Burgundian passion in Elgin 26 March 2008

Andries Burger's quest for expression is behind Paul Cluver's new and expensive
Pinot Noir, says Melvyn Minnaar

Elgin’s wine reputation as a ‘cool climate’ zone is held in good stead even early on a sunny Saturday March morning: the sorters at the vibrating grape table are wearing hoods covering their ears. They’ve been at it for a few hours, handling bobbling bunches of chardonnay which looks seriously in need of sorting and trimming.

Due to the odd weather, botrytis had taken its toll in the Cluver vineyards, and the scene was a sure sign that this, 2008, is indeed a long, tricky harvest. Some darkly-rotten berries bespeck the clusters of chardonnay going into the masher.

Winemaker Andries Burger is looking remarkable fresh for someone who had seen the last of the previous day’s sauvignon blanc into the works by three in the morning, a few hours before being woken again by a wifely shot of espresso. The gloriously generous apple trees in the orchard a few metres away (unlike grapes, this is one of the finest apple harvests ever) provide fresh fruit for instant breakfast.

While his newly-appointed assistant winemaker, Inge Slot, is overseeing the sorting, we go to check on the chardonnay already in barrels since Tuesday. The little glass goodies protruding from the normally plugged holes are showing no sign that there is life inside. Burger looks a little worried. It’s been five days and little movement.

Natural fermentation, letting nature do her thing without interference, is an added stress factor in the cellar process. We listen at the holes and there seems to be a feint fizzy sound, indicative of something happening - good news. The yeasts floating around in the cellar have taken hold.

Burger explains that tests during the previous few vintages have shown that it seems that the same types of yeast infect fermentation each year here in the cellar. He likes the idea of such consistency. It fits in with his passion to show and expose the nature of the vineyards.

On the other side of the aisle, bright-new barrels are happily hosting the pinot noir already safely brought in. The wood is all Burgundian.

Earlier, at the launch of the brand-new, top-end Paul Cluver Seven Flags 2006, Andries Burger had quietly admitted his passion for Burgundy. Yes, he is quite a proven master at the grapes and styles that, say, define Bordeaux and the Germanic slopes (his Paul Cluver Noble Late Harvest Riesling is a consistent stunner), but his love and challenges reside in pinot noir and chardonnay, taking his stylistic influence from the hills beyond Beaune.

The new Pinot Noir’s high price (R360, which some may argue about) is a confirmation of his passion: to make smart wine from the most tricky of grapes. Being in love with Burgundy also means that Burger is very much aware that its grapes are the most expressive of site. Hence the accent on vineyard expression in the newly-released wine. No-one will say it is Burgundy, but the line of inspiration is clearly there to taste and revel in.

This is just what Andries Burger desires – and doesn’t mind getting up early for.