ELGIN

ELGIN

Elgin is a lush plateau above Somerset West known for producing 60%of the national apple crop and increasingly some of our best wines.

The area is named after the original farm in the area, 'Glen Elgin'.

Glen Elgin Station. Not far from Cape Town

The Palmiet River flows through much of the area.

This year I attended the Elgin Cool Wine and Country Festival http://www.elginwine.co.za/ to gain a better understanding of the area and it's wines. This is a festival well worth attending. It is held in April each year and is a great way to taste wines from all the Elgin farms, as many are still only accessed by appointment. I must also mention that it was really affordable to attend, and we didn't come across any major crowds at the tasting rooms.

Wine grapes were first planted by Sir Antonie Viljoen, forefather of the Oak Valley Estate, which still produces some of the regions best Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. He first planted Semillon, Palomino and Cinsaut, and built the first Elgin wine cellar in 1907. Currently, prominent grape varieties in Elgin include Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay,  Pinot Noir and some of the Bordeaux red varieties. Merlot has in fact fared better here than anywhere else in the Cape, and this caught my attention in particular.

Elgin rests 300m on average above sea level. It's an area of cooler temperatures than surrounding wine regions (5- 10 degrees in fact) with an average yearly temperature of just over 18 degrees. On the winkler scale which classifies wine regions according to climate, Elgin is compares with Bordeaux in France, and some other European and New Zealand areas. Grapes spend up to a month longer on the vine than in surrounding regions, which leads to better development of physiological ripeness in the grapes ( more integrated natural acidity, developed, fresher flavours and gentler tannin).

                          

                           

2 farms with the longest track record of wine production in Elgin are Oak Valley and Paul Cluver, both at the northern end of Elgin close to the town of Grabouw, and the Peregrine Farm Stall. Planting of vines in the modern era began in 1985 with an experimental block at Oak Valley. the first commercial wines from Elgin in the modern era were made by Nederberg under their own label, with. Paul Cluver Fruit.

In 1991 Oak Valley collaborated with the then new Bouchard Finlaysson cellar up the Hemel- en- Aarde valley, and contributed to their now infamous Blanc de Mer, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.

90's collaboration between Oak Valley and Bouchard Finlaysson.

                                     

On the recent visit, we first checked out Shannon Vineyards. Wines are made by Gordon and Nadia Newton Johnson from Newton Johnson wine estate in the Hemel-En-Aarde Valley. the grapes are farmed by renowned viticulturalist James Downes who supplies many other producers as well including Catherine Marshall and Blackwater (Francois Haasbroek). James brother Stuart manages the wine sales and marketing, and he took us through a vertical tasting of their Pinot Noirs first, and then their Noble Late Harvest Pinot Noir, ' Mecushla'. It was most interesting to see the vintage variation on these wines. 2009 and 2012 stood out for me.

An epic vertical at Shannon Vineyards.

                         

Pinot Noir makes a delicate wine, and favours cooler conditions. The average growing season temperature in Elgin is 17.5 degrees Celsius which is as cool as many well known European regions.

Other great Pinots from the valley included the Oak Valley Pinot Noir 2012, Paul Cluver 2012, Paul Cluver Seven Flags 2012 and  Catherine Marshall Reserve 2012. A great surprise on the day was a 2005 Stellenbosch wine made by Catherine Marshall for the BWC ( Barefoot Wine Co.) near Ridgeback winery in Wellington.

Some other epic Pinot Noirs from the day.

                        

My favorite wine of the day though was the Shannon Mount Bullet Merlot, named after a pointy mountain to the south of their vineyards.

Merlot is a much scorned grape in the wine circles I hang out in. Sometimes referred to as an 'eskimo'due to it's favoring cooler growing conditions, Merlot ripens quickly, and benefits greatly from longer time on the vine. Initially planted in Stellenbosch, it has proved an awkward wine to master. Physiological ripeness at harvest is reached in warmer areas resulting in high alcohols which overshadow Merlots delicate, fresh red fruit appeal. To compensate, some farmers harvest early and sacrifice full flavour development. Resulting 'green' flavours ensue. Some wineries also emphasize too much extraction on Merlot grapes, with 4-5 or more punch downs a day.

In wine however there are always contradictions to the popular opinion, and 3 'new world style'. Merlots which show balance despite their power and concentration are Camberley Elm Tree Merlot, Thelema and old Veenwouden wines.

I prefer a more delicate, old- world French Bordeaux style of Merlot emphasizing good acidity, dry tannin, fresh red fruit, flinty minerality and a silky texture.

Gordon Newton Johnson makes his wine with a, 'minimal winemaking intervention approach', with only 2 punch downs a day. It's also naturally fermented.

The Mount Bullet Merlot is my best example of South African Merlot, and indeed leans more towards the French style. In distinguishing this wine though, I did find it had more concentrated dark fruit notes than true old world Merlot.

South Africa's best Merlot? I think so.

                                    

Other great Merlot wines tasted on the day were Oak Valley's Merlot Cabernet Blend 08, Shannon's export Merlot 2012, and Catherine Marshall's AMATRA Merlot 2012.

Elgin Merlot. WATCH THIS SPACE.

                          

Other notable wines I have recently sampled were Spioenkop Pinotage, Hannay Cabernet Franc and the Charles Fox MCCs.

Hannay Cabernet Franc made with fruit from the northern edge of Elgin.

                             

Hannay Cabernet Franc really impressed. It was quite complex on the fruit side, soft on alcohol and had all the tell- tale mint humbug, raspberry and tobacco on the nose. It showed a darker fruit palate with evident good acidity. Possibly a dash of Merlot in there as well to soften the wine.

COOL vs WARM CLIMATE debate

When I began learning about wine around 2004/5, a message often preached and to which I largely adhered to was that cool climate wines were better overall than their 'warm climate' counterparts. My yardstick for South African wine was initially Constantia wines, so I got to know cool climate in detail first, particularly Sauvignon Blanc which shows good noticeable variation between areas of different climate. Lean, tart, herbaceous and steely for cool climate, then fruit forward, tropical, broad palate for wines from the warmer areas.

I now know that indeed there are different expressions of wine that can be made from the same grapes, from different climatic areas. Wines are different, and one is not better than the other from differing regions. I do find that I like acidity and freshness in both red and white wines- wines from the traditionally cooler areas. Though I have had many examples of this flavour profile from warmer areas as well. The discussion here is a mainly accurate generalization,but there are always contradictions in wine.

In the sales and marketing business of wine, I found that being cooler makes the pitch of most promoters of respective wine farms. It seems like many farms (at least judging from their sales people) outside of Elgin, constantia, durbanville and the overberg feel a need to justify why some if not all of their wines grow in cooler conditions than the next guy.

COOL is definitely in. But why?

Climatic conditions speed up or slow down the ripening of a grape. Warm, sunny areas produce ripe, fuller fruit, while cooler areas will produce crisper more tart fruit (apparently in some vintages Cabernet Sauvignon in Elgin doesn't even ripen).

More sugars develop in grapes from warm areas, and so certain grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Touriga Nacional benefit from the boost of better ripening conditions.

Yeasts consume sugars during fermentation, and convert them into alcohol. More sugar equals more alcohol. In really hot vintages a farmer may try to harvest early to avoid high alcohol levels, but in doing so lose out on a full flavour profile.

Grapes best suited to cooler climates include Riesling, Pinot Noir and Merlot. Grapes are able to spend longer time on the vine, which is better for the development of acidity and subtle flavours. Grapes with thinner skins I found perform really well with longer ripening periods.

Elgin is a cool area. It also experiences significant cloud cover in the summer months. Grapes here are harvested up to 6 weeks later than Stellenbosch, just a few minutes drive away! Wines are often described her as, 'elegant', a slogan for the , 'elegantly Elgin' wine Route.

SAUVIGNON BLANC

Naturally acidic Sauvignon Blanc made some of the first big impressions for the region. The wines are distinctly herbaceous, and some good ones I have tasted recently are Highlands Road, Oneiric and Oak Valley.

Wines with prominent natural acidity such as these can age really well and show best after a few years. 

CONCLUSIONS

This a superb wine region to visit. Most farms are closely situated to each other, and the region itself is 1 hours drive from Cape Town. Most are still accessed by appointment though,so do phone ahead, or attend one of the very affordable festivals held there when all the farms are open.

Restaurants are few but I could recommend FRESH at Paul Cluver, and the Pool Room at Oak Valley. The Perigrine Farm Store has a superb deli and coffee shop. It's well worth a turn. their pies are famous.

Fresh farm produce, terroir- driven Oak Valley wines,  and long lazy afternoons at the pool room.

        

Keep an eye on Elgin Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Shiraz for the reds. Pinot Noir has established itself as the Elgin talisman, but there are so many interesting expressions of other varieties coming through.

Charles Fox MCC is outstanding for a bubbly.

White Grapes to watch are Chenin Blanc. Riesling is being planted more and more which is great, but I think Sauvignon and Chardonnay will continue to stand out as they both perform so well here.

Elgin is still a young area viticulturally. Much of the hype in the wine industry has been centered around the Swartland and some of the more traditional wine regions. I think that as some of the vineyards start to mature beyond 10-15 years the quality of Elgin wines will continue to improve across all the producers.

WINE MAGAZINE '93- '94

WINE MAGAZINE '93- '94

I was really disappointed when WINE Magazine ended their reign which began with an edition in October 1993 and ended in 2011.

As a junior restaurateur in Cape Town, this magazine was a great way of getting to know South African wine and keeping abreast of wine events where I could go and taste new wines. Sadly due to the drop in the popularity of print- media, and there simply being too few wine geeks to sustain an insightful wine publication- the magazine closed its doors, but still maintains a great website WINEMAG.

First edition wine mag. 

My interest was aroused recently when I discovered some older WINE magazines being thrown out by my neighbour. I rescued them, not knowing that these 12 editions were in fact the first releases of WINE mag. The first edition was released in October 1993, with a young, Pieter Ferreira- with an interesting hairstyle- riddling bottles of his famous Graham Beck Brut- on the cover. Back then it was R58.00 for a 12- issue subscription, and R5.00 for a single edition in a store.

Aside from there being a mullet featured on the cover, the magazines were intrigued me in many other ways too. It was really interesting to look into the wine industry at that time.
The list of contributors reads like a South African wine industry hall of fame- Jos Baker, Wendy Toerien, Harold Eedes (Publisher), Michael Fridjhon, John Platter, Dave Hughes, Peter Devereux, Giles Webb, Allan Mullins, Lannice Snyman- basically the collective wine knowledge of the entire planet.

The articles were insightful, and well written. Some were really technical. As a youngster in the industry, I have often perceived the industry of the early nineties to have been quite backwards. I see now that winemakers back then were in fact fairly up- to- date at least with what was happening in the rest of the wine world.
Several wine- tasting panels were constantly bench- marking our wines with internationals. A picture is painted of a rapidly changing industry trying to catch up fast. Individual wines were sticking up their hands and achieving international recognition, though not with the consistency of today. It seems to have been Bordeaux- style blends and Cabernet Sauvignon that made the most noise for us back then.
I was also surprised at the amount of interest shown for international wines- and it seemed there was an availability of affordable imports too- at one stage there was even a Bulgarian wine shop off Greenmarket Square. Many ads were for international wines, and prices seemed relative to our local pricing.

20 YEARS ON- Some cool findings:

(1) Hairstyles

Hair styles- too cool for old school.

(2) Chateau Libertas and Kanonkop

Chateau Libertas was a great wine at one stage. Consisting of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, in 1993 it is described as a, 'higher price- bracket wine', and by the SFW MD Ronnie Melck as, 'a wine at ease with itself, lively with the freshness of youth, but with the roundness and depth of a little maturity'. I knew it as a wine at ease with badly behaved students.

Tassenberg came in its standard niche it still currently holds in the market- but contained Pinotage and Cinsaut (Hermitage) back then, so it must have been better? Described as, 'lightbodied with a tremendous following. A no-nonsense easily swigged-down Pinotage-Cinsaut-based blend that did much to change the tastes of the public from sweet to drier wines. If kept, it ages remarkably well”.  More interestingly, in the 90's there was also as a long- lost Reserve version.

(3) Lost Wine Brands. Whatever happened to these interesting brands?:

Landzicht, Stellenryck, Rudman's, Kleindal, Bodega, Eclipse, Uitwerwyck, Fredericksburg, Eersterivier Kelder, Bottelary Ko- Op, Bellingham Sauvenay, Oscar's Reserve. Theres a whole lot more, but these are the only images available.

(4) Wine Prices

I have compared retail prices between 1993/94 and current retail prices for some of the more famous brands:

Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir 1991- R37.00
Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir 2013- R337.00

Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel 1990- R23.00
Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut 2012 - R125.00

Meerlust Rubicon 1987 (this was the 1993 current- release!)- R33.00
Meerlust Rubicon 2009- R363.00

Jordan Chameleon White 1993- R14.00
Jordan Chameleon White 2013- R65.00

(5) Extinct Pinot Noirs. Loved these:

Still battling to, though quality has sky- rocketed

(5) Consumer preferences

Consumer ambivalence? Dave made a strong case.

(6) The, 'Cape Blend'

I came across an article in the August '94 edition stating, 'Merlot and Pinotage seem to be battling it out as winemakers' preferred partner for Cabernet Sauvignon, with Shiraz languishing on the side- lines as the search for the typical Cape Blend continues.'
This is still something that baffles me in that with Red Wine we have never developed a unique South African blend.

Signature red blends world- wide are defined by the grape varieties constituting them- Sangiovese to Tuscany, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to Bordeaux, Mourvedre to Bandol etc.
Perhaps it is the lack of definition and structure offered by our 'native' Pinotage, Nouvelle, Chenel, Roobernet which negates this?
Currently white blends- though- consisting mainly of Chenin Blanc are carving a name on the international wine tree trunk. Its really exciting stuff. many young winemakers are pushing this and i really feel we're going somewhere with this style of wine, incorporating our heritage of a certain variety- Chenin Blanc. There are also old- vine Semillon, Muscat, Palomino and red Semillon constituents which add to the heritage, and flavour aspect.

I believe our diversity is our strength perhaps, but regarding a defined, unique South African flagship red, here's an uncanny insight from MW Liz Berry from 1994, 'South Africa doesn't want to be a market follower so i suggest you look at grapes which can make good quality wine here: Cinsaut, Grenache, Mourvedre, and some of the Port varieties such as Tinta Barrocca.'
Its nice to see some of these grapes coming through now, and adding to increasingly popular and present Rhone- style blends and variations thereof.
Interesting times ahead.


(7) I WISH I could have tasted some of these:

Produced by the Dieu Donne winemaker. I wonder if these vines still around?

The Rustenberg 1982 i believe was an absolute stonker!

I don't know if anyone still has Muller Thurgau?

'Alter Ego'. A garagiste old- vine Merlot/ Cab blend from Tulbagh. Too cool.

(8) Disagreement over a united marketing front

The article reads, '..lack of finance and an inability to agree on a united marketing strategy seems to be hampering efforts.'

In my extremely limited knowlege of the South African wine industry, does this still ring true for our international marketing and export approach?

(9) Cheesy ads and headings:

Ultimate Blue Steel. And his dronkie girlfriend.

 

(10) Paarl Wine Route

This was quite big back in the day. Needs a push. Other wine areas are getting way ahead in the tourism stakes.

(11) The Swartland

The Swartland was seen as a value- for- money destination, and constituted the co- ops of Mamreweg Wine Cellar, Allesverloren, Riebeek Wine Cellar, Swartland Wine Cellar, Porterville Wine Cellar and Winkelshoek Wine Cellar.

The New

The Old Firm

(11) New- comers (then):

Chris Keet began making the famous, 'Cordoba' Wines.

Constantia Uitsig's first releases in 1993. Good times ahead.

Jeremy Walker released his first few Grangehurst beauties.

(12) An obsession with awards.

There are still many wine competitions which take place, where accolades are bestowed on individual wines, and the relevance of these awards is still disputed hotly in the wine media. More so between wine reps.

In 1994 these awards contributed an essential adjective to each and every wine mentioned in the magazine. Every award- oriented descriptive cliche in the industry was first mentioned here. At least half of the magazine was the mention of awards.

Awards- seemingly- were everything when it came to marketing your wine. A quality focus. There were no advertised deals and bulk specials. Was the market then less price- sensitive than today, and more interested in quality?

The 90's were an exciting time in the wine industry, and these pages introduced some of the current industry greats to the wine- drinking public.
It was an easier time to sell wine back then- or so it seems- and I was quite astonished to see the amount of labels that have since disappeared. Encouragingly, many of our most notorious wine houses have stood the test of time- realizing the need to evolve and read the market in order to re- position themselves when the necessity arose.
Sales and Marketing in the local wine market has become a lot more important. A resultant increase in wine quality is a positive result of  increased competition, but there are negative side- effects too. The market  is increasingly price- obsessed, partly through habituated spending patterns and aggressive pricing strategies by the larger companies. This focuses production at a certain market and increases production of inferior wine.
The John Platter Wine guide's physical growth year on year indicates a growth in overall supply of wine in the country. I hope that there is sustained reciprocal reaction from the local market.

I'm really happy to see so many of the 'big' names in the industry still going strong, and most are smiling a little more than 3-5 years ago with the current export results.

Now its time for an extraordinarily unprofound ending which reflects sentiments talked of since wine appreciation evolved.

Looking ahead (with my incredibly limited knowlege and experience in the wine industry), it looks like much more needs to be done to get people to drink wine. Anything, as long as its wine. This is where i am not averse to some of the flavoured wines. They serve a purpose, and they are perceived as being less intimidating to taste by consumers. One knows what to expect and everyone can sound clever because of the coffee flavours they can smell. I'm not saying that pushing these wines should be the only strategy, but they can help.
The problem is that people are intimidated by wine. Many households have grown up with wine, but not grown to know wine. The mainstream market the industry so desperately wants to attract is uneducated and intimidated by wine. There's so much choice, and the perception is that you have to be a studied expert to enjoy wine, and so they will stick to their guns. Just walking into a bottle store with so many options is quite daunting (unless you're a wine geek like me), and as a result, many consumers continually return to their brand which they drank with their Mom and Dad when they were young, when there were 5 wineries in South Africa.

After all that, having convinced the entire middle and upper class of South Africa to drink wine, a concerted effort to get people to drink better wine is needed.

There's a couple of ways to achieve that, and that in itself is the problem. Unity isn't a strong point for us is it?