Tasting 10 vintages of Saronsberg Shiraz
We feel very privileged when we are invited to this
sort of tasting. Saronsberg winemaker Dewaldt Heyns took us through the ten
vintages of their Shiraz at Auslese this week, followed by lunch with our
favourites. To see the progression of this wine on one table is amazing and
very, very interesting. It started out as a big, full on, spicy, warm Shiraz
and, as the vines have aged, it has turned into a Northern Rhône style shiraz,
full of minerality and refined layers of flavours, but still recognisable as
the same wine. Lynne had two very different favourites, the award winning block
buster from 2007 and the elegant 2010; hard to believe that they are from the
same vines, but what a marvellous progression. We have all asked if we can do
this again in another 10 years, so that we can taste 20 years of the wines’
progress! Here’s hoping that we will all still be around tasting wine.
The farm was bought in 2002 by Nick and Mariette van Huyssteen
and, in 2003, was badly hit by a fire. The vines were ‘aggressively’ replanted
and they also added more surrounding vineyards. In the early days, some of the
wine was bought in. Now it is all produced on Saronsberg. Is this the best area
for Shiraz? It really does seem to suit the Tulbagh area. Does Tulbagh have a
terroir indicator on its wines? We found tobacco on the nose and palate of the
odd year vintages.
All these wines have dark and dense colour. It was
interesting to see how fresh some of the older wines still are, showing lots of
further growth potential. The earlier, full, fruity style changes as the vines aged
and many people preferred one style to the other. We liked wines from both ends
of the spectrum and were delighted to find that we could drink them with lunch.
Lynne’s preferred vintages were the 2007 (Tobacco, silk, mulberries and ginger
on the nose and full to bursting with ripe warm fruit and spice and some soft
chalk. No faults and it still has lots of life left to keep on giving). The contrasting
wine that she scored the highest is also the favourite of winemaker Dewaldt and
it is he 2010: Vanilla on a shy nose, intense minerality, elegant ripe cherry
fruit with whiffs of violets. Soft fruit on the palate which intensifies on the
back palate, spices and long, long flavours. A definite food wine. It was also
interesting to taste 2013 and surmise how it will develop – not yet a final
blend, as it is still in barrel and will be bottled in October/November. It has
a pretty nose of violets, spice, dark cherries and some creaminess. Lots of shy
fruit hiding in the wine, with lots of depth, but it is seeking balance and
does not yet have strength. Dewaldt will sort this out when he does the final
blend, we are sure
Delightful
canapés of a fish mousse, produced by the Auslese chefs
and lovely
fresh oysters
The long table
took 38 journos and other wine related experts and invitees – it was a tiny bit
of a crush, especially as we all had 10 glasses in front of us
Auslese (and
Aubergine) sommelier Khuselo Mputa pouring, with Cathy van Zyl MW watching with
amusement. Next to her are Maryna Strachan and Karen Glanfield Pawley
Greg de Bruyn
CWM, James Pietersen of The Wine Cellar and wine writer Angela Lloyd
Oops! Lynne
sent one glass flying over John’s nice clean trousers
With ten glasses at each
place, space was very tight and some of us need to use our hands when we talk
Dewaldt Heyns,
winemaker of all the vintages at Saronsberg, tells us about the vintages while Harold Bresselschmidt, Chef and Owner of Aubergine and Auslese, acts as a pourer.
Lynne is checking out the quantity he is, fairly, pouring
‘Legs’ on wine
can indicate its substance, quality and, often, its keeping ability
Dewaldt told
us, not only about the vintages, but also the weather in each year, which has a
profound effect on the wine. Was it a windy, wet or dry year, were there heat
waves or was it cool? Did we have rain at harvest? All these factors and more can
seriously influence what goes into the bottle.
The line up of the ten wines we were tasting. They
have won multiple awards over the years, as you can see from the stickers. The
interesting thing is that the bottle without any award stickers, the 2009
Shiraz, was felt by many attending to be one of the best wines in the tasting,
proof that it often needs time for a wine to come into its best
Winemaker
Dewaldt Heyns
James
Pietersen
Graham Howe
Mariette van
Huyssteen
Greg de Bruyn CWM
Wade Bales and
James Pietersen, chatting while enjoying some warm bouillon
Wade talking
to Alan Mullins CWM
Journalist
Samarie Smith and Anel Grobler
Johan Crafford and Johane Nielsen
Broadcaster
Guy MacDonald and Anel Grobler
Sommelier Khuselo
Mputa liked the same two vintages that stood out for Lynne. All of them were
good wines, but most of us have preferences!
Chef Harold Bresselschmidt
with Jane Broughton
The lunch menu
offered dishes paired with Shiraz vintages
Just seared
fresh tuna, coated with dukkah spices in what tasted like a nut paste. The pink
grapefruit was a lovely contrast.
Unctuous braised
lamb shank with very fine textured shiraz flavoured polenta a Shiitake mushroom
filled with pickled cabbage with Romanesco (a type of broccoli)
John's special version was prepared specially, without the mushrooms
