Vinous pleasures of the French corner 3 September 2007

The Vignerons de Franschhoek show off the ever-improving quality of the Valley's wines.
Tim James reports on a tasting.

A few years back a certain Tulbagh winery owner was sneering to Christian Eedes (who quoted him in his Gulp! newsletter) about Franschhoek. The Valley hadn’t produced, he pontificated, a decent wine in years. He was wrong even then, and would be more so now. Others have also claimed, with smugly superior smirks, that all good wines made in Franschhoek come from grapes brought in from elsewhere. That’s wrong too – though it’s true that there is still a heavy reliance on especially red grapes from other areas.

But any doubters as to the potential of Franschhoek wine, or as to the development of some dynamism within the winemaking of this wonderfully beautiful valley, would have changed their minds at the tasting given last week by the Vignerons de Franschhoek to some of the media. It preceded a weekend dubbed Franschhoek Uncorked, which was to lure visitors to learn the same truths through visits to the Valley’s wineries – but I have a sad feeling that rain on the Saturday at least will have dampened the experience.

The winery organisation, the Vignerons de Franschhoek still has, bizarrely and unfortunately, members from outside the Valley, and a few of them presented wines neither grown nor made in Franschhoek at the tasting, which didn’t much help in the presentation of a picture of what Franschhoek is capable of producing. Let’s hope that this anomaly gets sorted out soon. There was enough, however, good Franschhoek-grown (or at least Franschhoek-made) wine to given an encouraging picture. It’s a tribute to the seriousness of the Vignerons, incidentally, that the members agreed to show only the best current-release wines, as selected (blind) by a small and well-reputed independent panel.

This meant that the two undoubted major stars of the appellation, Chamonix and Boekenhoutskloof, had most to show. Chamonix’s Gottfried Mocke presented four wines: the Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir 2006 Reserves and the Troika 2005, a bordeaux blend. The first three of these particularly would rank in any listing of the Cape’s best of those varieties, with the Sauvignon perhaps the best example available in the wooded style – though the oak is, in fact, so beautifully calculated and balanced that in terms of flavour at least you would have to concentrate to find it.

The Troika, a good but still slightly too tough wine, was part of an interesting feature of the tasting: the revelation that cabernet franc is starting to show real quality potential in the Valley (as in some other parts of the Cape). For me, in fact, the standout wine of the evening was an as yet unreleased wine from Boekenhoutskloof, called The Journeyman, with 60 percent franc, along with cab sauvignon and merlot – all home-grown. It has a lovely fragrance, and is beautifully balanced and fresh, with an alcohol level of just 14 percent, which is more (that is, less) than can be said for most of the other wines on offer, apart from those of Chamonix). The excellent, still youthfully tannic Boekenhoutskloof Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, successfully balancing generosity and severity, also includes a little franc.

Another good wine with franc – though only 10 percent (the rest sauvignon and merlot) is Xanache from Lynx. It’s not particularly to my own taste – I find it too big, showy and fruity, with a lingering fruit sweetness – but it is certainly well made and others (notably Michael Fridjhon) expressed admiration.

The reds of Stony Brook, certainly a rising property, deserve mention too, particularly the interesting Snow Gum 2004, from malbec and mourvèdre: aromatic, juicy and quite bold, but an interesting wine, satisfactorily dry-finishing.

The four shiraz wines on offer were all approaching or beyond 15 percent alcohol, with the Boschendal Cecil John 2004, La Bri Shiraz-Viognier 2005 and My Wine 2004 all revealing it too much in rather hot and heavy finishes, I found. But the Solms Hegewisch Africana (like the Boschendal not Franschhoek origin), made from vine-dried shiraz fruit in the style of Italy’s Amarone, showed the alcohol least, though at 15.1 percent it was second-highest. Pehaps it was the barely perceptible hint of sugar sweetness that balanced it, and helped throw it somehow into a different category: a wine for sipping at the end of a meal, with odds and ends and plenty of warm thoughts – a meditation wine, the Italians call their Amarone. Solms-Delta, at the opposite end of the valley from the town, is another of the rising stars of Franschhoek, with a forceful energy that should help dynamise the area – and a commitment to helping resolve the social problems wrought by centuries of wrongness that it would be nice to think will also have its effect in Franschhoek and beyond.

Three other brief mentions: Franschhoek Vineyards is the local co-op, making a large range of mostly undistinguished wines. Their Petit Verdot Reserve 2005 was presented here, and it seemed good to me, with an interesting nose, fine dark fruit (perhaps a little dilute), and firm ripe tannic support.  Landau du Val Semillon is usually a first-rate wine, made from some of the oldest producing vines in the country (over a century old); but something didn’t work with the 2006 and the fermentation stuck, leaving quite a bit of sugar, which shows on the finish; surprisingly the wine also seemed just a touch insipid.

Finishing off the evening in style was a dessert wine from Boekenhoutskloof: a Semillon Noble Late Harvest 2006 made for the CWG auction. A really fine wine this, subtle and elegant, with a remarkably dry long finish that is testimony to its quality.

For a Franschhoek tasting to begin with Chamonix and end with Boekenhoutskloof is very appropriate, and hardly surprising. But rest assured that there was good stuff inbetween. Franschhoek is an area not to be sneered at – and we haven’t yet even had the revitalised L’Ormarins unleashed on us yet. So if you go to enjoy the beauties of the valley, and the sensuous pleasures of the handful of excellent restaurants, be prepared to also find local wine to match.

COMMENT

From James:
Greetings. You are incorrect when claiming that the Boschendal 2004 CJR is not of Franschhoek origin. All the grapes used in the wine come from the front side of the Simonsberg. As all of us in Franschhoek know the backside of Simonsberg points to Stellenbosch. Now there are different opinions on the matter of where Boschendal actually lies; is it Stellenbosch, Paarl or Franschhoek? In fact all 3 would be correct for different parts of this rather large estate.

Thanks James, of course I accept your word for it – though the official maps seem to indicate that most of Boschendal, including the production facility, are in the Simonsberg-Paarl ward, as is much of the 'front' side of the Simonsberg (always difficult knowing where the front and back of a mountain are!). I'm surprised at your statement that some of Boschendal is in Stellenbosch, as Stellenbosch only meets up with Paarl around Pniel, as far as I can see. I presume that, with recent legislation, Boschendal would be allowed to give its wines various Wine of Origin indications, including mixed ones? But as far as I know, Boschendal usually gives WO Coastal Region as the origin, whereas it would certainly be allowed to call most of them WO Paarl if it chose to, given that Franschhoek is a ward within Paarl, as is Simonsberg-Paarl. Do you know why it doesn't? — TJ