The introduction by Bennie Howard CWM. He told us that recognising the significance of the 50th anniversary of estate wines in South Africa, the estates convened last year to discuss how best to honour this milestone and unanimously decided to form a collective to celebrate this momentous occasion.
There were 14 barrels set around the periphery of the room,
each holding wines from the 14 Estates and there were some old gems to taste
like this 1973 Groot Constantia Cabernet Sauvignon
It was amazing to taste and find it still had some, albeit soft, red berry fruit
We were cut loose to taste as many as we could before lunch was served
Floricius Beukes of Groot Constantia showing how to remove a very old cork
Turn the opener to cut through any adhesion between bottle and cork and start to extract, gently
If the cork threatens to slide into the bottle, it should be free enough to be removed gently with a Teflon coated corkscrew
Job done
Backsberg also had some older wines from their vinoteque to taste
The 1973 Cabernet had an amazing nose, concentrated and elegant and fresh!
Power on the palate with cassis and cherry and long sweet fruit
The 1985 had dry fruit and chalky tannins and a hint of TCA
The 1981 Cabernet had savouriness, smoky bacon (!) from the wood, and cassis, cherry and minerality on the palate
Verdun had brought some examples from their older wines but did not open them
One could taste their current Asara wines
We didn't, but enjoyed an Asara Cape Blend recently which went very well with an Indian meal
We didn't have a chance to taste the Alto wines, but have a date planned to visit the farm and will report after that
Alto was sold in 2020 by Distell to the German owner of nearby Ernie Els and Stellenzicht
and major improvements are in the offing
Uiterwijk's 2001 De Waal Pinotage had a dive in nose, beautiful wood and fruit, soft on the palate with incense wood,
full of berry fruit and soft chalky tannins, an excellent wine with more time to go
Middelvlei 1991 Pinotage is a survivor which has sweet fruit and is aging well
Some specials from Meerendal which we were also able to taste with lunch, as we were sitting on their table
The 2017 Pinotage had smoke, dark berries on the nose and sweet fruit
On the palate, long deep fruit flavours, with spice, and grippy chalky tannins showing long life
It was great with the lunch, a food wine
The 2022 had sweet cherry berry notes on the nose with cassis, spice and dark oak
The fruit on the palate is morello cherry and sweet plums with lots of chalky tannin
Pinotage needs time, this will go the distance
Muratie were showing old favourites of ours, Ronnie Melck Shiraz
which, typically is usually released after four to five years and has supple fruit with gentle spice
and their Laurence Camphor white blend, which is fresh, layered and exciting
Old and new from Neethlingshof
Their 1984 Pinotage was full of dark berry fruit with wood, chalky tannins and still has time to go
Some great examples from Overgaauw, especially the Tria Cordia 2019 which has lovely oak on the nose with elegance,
soft tannins, sweet berry fruit, licorice and juicy long berry flavours
and the well-made 2020 Merlot. Beautiful fruit driven nose opens up and shows its elegance and style
Layers of black cherry fruit and spice on the palate keep one entranced
It is supported by good structure, some soft tannin and good wood
Overgaauw produced South Africa’s first bottled single varietal Merlot in 1982
from Italian-sourced Merlot vines planted in 1979
A wonderful Cap Classique, Cuvée Royale from Simonsig, a crisp and layered Blanc de Blanc, so impressive
Another wine that impressed was a new release, the Langbult Steen 2022 from their old heritage vineyard
"which has been in the trusted hands of the Malan family for three generations
These gnarly old vines – with roots running deep in ancient, weathered shale soils –
have been shaped over time and culminate in a wine that expresses a true sense of place."
Powerful on the very attractive nose, perfumed with quince. Full and rounded on the palate like a semillon
Beautiful crisp zingy fruit pineapple, apple and apricots in the long flavours,
crispness remains and it shouts for food. Sommeliers take note
The long-necked magnum bottle with the green capsule is their Steen 2018,
which marks 50 years of continuous production of the iconic South African white wine, Chenin Blanc, at Simonsig
Cape Riesling from Theuniskraal, a traditional Cape favourite which was identified in the 1970s as Crouchen blanc
Crisp and dry, it has a grassy nose with golden apple flavour, which can become honeyed with age
and the newer Krone Blanc de Blanc Cap Classique from Twee Jonge Gezellen was enjoyable
A panel discussion was held, with select representatives from the estates
as well as André Matthee from the Wine and Spirit Board and Cape Wine Master and wine marketer Christine Rudman
The panel explored, amongst other topics, the importance of the Wine of Origin Scheme
and the wine estate concept and the way forward for the estate concept in South Africa
There was also discussion on what had happened to the Estates
and the law pertaining to the qualifications necessary to be an Estate over the last 50 years
If you do not know what qualifies as a wine estate,
this detail comes from the Wines of South Africa site covering the Wine of Origin scheme.
"The next demarcated production unit is a unit for the production of estate wine,
which can consist of one or more bordering farms, as long as it is farmed as a unit
and has its own production cellar on the unit where the wine is produced
Where the term estate wine appears on the label, it confirms that the wine was bottled and produced on the estate
and that the wine is produced only from grapes grown on that specific unit."
A unit for the production of single vineyard wine is the smallest production unit and may not exceed six hectares"
The panel were L to R: Johan Malan of Simonsig, Groot Constantia CEO Jean Naudé, Christine Rudman CWM,
André Matthee, Director of Regulatory Services, South African Wine and Spirit Board
and the compère, Meerendal marketing manager, Bennie Howard CWM
Each change in law has to be Gazetted as a White Paper
This is an extract from the Government Gazette of 10th August 1973
which gave the definitions of Wines of Origin and certified wine estates
It was a pleasure to meet Dr Ernest Messina, Chair of the Groot Constantia Trust and chat about the industry
How the estate law began in 1978
There were many questions to the panel re the current status and it seems that we do need more clarification
Michael Fridjhon asked his question related to this
as did Wade Roger-Lund...
and David van Velden from Overgaauw
Extract from the Government Gazette declaring the Concept of registered estates
We could choose at which table to sit for lunch
and this list indicated which wines we would find on each estate's table to taste with lunch
Some tables were shared between farms and, of course, we could ask to taste wines from other tables
We sat at the Meerendal and Overgaauw table and enjoyed their wines with lunch
The lunch menu
