The colonial burden 12 July 2007

Will the white man’s burden in Africa ever be lightened? Poor Tim Atkin, a Brit winewriter who is ocasionally brought out here to the colonies of the British supermarkets to play golf and taste some wines, must be doubtful. He’s just written an article (and written it pretty quickly, judging by its lack of anything much less superficial than his rather sour opinions) in which he says that winewriting here is so pathetic that the wine industry is in great need of ‘informed criticism from overseas’. That is, himself. For Tim, in the July issue of Wine & Spirit, ‘many of South Africa’s domestic wine writers’ are ‘parochial, barely qualified fans with typewriters’.

Many? I can’t even think of ‘many’ local winewriters at all, whether parochial ones or brilliant international sophisticates in the Atkin mode. Sadly none are named, so that all stand effectively accused (except for Michael Fridjhon who is specifically exempted) in much the same way as if I said, for example, that many Brit writers are arrogant and unattractively self-satisfied – not that that is remotely true, of course.

The trouble is that, according to our international saviour, not enough of the naughty local writers agree with him that most Cape reds are pretty awful. (It’s not made clear if he’s willing to give the winewriters credit for the Cape whites that he much prefers – along with quite a few local critics, let it be said). Interestingly he seems to get some support in his sneering from Marc Kent of Boekenhoutskloof, who isn’t quoted as blaming the winewriters but has a go at trashing his fellow winemakers. A ‘lot’ of them, he says, go to international wine fairs where they taste only their own wines and those of their mates. I wonder how on earth Marc could know this – does he spend his own time at wine shows in constant surveillance of ‘a lot’ of his colleagues? Presumably Tim Atkin, with his high standards of journalism, will have asked him this – but unfortunately doesn’t supply an answer. Forgive me if I have my doubts about this bit of calumny.

Adi Badenhorst, another of the local winewriters interviewed by Atkin, points to his own deep acquaintance with the world’s finest by telling us that he doesn’t drink South African wines ‘at home’ (it’s a work-related activity, it seems); no, Adi drinks ‘claret, white Burgundy, wines from the Rhône and Riesling from Australia and Germany’. Is the tone of this perhaps just the teeniest bit smug? As I myself tend to find Adi’s own magnifiicent Peter Barlow Cab undrinkable unless diluted half-and half with water, I do have some sympathy with him – and I hope he finds some lessons in the more old-fashioned of the clarets he imbibes. Clearly, though, he's got a better-paid job than I have to afford such a wine diet.

Meanwhile, the industry will be delighted to learn that Tim did condescend to say that ‘maybe things are improving at last’, as he’d found some wines that he quite liked, among the selection that Wosa had obsequiously arranged for him at his behest. Any credit is due, no doubt, to all his informed criticism, selflessly delivered over the years. If only the local winewriters would start improving and help lessen the dreadful load of responsibility he bears! Though it must be said that his favourites don’t differ markedly from those of the parochial locals.

Parlous Paarl

Talking of the high standards of local wine journalism, I confess I’ve only just around to reading the June issue of Wine magazine (I'm always behind the times, as the dear man used to say fondly, and Michael Fridhon continues to say, less fondly). I was fascinated, first, to see it supporting Rupert and Rothschild in their persistent delusion that they are located in Franschhoek rather than in Paarl, where the rest of the world thinks they are. Or even Simonsberg-Paarl, the name of the ward their winery is in. They’re members of the Vignerons de Franschhoek wine route, and give a Franschhoek Valley box number as an address on their website, and  don’t think you’ll ever see that dreaded word ‘Paarl’ mentioned anywhere in their vicinity.

Not that Wine mag is the only publication to help obscure the terrible truth of R&R’s true location – I notice that the Platter Guide indicates the property as in ‘Simondium (see Paarl map)’, while R&R's neighbours on both sides are firmly indicated as being in Paarl…. What it is to have influence over the press.

Premature port

The other thing in Wine that a raised a gentle grey eyebrow was the tasting of port-style wines – a matter of great concern to me, of course, in the absence of sufficient funds for madeira (I wonder if Adi Badenhorst ever drinks madeira?). One has to admire the skill of the tasting panel in predicting the ‘drinking windows’ of the wines. For not only did they cleverly notice that the standard Boplaas 2005 merited a higher rating than either of the two Reserve wines, but they also foresaw a longer life for it: it can go for 10 years, was the judicious pronouncement, while the Vintner’s Reserve Selection will only go eight, and the Vintage Reserve will be on its last legs in seven. Such remarkable precision! Although their predictive powers seemed to collapse for the 2004 Vintner’s Reserve Selection, which will merely ‘keep well’. But how well? the advice-seeking reader frantically asks – perhaps six and a half years?

And there we old fogeys go believing the port producers’ propaganda that we drink their serious wines too young. The Boplaas website suggests that a life of up to 30 years is to be expected for their Reserves. Mind you, Boplaas winemaker Carel Nel was on the panel that gave most of their highest scores to his wines, so it’s all rather confusing. Incidentally, Carel seemed to like his own wines a lot, even more than the rest of the panel. And he liked them pretty equally, giving all three of his 2005s solid 18s out of 20, the only taster to do so!  And it was much the same story with the Tawnies, in fact.

Surely his scores for his own wines weren’t counted, I hear some quaint old-fashioned person ask. Of course they were! Splendid standards of wine journalism all round. Let’s hope Tim Atkin reads our finest stuff so he can be impressed.

COMMENT

From Tiny:
Wasn't it Thomas Hobbes who spoke of the problems of being 'nasty, British and short'?

Note: See Open space for discussion on the WIne mag port-tasting.

From Adi Badenhorst, winemaker at Rustenberg:
Aai, Widow, jou ou teef - we love you.

I must just say that I drink the dodgiest of clarets from the lower reaches of whatever bank I can get hold of. Good claret is pilfered from Simon Barlow’s, owner of Rustenberg, cellar. If I ever get through the good stuff I hope to find special old Madeira hidden in the far reaches of his vast collection. Perhaps the two of us could break bread and chew the fat over the odd bottle of Madeira and diluted Peter Barlow?

The rieslings and others are declared ‘gifts’ from barrel smouse. You know, I buy a lot of barrels to put that horrible Peter Barlow Cab into; actually Simon sort of buys the barrels.... Perhaps you should buy a barrel or two?

As for the Peter Barlow, you will be pleased to know that from now on we are going to change the backlabel. It will now specify how much water to add per glass. Now, what will really excite you, is that the water will have to be Paardeberg mineral water, bottled at source. Twofold advantage - firstly, the Peter Barlow will go a bit further (you drink a magnum for a bottle’s worth - vintage depending, as you might have to add more than your usual half and half to make it drinkable and secondly; you may even now taste some resemblence of terroir.)

From Tim Atkin:
My views about South African red wines  - and the general failure of local journalists to criticise their mixed quality - has nothing to do with arrogance, colonialism, self-satisaction or the "white man's burden" (whatever that noxious term is supposed to mean in a wine context).

You may not like what I have to say, but my views are shared by a significant number of wine professionals in the UK, not to mention South Africa. And unlike The Widow, I have the guts to sign my own articles.

I believe that South African reds are given an easy ride at home. Pick up the 2007 Platter guide and read through the list of wines that get four or five stars. Is it really true that more than 160 Cape Syrahs, 120 Cape Cabernet Sauvignons and 60 Merlots deserve such scores? I don't think so.

Some of these wines are good, half a dozen are great, but of the ones I've tasted, most are of bronze medal standard at best. I stand by my opinion that the average quality of Cape whites is far higher and that local tasters are too indulgent when it comes to green, unbalanced, over-oaked reds.

Most South Africa wine writers don't travel to other wine producing countries. Or if they do, it is on rare occasions. I have been writing about and judging wine for 22 years and I have met only two South African journalists outside the Cape. How do the others learn about non-South African wines? Do they have huge sample budgets?

With a couple of exceptions, South African wine writers are not in a position to comment meaningfully on where Cape wines stand in a global context, for the simple reason that they don't taste enough wines from places like Bordeaux, the Napa Valley, Margaret River, Maipo, Tupungato and Hawke's Bay.

Maybe they should get out a bit more.

From Ingrid Motteux:
Provocative and arrogant as Tim Aitkin’s comments may sound, he has a point about the state of South African wine journalism. It was largely a reaction to advertiser-influenced, shallow sunshine journalism that Grape first began its print mag in 1999. Has much in the industry changed significantly since?

From Emile Joubert:

And from Emile Joubert again:
T.A.C. (Tim Atkin the Chief) is really angry at South Africa, so would all those who have caused this reaction from someone who has been writing on wine for 22 years please stop doing so. I mean, if our wines aren't green and over-oaked, the local wine writers are parochial, ill-informed and have never taken the ferry past Robben Island. I am truly surprised the Pinotage Association is not blamed for the current UK floods, and would Johnny Nel from Camberley please refrain from causing the English cricket team to lose to India. And it is not our bloody fault David Beckham went to Los Angeles, OK! TAC deserves our collective best foot forward, so I hope his hosts will do a better job next time. After all, here in the colonies we aim to please.