The rebirth of a classic 23 July 2007

Ingrid Motteux tastes Meerlust Cabernet from two decades

Those who have been around long enough (certainly only a couple of those present at this tasting!) might recall that Meerlust’s reputation was built on their Cabernet Sauvignon, first produced in 1975 by then winemaker Pieter Smit. It was only in 1980 that Nico Myburgh (father of present owner Hannes Myburgh) got to produce his blend conceived in the style of Bordeaux – the now much better known Rubicon.

Fewer than a dozen vintages of cabernet were released after the maiden ’75, all made by Giorgio dalla Cia, and none since the last 1993 – mainly due to the replanting of this variety on the estate. Dalla Cia’s assistant in his latter years there, and now fhos successor, Chris Williams, began his tenure as winemaker-in-chief with the 2004 vintage. He took advantage of an abundant crop from now nicely mature 10 year-old vines from a single vineyard to once again bottle a Meerlust Cabernet.

Knowledgeable terroirists will want to know that soils in this vineyard are low vigour, gravelly Vilafontés and Dundee, draining freely into the Eerste River. Chris WIlliams, a firm believer in trying to not obscure what the vineyard offers, employed simple, traditional vinification methods before maturing the wine for 20 months in tight-grain Nevers barrels (60 percent new).

At a launch function at Meerlust for the new wine, we also tasted six older vintages. They were selected to demonstrate Meerlust’s commonality – wines where, Chris feels, the character of the property shines through with particular vibrancy and vitality.

Remember the days of modest alcohol levels? And of  modest oaking? The 1976, ’78 and ‘80 vintages were 11.7 percent alcohol or lower, and matured in large Yugoslavian 5000-litre vats. The oldest was, to me, like a fragile-bodied, firm-spirited old lady. It had delicate fruit which ‘grew’ in the glass; the 1978 had more guts but not as much dimension, and the 1980 was my favourite of the tasting: holding its colour well, it could have been confused with a mature classic Bordeaux (a Pauillac perhaps), with its classic cedar, tobacco and cassis aromas, supple, lean and slightly sweet fruit, and firm thread of acidity.

Then we got more modern. Ranging between 12 and 13 percent alcohol, the ’84, ’91 and ’93 had all seen plenty of new oak (up to 80%). The 1991 was the most popular wine of the tasting, according to a show of hands. It had a riper, more overt fruit sweetness - kept in check by still-firm tannins, a proscutto meatiness, and a long, savoury finish. The ’84 was still youthful, with vivid blackcurrant fruit and obvious minerality, while the aromatically shy ’93 exhibited underlying dense fruit and savouriness.

Last tasted was the focus of the tatsing, the youthful 2004. The toasty oak is still very much in evidence at this stage (though less new oak was used than in the preceding post-1980 vintages). Predictably, the primary cassis and plum fruit aromas flavours were intense, and the firm, polished tannins added grip and structure to the fruit. Already evident were the components that for me formed the distinctive expression of all the earlier vintages: minerality, fruit purity, suppleness and taut acid/tannin structure.

Volumes of the 2004 are around 1 500 cases, retailing at around R165 a bottle. The same wine has also been packaged in magnums bearing the William Kentridge label (see our story on this) which raised funds for bringing school groups to performances of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

What about the future of a varietal cabernet at Meerlust? Williams says that production will be intermittent. Rubicon comes first, and any cabernet remaining after the assembling of that wine will have to be distinctive and good enough to be bottled as such. The good news is that they already have a 2005 edition undergoing the its 18 months maturation in bottle.