In search of wines past: Part 3 29 January 2007

A bordeaux blend that is part of Cape history: Another 1997 wine (and story) opened by Angela Lloyd

What makes wine so fascinating? Of its many attractions – including the diverse and beautiful settings where vines are grown and wine is made, and its immense taste sensations - it is often the people involved who secure its fascination for winelovers.

The lure of visiting a wine farm, especially one that's family run, talking to the winemaker and tasting the wines has to be one of the best ways of forging a long-lasting and loyal relationship.

Today, it's difficult to imagine that in the early 1970s there were very few Cape farms that were open to the public – or that even bottled their own wines. The wine was sold to the big merchants, who weren't keen to see their suppliers going into competition and did their best to ensure this didn't happen,.

Fortunately, changes came, if slowly; towards the end of the decade, new wineries, many quality-oriented, began to appear. Welgemeend was one, and the Hofmeyrs were among the courageous new faces on the scene.

Billy already had a solid reputation in the wine world as a wine writer, and his renown as a taster was highlighted when he won a major competition run by The Argus newspaper. Billy believed that to make great wine one has to know great wine – hence the global benchmarks that lined the Hofmeyr cellar and, once they were empty, the tasting-room shelves. Bordeaux and Châteauneuf-du-Pape were two styles Billy particularly enjoyed; his goal at Welgemeend was to create worthy and classic South African equivalents.

The 1979 debut

Billy and Ursula Hofmeyr were not rich Johannesburg business people seeking a new winelands lifestyle. For many years after they established Welgemeend, Billy continued working as a Land Surveyor, leaving Ursula in charge of the many day-to-day chores. There was no question of building a state-of-the-art cellar, but even back in the 1970s the establishment costs of R21 000 seemed a marvel of economy. Despite being enlarged over time, as production and income increased, it never lost the charm of a small cellar, capturing the immediacy of hands-on winemaking.

The warmth, generosity and personal attention with which Billy and Ursula greeted visitors to their cellar was also an attraction and ensured they remained loyal customers down the vintages (much more effective than winning awards!).

It is well chronicled that the Welgemeend 1979 (boasting 11.2% alcohol and a Platter five star on its first entry!) was South Africa's first Bordeaux-style blend. Last year I ambitiously included our last bottle of this first vintage among a prestigious and varied line up - with a Bordeaux First Growth and two Burgundy Grand Crus amongst other. It was readily recognised as South African in the blind tasting, but it was by no means disgraced (bottle variation can be significant in older wines and a bottle of 1979 at Billy's wake in 2000 was magnificent). No one, not even Louise Hofmeyr, Billy and Ursula's daughter, guessed either its identity or its age. (Louise took over the winemaking reins in 1992, after Billy was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and faithfully followed her father's ideals until the farm was sold last year (see Grape article)).

Ten years back

Reversing the last two digits of that maiden vintage we come to Welgemeend 1997. According to the relevant Welgemeend newsletter, the blend is 59 percent cabernet sauvignon, 21 percent merlot and 20 percent cabernet franc. As for vintage conditions, Louise wrote that ‘Although the ripening period was much the same as that of the 1996, the main difference was the health and maturity of the grapes. We believe that naturally fermenting with wild yeasts has added complexity to the wines, which are well structured and balanced. All the wines have spent between 12 and 18 months in small oak casks. … The texture of the wines is marked by silky tannins and they have spent an extended time resting before bottling. These factors prompted me to give the wine a light filtration without any fining. This is a particularly fine vintage with the wines possessing many of the qualities we are aspiring to achieve at Welgemeend … they should provide delicious drinking from a year after release and for at least a decade if stored well.

A decade on, this remains a wine of gentle authority. Its clear, well-graded soft ruby hue, showing little sign of browning, sets the classic tone. As mature as one might expect of a ten-year-old, the welcome lack of over-ripeness, -extraction or -oaking ensures a sustained liveliness in its mellowing bouquet. Its refreshing nature derives not only from the season's naturally high acid but also by the Welgemeend trademark moderate alcohol: 12.5 percent in this wine. A juicily pink rack of lamb from the best butcher in Cape Town and the first crop of our own runner beans pulled it together beautifully, allowing the truly silky texture to complete this charmer. While I don't expect further improvement, I'll be in no great hurry to drink our few remaining bottles.