Tasting of historically interesting South African Wines
Auslese, Cape Town
Tasted December 6, 2013 by rikipedia with 43 views
Introduction
A historical perspective of older South African Wines. Some facts and a timeline:
1925: Brandy was set up in 1925 very much like Cognac, with the minimum 3 years ageing in barrels 30%. Rest = grape spirit. Matured for 6 months.
1960’s 100m litres of wine.
1970’s: 6th largest producer in the world
In 1971, price of a bottle of wine = twice price of cheapest wine on the market, loss making products for a tiny market.
1973 rules developed and now most stringent taking the best from every country. Of 100m litres wines, 0.5% was made into good wine.
1973 & 1974 were both ripe years.
1980's: In the mid 1980’s rules changes with rebellious producers weren’t allowed to make Chardonnay as yields were too low and therefore was not deemed viable or commercial.
1990's: Rules changes and amnesty declared.
1994: KWV controlled industry then Mandela was released. This led to the breaking up of the KWV into a self funding scheme.
As it freed up, prices increased.
Other factors, selected by time . Why some have lasted , winemakers have down their own thing.
Clairette Blanche, grow a lot in the 1970’s, different styles, 99% of it was used for brandy production and was eventually replaced by Colombard, then Ugni Blanc and Chenin Blanc.
Flight 1 - White Wines (3 notes)
The Joostes owned lots of shares in SFW; therefore, the rest of the wines went to them.
Deep gold, the wine shows tertiary development with a floral edge, orange zest and crystallised orange.
A tart acid entry and phenolic grip give backbone to the wine, bone dry with a chalky mineral quality. Asparagus joins methoxy-pyroxene. Very linear but lacks mid-palate weight.
(Of the 500 grapes tons, Rustenberg only bottled 10 tons of grapes). Nowadays, the top coops are making better wines.
Deep orange-gold with attractive aromas of vanilla, raisin, orange peel and a gentle brush of spicy oak. The palate is similar to the nose, with a lovely breadth of flavour, a soft, creamy texture and medium acidity. Toffee and some marinated stone fruits with some creamy fudge give the flavour to this surprisingly delicate wine that is showing really well. A lifted, long finish. Serve with hard cheese or fig.
Not in great shape.
Flight 2 - Reds from the 1970s (4 notes)
Grapes are from the north and south of the Simonberg.
Medium garnet, the bouquet delivers a gorgeous tertiary development with undergrowth, rumtopf marinated black fruits and mint.
The entry is complex with baked fruits, roasted herbs, beef gravy, bone marrow and a mint nuance. Gravelly textured, the wine is long and shows really well.
A high, piercing acidity, perhaps accentuated by the volatile aspect struggles, overwhelms the sweet fruit. Some roast beef and savoury elements lead to dry, chalky tannins. Better on the nose than the palate in the end!
Light to medium brick red, the bouquet is tar, roasted and raw meat, coal and very smoky. Clearly developed, the savoury nuances on the palate are accented by lively acidity and white pepper.
Flight 3 - Reds from the 1980s (3 notes)
Light to medium brick red, the bouquet shows worn leather, undergrowth, and red pepper brushed with balsamic vinegar - pretty good.
A warm tertiary entry balanced by lively lemon-edged acidity with a gravelly texture and impressive fruit with earth, prunes, mint, redcurrant and crushed rocks. A fleshiness remains in this complex wine that finishes very long with silky tannins. Linear, the back palate has gunflint and shows excellent Cab characteristics for an aged example.
The palate echos with a noted acidity on entry and, despite its piercing construct, pushes the fruit along, giving the wine linearity. The tannins are a bit drying and curtail the finish somewhat as the fruit fails to live up to the nose.
The entry shows more fruit with richness and a grapefruit-fresh acidity and flavours of black currant, caramel and some blackberry jam with a twist of vanilla.
A dry, chalky wine with reasonable length.
Flight 4 - Reds from the 1990s (3 notes)
A soft entry, with lots of toasted marshmallows and blancmange. Silky textured with sweet juicy fruits, the wine has dark berries, fleshy black cherries, smoke, spices and capers! A broad mid-palate, the wine has an opulent feel yet a lovely acid streak to keep it in check and finishes long and winding.
The panel discussed that Pinotage often surprises with its ability to age when the rougher edges disappear, and it becomes surprisingly elegant.
Flight 5 - Two Reds from overseas consultancy (2 notes)
Following Mandela's release, there were a group of French visitors followed by some investments by Van der Walt and Pierre Lurton.
Veenwouden was purchased in 1988 by famous opera singer Deon van der Walt and his brother Marcel (himself a golf pro but not good enough for the pro Tour) along with their father, who planted the vineyard. He wanted to create a Pomerol style of wine after tasting their 1982 Ch Petrus; thus, the accent was on Merlot over Cabernet Sauvignon. Dalla Cia consulted, as did Michel Rolland (himself an opera buff). Fortunately, there are quite a lot of clay-based soils that prove helpful to plant Merlot.
Closing
One never knows what to expect from these older vintage tastings. To me whilst a number were borderline flawed there were several that still showed remarkably well.