Some five years ago, Grape
first conducted one of these polls among a group of
well-informed observers of the South African scene mostly
wine writers and judges with wide experience, but also a
handful of sommeliers, educators and retailers. It would be
surprising if there were not tales of rises and falls within
the top twenty over the five years and the three polls we
have conducted but it is probably reassuring that there
are also important elements of continuity.
In
2001 Vergelegen came a respectable second to Kanonkop, which
was judged the best South African winery (then, as now, we
did not attempt to prescribe to the judges how they should
understand best). In the 2003 poll, those two positions
were reversed, but Vergelegens lead was substantial. Now,
Kanonkop has fallen out of the top five probably its
reputation knocked by the loss of high-profile winemaker
Beyers Truter, but no doubt also squeezed by the rising
reputations of some other wineries, notably Boekenhoutskloof
and Hamilton Russell, which tied for second place this year
behind Vergelegen.
There have been a few
dramatic reversals. While Rustenberg has been remarkably
steady in its high ranking, Rust en Vrede was totally absent
in 2001, soared to fifth place two years later and has now
dropped out of the running once again, its standing probably
diminished both by family squabbles and by worries about the
effect of the brettanomyces which seems to have
tainted some recent releases. Even more dramatic has been
the eclipse of Veenwouden: at the height of its reputation
in 2001 when it was voted into third place, sinking to 20th
spot in 2003, and attracting just a single vote for a top-20
placing this year.
Other
disappearances from the list this year, compared with 2003,
are Klein Constantia, Villiera, Spice Route, Glen
Carlou and Bouchard Finlayson (the latter two were just
outside the list of 20, along with Simonsig). Newcomers are
Hartenberg, Meerlust and Paul Cluver well-established
wineries which are augmenting their reputations in the face
of increasing competition from a whole host of newer
wineries. Cape Point, Sadie Family and Rudera are the
younger wineries to enter the list, along with Flagstone
(named as one of the 'most exciting' wineries in 2003 a
category we didn't use this year). Of course, in a smallish
poll like this, and given the volatility of the South
African wine scene, the ranking must be seen more as
interesting and significant than in any way definitive. And
of course there will be some omissions that will raise
eyebrows and levels of irritation....
It seems, though, like a
good balance from the pollsters between respect for
continuity and a welcoming of the new. We did stipulate that
wineries should have been releasing wines for at least five
years to qualify, which made things easier though quite a
few of the judges pointed out how difficult it was to come
to a decision, and in fact a total of some 75 wineries
received at least one vote (many of them just one). Only one
judge did not include Vergelegen as being amongst the
country's top 20 wineries (and was also one of the two that
omitted Boekenhoutskloof), so Vergelegen received 23 votes,
the runners up 17 each. At the bottom of the qualifier list,
Paul Cluver estate got eight votes.
Incidentally, it should be
mentioned that we also asked the pollsters to vote
separately for their top five wineries as a double-check
(a total of 27 wineries were voted for here, many by only
one voter), and this part of the poll was used to separate a
few tied places in the final list preference going to the
winery that had also done better in the top five voting.
Treading on their heels....
If
it was difficult making a selection for the top 20, it was
more so voting for the five most promising newer wineries
those with a track record of less than five vintages. While
few of our judges (and we aimed to select people we thought
would have comparatively wide experience) could claim to
have a thorough knowledge of all the leading Cape wineries,
none, surely, would pretend to an adequate overview of all
the good new wineries springing up. Here it was less easy to
supplement the gaps in one's knowledge by (problematically,
but necessarily) relying on reputation for most of these
wineries are only acquiring reputations now.
There were 37 wineries
which received votes in this category. Tokara, incidentally,
also received some votes in the 'established' category
there was an apparently unavoidable ambiguity in its
position, given that it has been releasing wines for some
years now, but not under its own name.
Generally, what we said in
2003 seems fair enough as a conclusion today:
It would be fair to see all these
results as important, given that they reflect the current
judgement of a panel representing a large proportion of
South Africa's most widely and deeply experienced
wine-professionals. A poll in a few years' time is almost
certain to produce some significant changes. As is the
case this year, such changes will be testimony to the
dynamism of the industry, to the possibility of rising
dramatically in public esteem through a drive to quality
- and, sadly, to the possibility of falling behind.
We will shortly report on voting for the best
individual SA wines in various categories: Best red, white,
sparkling, unfortified dessert, fortified, as well as the
best new wines.
Link
to the results of the 2003 poll
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