Vondeling Babiana 2012

Vondeling Babiana 2012

Vondeling Wines come from Vondeling Wine Estate in the Voor Paardeberg area between Malmesbury and Wellington.

The Paardeberg Mountain is named after herds of Quagga and Cape Mountain Zebra (Perde)which used to roam its slopes.

A short throw back to 1704 is needed to get to the roots of this estate. It was first owned by Oloff Bergh- a famous Swedish pioneer linked with the Dutch government of the day. His existing farmhouse- built in 1750- still stands to this day. The well- known Oloff Bergh Brandy- distilled in Rawsonville- is named after him.

Original Vondeling Farmhouse built in 1750

Oloff Bergh. First hipster of the Cape?

Vondeling is the farm name, and means, 'Foundling'- an abandoned child.

Wine at Vondeling

Farm owner Julian Johnson has been managing the Vondeling vineyards for over 12 years. Vineyards are managed biologically with continuing efforts to reduce the impact use of chemicals.

Most of the vineyards face south, and the South- Easter combines with this favorable aspect to give cooler conditions- for grape growing- than surrounding areas (up to 5 degrees cooler).

South- facing vineyards, and cool southwesterly winds blowing every day in the late afternoon means cooler conditions than surrounding appellations

The Paardeberg is known for its decomposed granite soils. These soils give distinction to many of the old vines growing on the original farm site including old blocks of Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. Granite soil heats quickly, and retains heat well. It has a high acidity, and helps subdue acidity in acidic grape varieties. There's a layer of clay below a sandy upper layer, which holds water through the dry season. Thus most of the vines are unirrigated- leading to deeper root systems for the vines and more minerality in the wines made from these grapes. 

Granite soils give distinction and a gravel- minerality to older plantings of Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc

Viognier and Chardonnay grow on alluvial soils promoting more vigorous growth, and reds grow on east and south- west facing slopes on Oakleaf and Tukulu soils.

Whats also important to note is that lower yields are encouraged leading to more concentration in the Vondeling wines.

Wines produced from the older vines on the farm tend to be more complex in flavour, achieve natural balance, reflect terroir better, and have a distinct, mouth- filling texture. Concentration and complexity is also helped by a tending towards natural fermentation on more the premium wines.

South- facing vineyards

Granite outcrop on the Paardeberg

Winemaker Matthew Copeland makes a range of wines based mainly on Chenin Blanc for the white wines to Syrah for the reds. Going forward most new plantings are to Mediterranean grape varieties which are more suited to the warmer climate of the Voor Paardeberg and Swartland areas.

In the cellar, and according to the Vondeling website, 'grapes are whole bunch pressed, thus retaining natural acidity and promoting juice extraction. Separate vinification of specific blocks and natural fermentation is an integral part of the process.' Basket pressing, hand plunging, minimal filtering and no fining are also features of Matthew's hands- on approach..

The winery is based in a converted milking shed with thick clay walls and a Rietdak thatch ceiling where the wines are matured in mainly older second and 3rd fill french oak barrels.

Old Clay and Rietdak maturation cellar

Conservation 

The Babiana blend is named after the plant Babiana Noctiflora- a night- time flowering fynbos flower which only grows on the Paardeberg mountain.

The Babiana Noctiflora flower

The Paardeberg is an area of extensive and important natural biodiversity. It hosts several plant species found nowhere else in the world.

Vondeling is the primary sponsor of the PSI, or Paardeberg Biodiversity Initiative which funds various conservation efforts, and has been involved in detailed environmental surveys recording all the species occurring on the mountain- sitting now at 900 and counting.

Typical Fynbos wildlife occurs on the mountain, and camera traps have photographed Cape Leopards roaming the area.

2 of Vondeling's wines- the Babiana white blend, and Erica Shiraz are named after indigenous plants.

Baboon selfie, and  a large male Leopard protecting the vines from Baboons..

Erica Hippuris

Flowers- Indigenous

The Grapes

The Voor Paardeberg and Swartland areas are blessed with plantings of old Rhone- varietal vines including Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne and Clairette Blanche. Other older plantings of Chenin Blanc, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay also occur, with Chenin being the most abundant. These varieties produce exciting, blended white wines which are distinctive, terroir specific, and make a bold case for a truly unique style of South African wine.

The style which seems to be in favour is a wine based on Chenin Blanc, naturally fermented, fermented dry, and matured in predominantly older French oak barrels.

Chenin Blanc makes up 49% of the blend in question, and forms its backbone. Grapes are harvested from an old, low- yielding vineyard- known as The Graveyard Block . Its 32 years old!

Quality and concentration of fruit flavour from this block is excellent, and because the vines are unirrigated and roots go down quite deep- there's a nice gravelly/ flinty minerality the grapes add to the wine.

Chenin Blanc from a 32- year old vineyard called The Graveyard Block

Grenache Blanc (21%) adds a delightful freshness to the wine, with citrus and fresh herb flavours (maybe even a hint of lavender?). It contributes good acidic length to the Babiana 2012. Vintage has a profound effect on the final wine flavours, and as such the amount winemaker Matthew adds to the blend does vary. The past few vintages saw 3%, 3%, 8%, 8% and now 21% being added.

Viognier (15%). Viognier is an aromatic grape variety which adds structure and pronounced peach and floral aroma to a white blend. It has the propensity to overpower blends if not added sparingly- displaying very powerful aromatics, and then tart, tropical fruit and apricot flavours. As such there has not been more than 24% Viognier in a Vondeling blend.

Chardonnay (15%) contributes additional vigour and freshness to the wine, extra citrus and Naartjie  flavour, and fills out the palate with a nice viscosity. Grapes come from an old single- vineyard block.

The Wine

Matthew Copeland and his team hand- pick the grapes and the are whole- bunch pressed straight into barrel.

This means that the grapes are not put through a de- stemmer or crusher but pressed while still attached to the stems. This is usually done to produce a more delicate wine

Grapes are whole- bunch pressed- producing a more delicate wine. This method is most often used for sparkling wines

The press cycle takes longer, but the results are better. The juice is cleaner, less astringent and less bitter.

Whole bunches of white grapes being pressed

Grapes are hand- harvested for the Babiana..

Its raining grapes

Natural fermentation takes place in barrel, and the wine remains on the primary lees for 7 months. Batches are fermented separately. This is a nerve- racking time for the winemaker as the wine ferments at different speeds. The resulting wine however shows greater complexity, concentration, structure and palate weight.

After 7 months the wine is racked, blended and returned to barrel for a further 4 months.

My pretentious tasting note:

I thought the wine deserved a poetic description, so here goes:

The 2012 edition of the Babiana is my favourite to date. 21% extra Grenache Blanc has added a bit more freshness to the wine.

Crisp and distinct, it shows soft, honeyed citrus fruit on the nose with a hint of acacia blossom.

A complex palate follows with fruit layers of Mandarin Orange, Sweet Lime and quince laced with yellow spice

The finish on the palate is longer than on previous vintages, and acidity- racier.

Enjoy with poultry dishes or take a bottle with to your favourite Indian restaurant. Don't order anything too mild as the flavours may overpower the food. I thought it went very well with a medium- hot Khadai or Masala curry- both tomato- based.

Tasting Room & Potjie Competition

The best place to enjoy Vondeling wines aside from at home or at your favourite restaurant is at the farm. The tasting room looks back over the Paardeberg, and offers cracking picnics and a guided tour through the wide range of wines.

Every year in August, Vondeling hosts a Potjie Competition involving teams from the area, and from the wine trade. Its well worth attending. This year my team, Esperanca went on to win- providing some valuable insight into a strategy for next year! The winning dish was an oxtail potjie.

I did some research into what constitutes a proper potjie and this is what I found:

1) Its cooked in a round, cast iron, three-legged pot, the potjie

2) A potjie should include lightly- spiced meat on the bone, vegetable and starches

3) Meat is browned, and the vegetables then added

4) Liquid and often an alcoholic beverage of some sort can be added in small quantities. Sherry and wine both work well. 

5) Once the meat is browned, and the vegetables and then liquid (optional) added, a potjie should not be stirred- distinguishing it from a stew. 

6) Cooking is done at a very low temperature by steam, and not by boiling like a stew. 

7) Length of time for cooking is between 2- 6 hours.

The winning team

The Oak Valley Merlot Cabernet Blend 2008

The Oak Valley Merlot Cabernet Blend 2008

Oak Valley wines come from Oak Valley Estate in Elgin, situated in the mountains above Somerset West. This historic, forested farm is home to the Rawbone- Viljoen family and their hive of industry managing flowers, fruit orchards, Wagyu and Simmentaler beef, acorn- fed pork and world- class wines.

Wine at Oak Valley

The farm was founded by Sir Antonie Viljoen in 1898, and was the first commercial farm in Elgin.

In 1904 the first grapes were planted. Wine geeks would be super impressed to learn that these were in fact Cinsaut (Hermitage), Semillon (Green Grape) and Palomino ( Fransdruif, usually used in the production of Sherry).

The first Grapes planted were Cinsaut (Hermitage), Semillon (Green Grape) and Palomino ( Fransdruif)

His wine cellar was built in 1907 having begun selling fruit to a local co- op.

To this day Oak Valley use industrious farming techniques, and Sir Antonie could have been one of the first farmers to cold- ferment his wines. He did this through running pipes of natural running water over and around his fermentation tanks. Cold fermentation takes longer to complete, but better quality wine is produced.

The first wine of renown was called, 'Dry Imperial'- a Cinsaut- based sparkling wine made by Douglas Green, a winemaker who had studied champagne- making in France. 

The first wine of renown was called, 'Dry Imperial'- a Cinsaut- based sparkling wine made by Douglas Green

Through till the early 1980's grape production dwindled due to strict quotas imposed by the KWV, or, “Koöperatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Suid-Afrika” (Afrikaans for "Co-operative Winemakers' Society of South Africa"). There was a mere 4 hectares of Cinsaut left.

Then in 1985,  Merlot, Pinot Noir, Weisser Riesling, Schönburger, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc was planted on the farm by the government wine research division, Nietvoorbij. In 1988 when the first good crops came in it was clear that the grapes that fared best were Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

At the same time, the famous Gunter Brözel from Nederburg approached Oak Valley and Paul Cluver to try and form a joint venture with Nederburg. This was mainly to acquire good quality Riesling grapes. The first wines were bottled and co- branded between Paul Cluver and Nederberg.

Oak Valley decided to pursued its interests elsewhere, and sold grapes to Bouchard Finlaysson who took Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Merlot grapes. Some of these wines achieved great accolades.

Oak Valley's first major wines of the modern era were collaboration wines between themselves and Bouchard Finlaysson

Elgin is an inland plateau over 300 meters above sea level. The climate year- round is similar to that of Bordeaux in France. Conditions are cool, which means that grapes get to spend much more time on the vine. They thus achieve a better state of ripeness where tannins and various other chemical compounds are more balanced and contribute better to the color, flavor, and aroma of the wine.

The Grapes

The blend is made from 47% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

Merlot is sometimes referred to as an, 'eskimo' due to it's favoring cooler growing conditions. It 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 very quickly in warmer areas results in high alcohols which overshadow the delicate, fresh red fruit appeal of the variety.

To compensate for the fullness of fruit, some farmers harvest too early and often sacrifice full flavour development. Resulting, 'green' flavours ensue. 

This grape ripens well in Elgin and achieves a great balance between delicate fruit character and acidity. Over all the other regions' Merlots I have tried, there is a defined finesse that is achieved with this variety in Elgin.

Oak Valley Merlot vineyards are low- yielding, producing grapes that add finesse and good concentration to the blend

I found the same with Cabernet Franc which also shows better definition of fruit flavours, more evident acidity and lower alcohols. The Cabernet Franc vineyards are higher- yielding and younger than the Merlot vines.

Cabernet Sauvignon needs a lot of sun to ripen properly, and due to the oft- overcast conditions in Elgin (resulting from the South- Easter bringing cloud cover to the valley for much of the growing season) it does ripen slowly and sometimes not at all. I therefore feel that it does not fare as well as the other 2 more delicate, earlier ripening varieties.

A great cool vs. warm- climate exercise one can try at home is to compare a warm- climate wine (Stellenbosch, Paarl or Swartland) with an Elgin single- variety red wine from the same vintage

Lower temperatures in cool- climate areas preserve acidity, and grapes take longer to ripen on the vine. Tart fruit flavours are more evident, wines are more gentle and tannins on red wines are perceived to be softer. Wines are also alot more vintage- specific in cooler areas.

The 2008 vintage red blend from Oak Valley is currently drinking superbly.

The Wine

Made from Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon this is one of the Wines that shone for me recently when I attended the Elgin Cool Wine and Country Festival. 

On that day I was also really impressed with the Shannon Mount Bullet Merlot,  Hannay Cabernet Franc (Oak Valley Fruit)  and Catherine Marshall's Merlot. 

In an environment conducive to making elegant wines,  grapes that produce softer wines naturally perform well in this region.

During and after fermentation,  the grapes were gently extracted before being matured in 70% new French oak and the rest 2nd- fill (older) barrels. 

I believe that the 2008 is just peaking now and shows incredible balance of fruit,  sugar,  acidity and soft,  supple tannins. 

The 2008 Merlot Cabernet blend has matured well, and is drinking beautifully

Borrowing some notes from the winemakers fact sheets,  the wine shows darker fruit flavours of ripe mulberry and blueberry- fruit descriptors more in common with Wines from the northern part of Elgin. 
Red wines from across the N2 highway towards the south of the plateau produce Wines showing flavours of red berries like Strawberry and fresh raspberry. 

Cabernet  Franc gives the wine a lovely mint- butterscotch richness, and Cabernet Sauvignon adds body and structure to the wine (mainly through tannin and fruit focus/ concentration). 

The wine is best enjoyed with one of Chef Jacques Theron's grass- fed beef burgers at the Pool Room Restaurant, open now Tuesday till Sundays. 

The Pool Room at Oak Valley

Oak Valley Merlot Cabernet blend 2008 is drinking very well now,  and will continue to intrigue over the next 5 years if you have the patience.