Chamonix surges ahead 28 November 2006

A reinvigorated winery is bringing lustre to the reputation of Franschhoek wine,
suggests Tim James

The bottle of 2002 Chamonix Sauvignon Blanc of which I recently drunk more than I intended with my dinner bears eloquent witness to at least four things:

1. Local sauvignon blanc can be a much more interesting and satisfying wine than I sometimes give it credit for.

2. It can age much better and more beneficially than most people realise.

3. Franschhoek – at least on the slopes of the valley – is capable of a quality comensurate with the beauty of the landscape, despite the sneers that usually accompany the observation that most of Franschhoek’s best generally comes from bought-in grapes.

4. This Franschhoek winery, Chamonix, is producing excellent wines – all the more so since Gottfried Mocke took over control of the cellar in late 2001 (this Sauvignon was his first).

It is unfair, though, to credit the not-quite-new winemaker with everything: chardonnay and sauvignon blanc from Chamonix have had a good reputation for many years – with more overseas than local cachet and competition success, however, given the elegance which characterises it and which previous winemaker Peter Arnold also brought out (though  not quite as well, to my mind – but maturing vineyards help too).

What is really exciting about Chamonix (owned by Chris and Sonja Hellinger) under the regime of the wonderfully young Gottfried is that there is improvement across the whole range. His serious involvement in the management of the Franschhoek vineyards (which are increasingly going organic) is probably of even more importance in this quality growth than is his sensitivity and technical expertise in the cellar. The most convincing explanation (and one that Gottfried would insist on) for the recent year-by-year improvement in the Chamonix red wines is made by pointing to the efforts he has made to raise the quality of the grapes coming into the cellar.

The bordeaux blend Troika (cabs sauvignon and franc blended with merlot) did very well on the Trophy Wine Show with the 2003. I found that wine rather toughly tannic, and the 2004 seems to me better: richer and more harmonious, though still serious-minded, with a classically austere edge, and very reasonably priced at R90 from the cellar. There is also a reasonable Cabernet Sauvignon, and a modest Pinotage (both R50).

It is the Pinot Noir, however, which best marks the revolution at Chamonix. I don’t know of any Cape wine that has improved so much in the space of a few years. The 2003 was okay, but pretty ordinary; the transformation happened with the 2004 and continued with the 2005 which has more intensity (compensating for the slightly lesser elegance), and a lovely spread of varietal aromas and flavours promising to develop with a few years in bottle. There’s quite a bit of tannin (like some modern burgundy, in fact), but a fresh, savoury acidity also driving it. This latest vintage stands well alongside the best of the Cape – eclipsed, perhaps, by the best examples from the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, but quite a bit cheaper (R90), and still advancing.

Classic whites

Very good value marks the top white wines too. The Chardonnay 2005 has just won Gottfried Mocke the 2006 Diners Club Winemaker of the Year award, and it is a very plausible result – and not a result indicating the too-frequent triumph of oak flavours, big alcohol and a seductive whack of residual sugar. I haven’t tasted the 2005 vintage (the current 2004 sells for R80 ex-cellar), but have no doubt – given that Mocke is a principled, sensitive, minimalist winemaker aiming at expressing his vineyards rather than his knowingness in the cellar – that it follows the subtle, classic pattern of previous vintages. Like many of these wines, incidentally, at least some of the Chardonnay Reserve is made with native-yeast fermentation.

There’s a second-label Chardonnay (R52), as there is of the Sauvignon Blanc (with a Vino-Lok glass stopper; R45); both are more than decent, but the best value for money probably lies with the more expensive wines (though I wouldn’t bet on this situation continuing as Chamonix quality gets wider recognition). The Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2005 (a snip at R52) is one of those made in a subtle mode, not just offering that winning, simple charm of a combination of ripeness and greenness that characterises most well-made sauvignons. Those elements are there, but there is a restrained, elegant steeliness and earthy minerality too, and the oak maturation  (11 months of mostly older barrels) is beautifully calculated. Now that Vergelegen has unfortunately abandoned its wooded Auction Reserve Sauvignon, this must be the best example in the Cape of this style of sauvignon – not saying much, really, given the small competition, but it is by any lights a first-rate wine.

The very good Cap Classique sparkling wine from chardonnay should also be mentioned (R70), and there is also a good trio of ‘restaurant wines’ (Frenchly called Rouge, Blanc and Rosé, priced at R25 each), which offer fine value at the cheaper end (particularly the white blend), and are much more than the dumbed-down stuff that constitutes so many ‘second-label’ wines.

Incidentally, those who groaned at the old Chamonix labels, rip-offs of those of an American winery called Far Niente and even metallicised in recent years, will be pleased to see that Gottfried’s persistence has won here too, with a whole new look, that is more attuned to the stylish but understated smartness of the wines.

Franschhoek’s finest

Franschhoek may well be poised to take flight from the respectable dullness that generally characterises its wines. I hastily add to that generalisation that there are exceptions: including Landau du Val Semillon from very old vines, and Boekenhoutskloof Cabernet Sauvignon and Semillon, though most of the exciting wines from Franschhoek cellars do come from brought-in grapes. But if intellectual and viticultural excitement mean anything, Solms-Delta (on the Paarl border) should continue on the path of excellence while increasing the percentage of home-grown grapes in their innovative wines; and if vast amounts of money intelligently applied mean anything, the focus on new high-lying vineyards at L’Ormarins should bear fine results.

At present, though, Chamonix, on the eastern slopes above the village, must be regarded as the producer of the best range of genuinely Franschhoek wines. It is only a question of time – and probably a short time, at that – before this gets more widely recognised; don’t expect the present great value to continue at quite this pitch.

• Link to the Chamonix website