Nedbank Vinpro Information Day at the CTICC

We spent Thursday this week at this annual wine industry conference at the CTICC. There were some very interesting presenters, some very amusing, some extremely informative and some left a little bit to be desired. The South African wine industry is contributing R38 Billion to the economy and is THE 6TH LARGEST wine producing country in the world. We were told this in a riveting presentation, drilling down into what the SA Economy has been doing by Nedbank Economist Nicky Weimar. She made many things very clear and easy to understand in a very entertaining way

We learned from Minister Alan Winde that tourism is the best performing centre in the Western Cape, bringing in R18 Billion a year with 6.8% growth and 7.8% job growth – all very positive, but we need to sustain this. Primary Agri grew 3.2% but jobs only 3.4%. Agri processing added R12 billion to the economy but grew only 1.8%. However, employment in the sector grew by 7.7%

We need to focus on overseas marketing especially in markets we have not yet conquered like USA, China and Japan, said Jancis Robinson, who told us that the ‘Geek’ overseas market is drinking wine made from rare and unusual varieties (some of which we are already growing) and that we are not in the right price bracket for wine to get taken seriously, we need to charge more, and she is confident about the UK market for SA wine. It seems more people are buying wine on line or from smaller select shops than from the powerful supermarkets who drive prices down and damage our industry. Bulk wine is a concern

The introduction was made almost entirely in Afrikaans, although the keynote speaker, Jancis Robinson, is British

 Abrie Botha, chairman of VinPro, welcomed the delegates

 and Philip Wessels, Group Managing Executive, Retail and Business Banking at Nedbank opened the conference

 Nicky Weimar, Nedbank economist  gave a superb presentation. An object lesson in how to inform while keeping an audience focussed and amused

 Craig Irving, CEO of Consumer Insight Agency, encouraged the audience to think about new ways to sell South African wine to Africa

 Francois Viljoen, VinPro Consultation Service Manager, spoke about the 2014-5 season and harvest expectations

 Alayne Reesburg, CEO of Design Capital Cape Town, spoke about taking wine tourism to the next level

 Rico Basson, CEO of VinPro, presented ideas about strategies for the Wine Industry

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

A day in Franschhoek -3 Landau du Val

We had made an appointment to go to Landau du Val that afternoon because we wanted to meet owner Basil Landau and taste his renowned Semillon. Basil is legendary and is as charming and interesting as people told us he was. He told us all about the farm’s history while we tasted. He bought the farm in 1986 when there was very little interest in the area and has restored the property very sympathetically. He also grows Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz and Pinotage but sells that and only vinifies the Semillon from an historic Semillon vineyard, planted in 1905. There is also a 25 year old vineyard. Landau de Val produces a classic French style Semillon, which has mutton fat on the nose and a full mouth of honeyed fruit, which is steely dry with lemons, limes and complex layers.

Basil in his sitting room

We tasted the 2012 Semillon, which gets a well deserved 4½ stars in this year’s Platter. It is made by consultant winemaker Wynand Grobler, who is the winemaker at Rickety Bridge

Lynne and Basil chatting about the wine while tasting

A view of their vines from the main house

It is a classic Cape Dutch style farmhouse

The 25 year old Semillon vineyard

The gardens are beautifully kept and have lovely mountain views on all sides

A quiet courtyard

Basil’s pride and joy, his MG TC, c 1947

More pride and joy come from their horses. Their daughter is involved in show jumping. This is their new 2 month old foal with great pedigree

We talked to all of them and Basil rewarded them with carrots

Thank you so much Basil for spending the time with us

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

A day in Franschhoek - 2 La Bri

We had an invitation a while ago to visit La Bri, from GM/winemaker Irene Waller, so this was a good time to go and to congratulate her on her recent engagement. She gave us a tour of their very full & busy wine cellar, currently bottling and labelling and getting ready for this year’s harvest. We had a walking tour of the vineyards to see how all the grapes were doing, inspect the new trellising controls, where the canopy management gives the grapes more sun and see the soil conditions. Then it was back to the tasting room for an extensive and very informative tasting of whites and reds

We began with the 2012 Chardonnay, which is golden with hints of smoke and lime lemon marmalade crispness. It will benefit from still more time in the bottle in your cellar. The 2013 is perfumed with golden berries and is lovely. Next was the Cellar Door Blend of 50/50 Chardonnay and Viognier. Full of melons and peaches on the nose, it’s a terrific food wine, with a lovely blend of crisp acidity from the Chardonnay and white peach softness from the Viognier. Her 2013 Viognier is in the restrained elegant style we like; Cape gooseberries and quince on the nose with some nectarine and nice lean crispness, with lees showing first and then, later, ripe fruit appears. Then it was time to taste the red wines

Huge lug boxes full of wine bottles needing labelling

A view of the cellar from above. They are running out of space and the new harvest is almost ready to come in

Beautiful bunches of ripening merlot grapes on the vine
Looking back at the cellar over the vines

Winemaker Irene Waller

La Bri’s upstairs tasting room

Just one of the awards they have won

An early map c.1700 showing the French and Dutch farms from Wellington to Franschhoek at that time

A beautiful view from the tasting room balcony of their parterre garden, the vineyards and the mountains

Some of the current very well designed labels

You can do a chocolate and red wine pairing or a Biltong/Droewors red wine pairing

Time to taste the red wines. Her Merlots are soft and full of cherries and forest floor. Yes they do have nice dry chalky tannins. but they show no green stalkiness or mint. The 2013, which was bottled the previous day, is fill of wild bramble, tobacco and maraschino on the nose, with the same echoes on the palate. Still needs a lot of time but will be a great wine

The 2012 Cabernet is intense with layers of cassis and good wood from its 2 years in barrel. It is supported by chalky tannins and a little smoky wood. Needs time, but is beginning to deliver. Lynne scored it an 18/20. Their Bordeaux Blend, Affinity 2012 made with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot has a savoury nose with hints of violet and lots of elegance. It tastes savoury, and is meaty with layers of mulberries and dark cherries. The Syrah is dense and inky in colour, spicy with violets and cassis on the nose with brulléed marshmallow and boysenberries. The zingy fruit leaves long, long flavours of spice and fruit. One to keep for 5 years

Irene very kindly laid on a cheese and meat platter for us, so that we could enjoy the rest of the tasters with food. We also enjoyed the Viognier Natural Sweet, full of honey, peaches and good glycerols with balanced acid and sugars. We look forward to tasting her MCC which she will be degorging in June. It has spend 4 years on the lees and will be La Bri’s first release. Thank you Irene

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

A day in Franschhoek - 1 Chamonix

Onward to Franschhoek

John has a booking for a large tour party in February, who will start their tour in Franschhoek and we wanted to recce some of the places he will be taking them

The first is Chamonix, where we were delighted to find winemaker Gottfried Mocke, who gave us a tour of the wine cellar and a tasting of his 2014 Chardonnay, made in an oxidised style in one of his ceramic egg fermenters, two delicious Cabernet Francs - one matured in barriques and one in a large vat - and a classic Pinotage, all from the tanks, where they await bottling in the next few days. We suspect there may be some winners in that group. They were all 2013. They begin harvest in a few days

Gottfried taking a sample of the Cabernet Franc from the tank

Talking about the wine

The underground cellar at Chamonix where they store the barrels. These empty barrels are waiting for this year’s wine

Older vintages resting in the library cellar

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

A visit to Agter Paarl and Voor Paardeberg

Over the Christmas break we made a couple of visits to the winelands. We took our British tour guide friend Terry for a day trip to Agter Paarl and beyond, to Vondeling

We were early for our appointment so took a quick short right to Spice Route where we showed him the brewery

and what was on offer

Lots of beer on tap

Our beer guide had a terrible cold, but did not infect us and was charming

Some amber nectar – the CBC Pilsner. A case of that went home with us, it is so refreshing

Its a popular place to visit. You can taste 6 beers for R35 and they are quite good tasting portions

Then we went to Vondeling, where Terry wanted to meet Dr Bridget Johnsen and find out about the biodiversity of their mountain and its Fynbos floral kingdom

We shared one of their very generous platters for lunch

Local meats, olives, fruit and some ‘money bags’ filled with cheese and spinach

And there was a very good cheese board with preserves and green figs

Lots of humour

Bridget then took us to see their cataloguing of the plants found on the farm and the mountain reserve. It is very detailed work, but they are finding amazing plant species

And then it was time for a quick call to see the Vermentino vines we helped plant last year and have been made guardians of on Ayama. We did a little weeding of our five vines with owners Attilio Dalpiaz and Michela Sfiligoi and then shared a bottle of their Brut Rosé on the farm with them before driving home

Marvellous views of the mountains over the vines

The back of Paarl mountain

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015