 2007 R90 11 Noble Late Harvest 2007 R100 (375ml) (f) 15
Samara 2005 R90 (f) IM/CvZ 15.5, AL/TJ 14.5
We all find these tannins overdone, but AL and TJ are also disappointed at the wine’s ordinariness and lack of personality. IM and CvZ are more positive, but on retasting a day later, the wine had already started falling apart, which doesn’t bode well for what will happen to it in the time required to soften those huge tannins. – IM
The Last Word 2005 R175 (f) 13.5 Bruce Jack has a way with words (making wine, too). This bottle, with its stencilled name, the name itself and `Vintage 2005', suggests a port-style wine. Yet perhaps the nomenclature ‘Fortified Red Wine' should suggest a little caution, for not only does the word ‘Port' (or any related stylisitic name) not appear on the label, but the wine itself doesn’t remotely resemble in make-up or character the classy local versions produced elsewhere in the Cape winelands (this one is WO Tulbach [sic], from 100% shiraz). This, together with the expensive price tag adds up to a confusing message for the consumer, very unlike the Jack marketing. Even weighing up the wine as a Fortified Red Wine, with whatever implications that carries, we were disappointed. The dullish colour is echoed in the simple eucalyptus aromas and sweet, lightweight flavours, marred by both excessive acid and a fireburner finish – the latter despite the lowish 17.5% alc fortification. – AL
Pinot Noir 2006 R250 (f) 18 Our expectations for this wine – obviously, given this is HRV – were high, and they were not dashed on the altar of reputation. I might even be the most enthusiastic of the team, finding a pretty and proper pinot noir hue (I am always disappointed when I can’t see through a pinot, for me clarity is part of its charm), and a bouquet that is complex yet refined with delicate oak aromas spicing up the cherry fruit and underlying fynbos notes. Savouriness is the wine’s most impressive characteristic. In addition, well-judged oak (10 months, new French barrels) melds with supple fruit tannins and refreshing red berry acidity to provide a most satisfying, elegant and persistent finish. At 3.5g/l residual sugar the wine is not entirely respectably dry by Burgundian standards, but tastes as if it is, and the 14% alcohol is also unobtrusive. The others find it a little ungenerous and too taut for drinking now, but we all agree it has a measured concentration that will ensure improvement with cellaring (and consequently it is scored for ‘potential’). The wine came out of the cellar to our tasting table at around 16°C and we suggest this relatively low temperature serves the wine well. – CvZ
Barrique Selection 2004 R48 14.5 Reserve 2004 R80 (f) 15.5 This interesting Helderberg, Stellenbosch property owned by Alain Moueix of Bordeaux, has never had the recognition it deserves. We learn yet again that marketing is more important than quality in marketplace success. Let’s hold thumbs that the New Worldish renaming of formerly plain Ingwe as Ingwe Reserve and Amelho as Barrique Selection will help. But in fact these wines didn’t excite us quite as much as some previous vintages have, though they remain pretty good value. The Barrique Selection is a Cape-tweaked Bordeaux-style blend of Cabs Sauvignon and Franc, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Verdot – and Shiraz. It’s stern rather than elegant, with big dry tannins, though a sweet fruit finish. AL suggests that the fruit seemed a bit ‘stressed’ and unripe, and we gues that the wine is unlikely to improve with age. The Reserve is a more straightforward blend of merlot and cab and is more delicious, refined and polished – supple, with lingering sweet-spicy fruit and a pleasing freshness. With plenty of tannic power, it’s not at present easy drinking, however, so give it a few years and appreciate the classically-oriented style. – TJ
Cradle Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 R120 (f) CvZ/AL/TJ 15.5, IM 16.5 This Stellenbosch single-vineyard wine is one of the top range in the Company of Wine People’s large, varied and impressive portfolio (the volume end is dominated by Arniston Bay and Versus). The Kumkani wines, according to the website, are divided into Premium, Super Premium, Ultra Premium and Private Vineyard ranges – the Cradle Hill Cab is not listed there yet, but its price indicates where it stands, as does the overt expensive new French oak at present dominating aroma and palate. Everything about it is assertive and big, and rather unharmoniously gawky in its youth. This put some of us off: we thought that it might have a future but, despite the fresh acidity, good underlying fruit and sense of seriousness, its present was just too tanaic, acidic and brash. IM stood up for it, however, stressing the serious force behind the showiness. I tried the wine over a few days, and suspect now that she might be right. With that faith, at this price the wine can be recommended – but, please, don’t even think of opening it for a few years if you want to enjoy it. Or, at the least, decant it vigorously many hours in advance, and serve it at the warmer end of room temperature to minimise the tannic power. – TJ
Chenin Blanc 2007 R75 CvZ 14.5, AL/TJ 15, IM 16 Syrah 2006 R120 (f) 16
We were as one in highly rating the Syrah, probably the best this cellar has released. Its crimson-edged ruby brilliance suggests both youth and quality, while effusive, rich dark spice is evocative of both variety and place. Natural ferment in open top wooden fermenters, 25hl and new 500 litre French oak barrels, with further maturation in the latter, has resulted in excellent fruit/oak integration. The fruit also has been gently treated and responds with lovely delicacy and suppleness, providing a ripe yet refreshing mouthful. The youthful tannins need only the benefit of a year or two for this to make even more enjoyable drinking but it should continue to improve over 8 – 10 years. – AL
Chardonnay 2006 R85 (f) 17 !!!
Cape Blend ‘Vastrap' 2007 R46 (f) IM 15 AL/CvZ 14.5, TJ 14 This is the first of three wines made at Solms-Delta on the edge of Franschhoek in partership with Richard Astor, based on neighbouring property, Lubeck-Delta. Both this white and the red ‘Langarm’ have been given the Afrikaans names of local dances. Mark Solms stresses this is not a ‘second label’, despite being less expensive than other wines with ‘Solms’ on one side of the hyphen. It is rather, the desiccation technique used in the Solms-Delta and Solms-Hegewisch ranges, which drives yields down and costs up, is not used here, meaning a different, less concentrated style. The grapes used in Vastrap (clairette blanche, chenin blanc and semillon, in a 46:31:23 blend) are all bought in. Interestingly, the label prominently calls this a ‘Cape Blend’ – surely the first such usage of the phrase on a white-wine label. Pale gold, with honeyed, golden-delicious aromas and flavours, the wine offers good breadth, rich texture and a structured, focused finish. I favour what seems to me an easy, southern-French style more than TJ who finds the wine just a a bit too ordinary. We marginally disagreed about the quality, as the scoring reflects. CvZ and AL enjoy the character and textural qualities, though the latter finds the nose slightly worrying. – IM
Chardonnay 2007 R30 14.5 !!! Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 R35 (f) CvZ 12.5, IM/TJ 14, AL 14.5 !!! Charles Withington, with 30-odd years in the wine industry, has now teamed up with his marketing-savvy daughter, Vanessa Hall, to launch a family range of `market inspired' wines. Their aim is to offer wines with a ‘high degree of drinkability' but not ‘at the cost of elegance and structure', as their website advises. Dollops of sugar and show-stopping high alcohols are not part of their strategy. This is made clear in the Chardonnay, where the unshowy yet expressive limey creamy fruit is bolstered by just a touch of oak. Fresh and firm with great persistence and a moderate 13% alcohol, we all agree this is a decent, honest wine that offers brilliant value. The Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon blend also warrants its good value rating, though we did have some reservations, notably with the great ripeness. Neither this nor a year in a mix of American and French oak, however, obscures the clarity of each variety and their happy, accessible 65/35 partnership. Where we can't agree is on how much the roughish, dry tannins are a worry; more so for CvZ than the rest of us. Enjoy sooner rather than later. – AL
Semillon Limited Edition 2007 R55 15.5 Pinotage Limited Edition 2007 R85 15.5 We have already looked at the Sauvignon Blanc part of the Limited Edition trio from this enduring Distell brand. The well-balanced, unoaked Semillon benefits from some time in the glass: fresh asparagus and grassy dustiness give way to more complex honey and lemon aromas and rich, zingy pineapple and passionfruit flavours – balanced by well-meshed, gravelly acidity. Low yields from Perdeberg bush vines ensure good fruit concentration, while months of lees contact has added dimension, both of which bode well for further time in bottle. The delightful and simple enjoyment of the Pinotage is enhanced by drinking it fairly cool (well below room temperature in summer – we tried it at about 16ºC). This suits the moderate alcohol of 12.6% and the fine thread of acidity weaving through the bright, fresh plum and maraschino (Devon Valley and Stellenbosch Kloof) fruit. A well-judged year in new French and American barrels adds surprisingly little more than appealing spicy roasted herb and mocha aromas, and decent structure for drinking over the short to medium term. Elegant, unpretentious and appetising as we find the wine, it surely doesn't really represent good value. – IM
|
Scoring We continue to partly use the suggestion made by one of our readers: when the panel members' scores are not very close, following discussion, we have not noted a concensus score, but indicated the whole range of scores. (When this does not happen, it can be assumed that the scores were either identical, or close enough that nobody felt strongly about stressing a slight difference of opinion – given that we do not regard scores as scientifically precise, or the most important part of our appraisal of a wine.)
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
|
|
|
COMMENT From Christian Eedes: Thanks for alerting us to our bad mistake, and we apologise to
Willie for gliding over his tenure of some four years at Avontuur.
|
||
|
We would welcome adding your opinions of these wines |
||
Avontuur
This
large Stellenbosch estate has for a few decades been one of few local
producers making a red wine from zinfandel grapes, and those driving the
Blaauklippen barouche clearly want the grape to became even more of a
special association for them. So, rather strangely inspired by the most
notorious genre of American wine, they have produced a ‘White Zin’ –
though, unlike their sweetish, cheap Californian cousin, this one is dry
and very expensive by local white-wine standards. It’s the palest of
gold-pinks, and sadly its aromas and flavours are very pale too, with
some insipid fruitiness driven into submission and then to flight by a
rather brutal whack of acidity. The zin repertoire is also extended to a
dessert wine, which has certainly much more charm, especially on the
nose, which is all lovely berries (logan, mul and cran ones are all to
be found, depending on one’s tastebuds or experience, perhaps) and
apricot and honey. But there’s none of the forcefulness of flavour or
structure one expects from a Noble Late Harvest, let alone any hint of
complexity or of possibility for development. It’s nicely balanced – not
lusciously sweet, with a pleasing acid focus, and a modest 10% alcohol,
but ultimately it’s simple and even a little insipid. All rather a pity,
as it would be good for the Cape to be doing something exciting with
another unusual grape. – TJ
Re-branding
of Preston Haskell’s property has recently been finalised. A top-tier
Haskell Vineyards range should be released this year, while Dombeya, the
farm's previous name, will continue as the basis of their production.
(It doesn’t seem from the label as though they want to bring an
association with the parent farm into the foreground, however.) The
aptly named Samara (biblical name for ‘mountain outlook’, which the
vineyards do onto the Helderberg slopes) is Rianie Strydom’s new
Bordeaux-style blend. The 55:40:5 blend of cabernet, merlot and malbec,
is seperately vinified before a year’s maturation in a mix of new and
older French oak. Classic tea leaf and vine tomato aromas hint at a
leaner style, but instead the palate offers forthcoming, generous fruit,
sweet vanilla flavours, and resolutely firm tannins.
The
Kretzels have been bottling wine from their many old Perdeberg vineyards
for the past nine years. Plenty of fine-tuning has gone on, in vineyards
and winery, during that time but essentially the approach of winemaker
Albert Ahrens is traditional and non-interventionist. The wines, as one
might expect, reflect the warmth and generosity of the Swartland but
without being over-ripe or lacking in varietal character. That said, the
Chenin, harvested from four vineyards of 40 year old dryland bush vines,
proved rather controversial. CvZ finding the negative effects of the
residual sugar (4.6 g/l, so technically dry under local legislation!)
with a warming alcohol, outweighing the positives of its deep floral,
quince fragrance, rich, rounded mouthfeel and length admired by both me
and IM. 
The
Johnson family are steeped in Burgundy and its wines. Father, Dave,
wrote his Cape Wine Master's dissertation on pinot noir in South Africa;
his sons – marketer Bevan and winemaker Gordon– have travelled and
consumed broadly of the area. Back home, in the Hemel en Aarde Valley
just outside Hermanus, both chardonnay and pinot noir receive the
benefit of their experience. The chardonnay fruit has come from the
Kaaimansgat (Crocodile's Lair) vineyard near Villiersdorp since 1999.
Winemaking has been more experimental with natural ferment, 30% in this
vintage, and malolactic, 30-40%, being increased to 100% for both in
2007. Stringent selection of 228l Burgundy barrels from various coopers,
an overnight chill of the grapes and gravity treatment throughout the
winemaking process, are all part of the fine attention to detail which
lead to a wine with a real sense of style and refinement at a very
competitive price. The rich barrel ferment character with its incipient
nuttiness is contrasted by a fine, steely backbone providing both
freshness and length. All the indications are that in a further 4 to 6
years this wine will attain even further complexity; it should be worth
the wait. – AL