RECENT RELEASES
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Winter wines (1) 3 July 2008
Wines from Allesverloren, Eikendal, Elgin Vintners, Fleur du Cap, Gary Player Championship Series, Groote Post, Kleine Zalze
Allesverloren • Shiraz 2007 R75 GdF 13.5, AL/IM 14, TJ 15 The 2006 vintage of 5th generation owner-winemaker Danie Malan’s popular stalwart shiraz secured Swedish Allt om Vin magazine’s Red Wine of the Year 2007 title; the subsequent demand has pushed Malan to release the 2007 earlier than he would have liked. Fruit for this Shiraz comes from low-yielding 40 year-old Swartland vines. It was oaked in new and older French and American barrels, and a hint of miffiness perhaps from these older barrels is apparent on the nose, which also notes slight volatility. Simple, fresh plum and cherry flavours are balanced by rather firm acidity throughout. GdF was concerned by the ripe but, at the same time, light and diluted style. TJ interpreted this as a decent, old fashioned style, while AL favoured the earthy minerality, but found some bitterness on the finish. Broachable now despite its youth, and probably best enjoyed over the medium term while the freshness lasts. – IM
• Semillon 2007 R60 16 !!! 'It just doesn't sell,' sighs Ginette de Fleuriot about semillon generally; a sadness when there are wines of a quality of this Eikendal, delivered in a most food-friendly style. The quiet, yet pure aromas reflect the grape's often waxy character with just a hint of stone fruits such as peach and apricot. These are enhanced by barrel fermentation, a tool which has also increased the seductive silky texture. Although oak flavours presently remain somewhat noticeable, the fruit balance is sufficient for harmony to be achieved over time. Beneficial maturation, probably over three or four years, is further promoted through moderate alcohol, in feel as well as the 13.5% stated on the back label, and a refreshing, savoury acid. The wine is sub-headed Cleopatra's Wedding Present, referring to the Egyptian queen serving Julius Caesar African wine during her reign ending in 30BC. 'The Eikendal 2007 Semillon is our present to her from the southern tip of a continent continuing her proud tradition of African wine,” explains Eikendal winemaker Henry Kotzé (or his PR consultant). If I were Cleopatra, I would be delighted to receive a case of this delicious wine from the other end of Africa. – AL
Elgin Vintners • Shiraz 2006 R85 14.5 Elgin Vintners' wines are made by leading Cape winemakers, chosen for their talents in working with the respective varieties. Niels Verburg of Luddite Wines is behind the 2006 Shiraz, a recent Gold Medal winner at the Decanter World Wine Awards. An ardent shiraz fan, Niels has proven his skill crafting wines with beautiful fruit purity and elegance, both qualities expressive of this cool-climate area. It is, therefore, with some disappointment that we agree on this wine's disjointedness. Whereas the nose shows great promise with opulent, ripe dark berry fruit, hints of pepper and a subtle violet perfume on the tail, the palate lacks harmony. There may be no lack of good fruit and peppery spice, but the sweet oak – a mix of 90% French, 10% American with 25% new – is felt (particularly by IM) presently to be too dominant. As AL comments, this modern style is sure to be appreciated by many but in spite of the Decanter Gold, the wine struggles to find a champion amongst us. GdF and TJ’s concerns about the assertive acidity could perhaps be allayed if the recipe for Chorizo Sausage with Spiced Potato (handily provided with the sample by the Elgin team) is prepared and served together with the wine. On re-tasting over a few days, the wine showed improved integration but retained that finishing flash of tartness. – GdF
• Merlot Unfiltered 2006 R80 16 This premium Distell label has been much lauded in recent years for its white wines particularly, and there are now increasing indications that the reds (which had been rather hard and ordinary, perhaps), with Justin Corrans as their dedicated winemaker, are now catching up – while retaining their orientation to a classical ly restrained style. This Merlot, from the superior Unfiltered range, is a case in point. Nice lifted aromas of plum and spice, mint and little dark chocolate, lead on to a fresh, well structured palate beneifting from some deft oaking. There’s a touch of dry austerity to the firm tannins, but if the wine gets the four or five years of bottle maturation it deserves, that should sort itself out. – TJ
Gary Player Championship Series • Muirfield 1959 2003 R250 15
This maiden 2003 recalls Player’s triumph at the British Open played at Muirfield, Scotland, in 1959, marking his emergence as a world-class golfer. Slick packaging (the label was designed by South African artist Athol Moult, who drew inspiration from press clippings and iconic photos of Player during his playing days) and a smart wine are certainly what one might expect from such an enterprise and at such a price. The wine, a skilful blend of 38% merlot, 31% cabernet sauvignon, 23% pinotage and 8% shiraz, certainly fits its smart image. It offers ripe, upfront fruit in a modern style with sufficient peppery notes, yet not quite enough spice to create the excitement of a hole in one. We have some doubts about its maturation potential and wonder whether this level of complexity will sufficiently please wine-loving golfers and since production is a moderate 30 000 bottles (with a only a quarter allocated to the local market), not all of them will be given a chance to find out. – GdF
• Chardonnay 2007 R94 14 • Pinot Noir 2007 R115 13 We were frankly disappointed with these two premium offerings from this large Darling estate with its plethora of cool dryland vineyards. The Chardonnay from Groote Post has tended to the sweet, and this was no exception, and with not enough of the crisp acidity that one might expect from this area to rescue it from a slight sickliness. But there’s plenty of flavour and some noticeable toasty wood, so it might well be, as IM pointed out, a popular style, and she defended it as such. IM also found a little more to like in the Pinot than the rest of us. It has an engaging aroma, certainly, though with a real earthiness and even an animal quality along with the red berries. In the mouth, the wine is soft and broad, with little in the way of grip from either tannin or acidity, but quite a whack of bitterness unfortunately. – TJ
Kleine Zalze • Pinotage 2006 R35 13.5 Kleine Zalze's winemaker, Johan Joubert, has a soft spot for pinotage, but like many of his colleagues, acknowledges it can be a difficult grape to handle. It took several experiments to capture his desired varietal elegance, an attribute he was happy to achieve in 2006. Fruit sourced from both Stellenbosch and Durbanville trellised and bush vines was given a three to six-day cold soak, followed by low-temperature fermentation in both open fermenters and closed stainless steel tanks. Only half the wine was oak-matured, spending 16 months in used barrels. Such approach has resulted in a pure-fruited, fresh yet easy wine, that TJ and I find a simple quaffer rather than elegant; IM and GdF are more positive, listing its modern style, balance and value as attractions. – AL
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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 consensus 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 GdF – Ginette de Fleuriot, Cape Wine Master, taster for Wine magazine, Platter, etc 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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We would welcome adding your opinions of these wines |
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Eikendal
Fleur du
Cap 
Wine-loving
non-golfers will be forgiven for not having heard of Black Knight Wine,
a subsidiary of Black Knight International, the company that represents
Gary Player’s commercial interests – these include golf course design,
real estate services and more recently, you guessed it, wine. Player
himself may be a teetotaller but his son, Marc, BKI's CEO, is a wine
lover and astutely realises the financial benefits of creating a wine
collection in honour of his father's legendary golfing achievements.
Player senior's good relations with Quoin Rock owner Dave King made this
winery an obvious choice as partner but accomplished winemaker Carl van
der Merwe's growing list of awards could not have gone unnoticed.
Groote Post