Winter wines (2)

13 July 2008

Wines from Nederburg, Saxenburg, Stellenzicht, Sterhuis and Welgemeend

Nederburg  

• Winemaker's Reserve Merlot 2006 R56 IM 14;  AL/TJ 14.5; GdF 15

Nederburg has a history of over 200 years and many of these were years of glory. After losing some of its spark towards the end of the last century, there has been a recent return to form of this old favourite which has largely been the work of cellarmaster Razvan Macici. The award of ‘Most Successful Producer’ at the 2008 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show certainly suggests that this Grande Dame has now ditched the powder puff for the royal sword. Darling, Stellenbosch and Paarl provided fruit for this Merlot and the wine spent eight to twelve months in a combination of small French and Romanian second and third-fill barrels.

   Approachable in style, the bouquet offers plenty of ripe plum and cinnamon which pleases most of us, though IM finds this sweetness somewhat off-putting. The plush fruit flavours we anticipated are leaner than expected, with distinct herbaceous and more minerally, spicy character. Where TJ finds overoaking, IM is more unhappy with a high acidity. I am the most positive, appreciating the wine’s elegance. We all agree this medium-bodied merlot will be best enjoyed sooner rather than later. – GdeF

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Saxenburg

• Guinea Fowl 2005  R45  13.5

• Private Collection Pinotage 2005 R99  12

• Private Collection Shiraz 2005 R120  15

• Private Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 R150  GdF/IM 14.5, TJ 15,  AL 15.5

This is winemaker Nico van der Merwe’s 18th year at Saxenburg – a Stellenbosch winery frequently acknowledged over the past decade for the consistency and quality of their Private Collection range. (The Merlot 2005 recently won the only Gold at the Trophy Wine Show.) The Guinea Fowl represents a blend of the grapes surplus to this range’s needs, in this case merlot, shiraz and cabernet, matured in 2^nd and 3^rd fill French and American barrels. Ripe, sweet red fruit aromas and flavours aren’t yet sufficiently integrated with the firm oak tannins; tannins, which seem more forceful than necessary for a wine which is likely to be consumed shortly after purchase. The combination of very ripe and unripe herbal fruit is striking, as is the alcohol which reveals itself once the sweetness falls away.

   Present in varying degrees in the Private Collection trio are common traits that do the wines no favours: over-extraction, very ripe fruit with overly obvious acid and alcohol (all around 15%), and little potential for improvement in bottle – some of which can perhaps be attributed to the challenging 2005 vintage. The pricing of the range set by earlier successes means this vintage seems overpriced to us, and might struggle to meet expectations. As the score suggests, the Pinotage is the worst culprit in this regard, with its overripe, overextracted, overworked fruit, and heavy-handed oaking and acid adjustment. GdF deemed it faulty, and we all agreed that it was precisely this sort of wine that has given this local grape a bad reputation.

   Disappointingly for Saxenburg’s signature grape, the Shiraz fares better by only a couple of points, with improved oaking, and more appealing spicy, medicinal red fruit. We agree that although the fruit has positive elements, the wine lacks freshness or potential, and I object more strongly than others to the whack of added acidity, and sweet alcohol negatively affecting the finish. The range of scores (over the breadth of a single point!) reflects different impressions of the cabernet, with TJ the most positive, commending the fresh fruit and soft tannins. AL concurs, though feels the wine lacks focus and backbone, and GdF commented on the dilute vegetal character. A garnet rim suggests swift development for a three year old wine, and while the medicinal herbal, minty aromas are appealing, I found the shaky fruit beginning to dry out and in no condition to stand up over time to the indomitable acidity.  – IM

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Stellenzicht

• Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 R65 13.5

Having so enjoyed the Golden Triangle Pinotage 2006 a few months back, we were somewhat surprised to be greeted with a 2003 vintage of cabernet as a new release from this Helderberg cellar. Why it took so long to get to the market is cause for some speculation, especially as the appearance is distinctly passé, with evidence of browning and loss of colour. Intriguing meaty aromas with hints of aniseed and tobacco suggest the wine originally showed complexity; now, signs of oxidation unfortunately override the fruit. To rule out spoilage from an ill-fitting cork, we opened a second bottle which revealed a tad more vitality but certainly not enough to convince us that the issue is one of weak closures. AL finds a disturbing rhubarb quality which often indicates over-ripe yet stressed fruit, which is then ‘saved’ by a healthy dose of added acid. The acid does jar and we believe it's best to drink up in light of the wine’s development. – GdF

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Sterhuis

• Chardonnay 2007 R80 16

• Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 R90 16

• Astra Red 2005 R150 17

The light from the Bottelary Hills farm, Sterhuis (star house), was originally thought to be the evening star, Venus, by the 17^th century inhabitants of Cape Town, hence its name. Present-day Capetonians might well dub it 'star house' for quite another reason: the stellar quality of the wines Johan Kruger is crafting on his family property. His style is indisputably classic, a feature emphasised by the unfussy, attractive labels, and aided by the siting of his vineyards. Their aspect might be generally north-facing, but lying between 320 and 450 metres above sea level, they receive plenty of summer's cooling breezes.

   The Chardonnay is tight and bracing, its minerally freshness balanced by flavour intricacy obtained from natural ferment and toasty character from new French oak barrels. The wine's poised restraint and savoury length portend well for complex evolution over at least three years. Vintage 2005 is not one to get too excited about, especially red wines; Sterhuis Cabernet and Astra (a 60/40 cabernet/merlot blend) offer excellent exceptions to this rule. Both have promising analyses, with stated alcohols of 13.5%; even if slightly higher, there is no sense of heat in either, both exuding finesse and freshness.

   The Cabernet enjoys an enticing fragrance of cedar, tobacco and cassis with a herbal hint (the only detracting factor for GdeF); light textured with good sweet fruit intensity, the wine concludes with fine, firm tannins and savoury length. TJ aptly describes it as appetising. Astra, a barrel selection made after 16 months' oak maturation and matured as a blend for a further six months, has greater potential complexity and ageing ability than the varietal wine, thanks to its deeper flavours (more vinous than fruity), bigger structure and greater extract; it is both unfined and unfiltered. Yet, despite a plush feel, it still maintains a sense of restraint and minerality, gliding across the palate with seamless polish. Starry stuff indeed. – AL

Welgemeend

• Amadé 2003 R42 14

• Douelle 2003 R63 GdF 13.5, AL 14.5, IM/TJ 15

• Estate Reserve 2003 R80 GdF 15, AL/TJ 15.5, IM 16

Welgemeend passed out of the hands of the Hofmeyr family a few years ago. Hardly an historic property in the usual sense, it had been an important modern one: amongst the first of the ‘boutique’ estates, and the pioneer of the Bordeaux-style blend in the Cape, and of a blend with the proclaimed inclusion of pinotage. Vintage 2001 was the last completely managed and bottled by Louise Hofmeyr, and recent years were particuarly difficult, leading to the sale of the farm. Unfortunately wines from some vintages were left in tank much longer than was ideal, and that, rather than long bottle-age, accounts for these 2003s being released only now. It is also probably largely responsible for the wines being a little more dried-out than they might have been, a little lacking in fruit. But simply fruitiness has never been what Welgemeend is about: the orientation has always been to the classic (old-fashioned?) virtues of structure and food-friendliness. And we generally liked these wines for those characteristics, and felt that they offer a good and good  value alternative to the many fruity or heavily-oaked wines available (though it must be said that GdF was generally rather more dubious, tending to find the wines too developed for their age, and rather too acidic).

   The Amadé blend of shiraz, grenache and pinotage is a little lean, with perhaps a touch of volatility, with some nice tobacco and spice notes rather than obvious fruit. A wine for food (great with something fatty). Douelle, the Bordeaux blend including malbec, had the same sort of structure, with a notable acidity and a herbal bouquet. For all of us the Estate Reserve had stood up best to the rigours of its upbringing: there’s more fruit and flavour on offer, with a good savoury palate – and something very satisfying about it (for most of us), particularly the fine structure. But it must be repeated that, just as some tutti-frutti or heavily oaked wines are a stylistic choice (great for some people, ghastly for others), the same thing applies here. If you like classic older Bordeaux, you might well welcome these. But drink them up soon – there's no mileage in keeping these.

   There are a few more ‘transitional’ vintages to come from Welgemeend. After which it will be interesting to see what the new regime does with one of the most idiosyncratic, and frequently very good, smaller Cape wineries (we didn't, incidentally, much like the new labels for the Douelle and Reserve).

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
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

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

We would welcome adding your opinions of these wines