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Winemaker's Journal MAY 2005 I am sitting in the back of an extremely small aeroplane flying from Halifax, Canada into New York City. The only thing separating me from the propeller is a small oval pain of glass and 20 cm of sub-zero, rushing wind. Below me the lakes are still frozen and the south-eastern borders of tenacious, grey farm fields are delineated by an edge of snow. I couldn't be further from home.
About ten years ago I worked for a man called John Geber who once took me on a travelling salesman adventure and taught me a few tricks of this trade.
Rule No. 1 - travel light and cheap.
Rule 2 - hang out in dodgy bars and talk to the real people - that's how you sink into the psyche of a place.
Rule 3 - Go to bed early. If you can't - sleep in - pace yourself on the road.
There are another 20 Golden Geber Rules of Selling - all good. I still try to stick to them. One day I'll write them all down and make millions.
We drove around Europe together for 10 days with a trunk full of wine samples, visiting all the major supermarket buyers from Bordeaux to Basel.
In Basel, negotiations were turning a bit tough so John slid the car keys dramatically across the table and began removing his shirt, suggesting rather forcefully that the buyer might as well take the car and his clothes as well, seeing he was already taking all his profit!
This proved two things, the Swiss do have a sense of humour and it helps to be fluent in the local language when negotiating. He did the same thing in French a few days earlier.
In the presence of a master salesman, your selling skills are put into perspective. I realised I needed something else to survive the cruel rigours of this wine business - there are those that can really sell and then there are the rest of us. Flagstone wine had to be very good, but it also had to be different.
In the beginning, the hungry monster of time swallowed me up, and I wasn't able to think about being different. Getting through another 18 hour day alive was enough of a challenge.
Looking back on the last five years, however, I can recognise that we were always going to be a bit different from mainstream wine businesses. Not because of any visionary business strategy or pioneering winemaking ideas, but because we are primarily a winemaker-driven brand, not a marketing-lead one.
We worry obsessively about the vineyards and when the grapes arrive at the cellar, we try and make the wine the grapes tell us to make.
Only then do we think about how to sell the stuff. This impractical idealism could have destroyed Flagstone long ago. Ironically it has turned out to be our saving grace, because our customers not only seem to recognise this authentic difference, but they respond so warmly and enthusiastically to it.
Perhaps if I had been less naïvely idealistic, and smarter about the marketing thing, I wouldn't have to travel so much now. I would be at home, lighting the black wattle kindling in the braai and opening a cold bottle of Noon Gun, confident those posters lining the London Underground would do the selling for me. Instead I am being bumped around the inside of a sleet-swollen storm cloud somewhere over New York.
Talking of New York - Noon Gun has just been listed at Veritas http://www.veritas-nyc.com/ - not only one of New York's best restaurants, but one of my top ten in the world. It kind of makes all the travel worth it when fellow members of this wine tribe actually seek out a drop of Flagstone magic.
Upcoming Flagstone Events
Oddbins Consumer Fair - London
We will be showing most of our range in London soon. It will be great to see you there.
Where: The Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, Islington Green, London When: Sat 14th and Sun 15th of May Time: 11am - 5pm Tickets: Available via www.oddbins.com £15.00 pp
Special Offers for May 2005
Click to download Order Form in Word
The White -
Flagstone Two Roads, White Blend 2004,
R120.00 Order by email >
This is our icon white blend project. It is a carefully crafted combination of Pinot Blanc 29%, Chenin Blanc 20%, Semillon 16%, Chardonnay 13%, Viognier 10%, Riesling 7% and Sauvignon Blanc 5%. Everything, except some of the Pinot Blanc is barrel fermented.
The complexities of our climate and unique, ancient geology (in soil terms we are the “old world”) have resulted in the most diverse winegrowing region in the world - reflected in our Cape Floral Kingdom, with over 9600 plant species, the most compact, richest plant kingdom in the world. We wanted to pursue the essence and intriguing complexities of our country with this wine by balancing different vineyard sites and varieties.
Blending Two Roads is like building a castle of whispers. Hopefully they will tell you something about the beautiful hope and the fragile majesty that makes South Africa different.
The 2004 vintage has just been awarded “The Best White Blend in the Country”, by Wine of the Month Club, one of the most highly respected tasting panels in South Africa. It has been bottled under screwcap, for freshness and age-ability and can be enjoyed between now and 2008.
Normally R142.50 per bottle, we will sell this at R120 per bottle for the month of May 2005. Free delivery to your door in any major metropolitan centre in South Africa for orders of 12 or more bottles.
The Red Flagstone Strata Series “Cape Blend” 2002 R38.50 Order by email >
This is a blend of Shiraz, Pinotage and Cabernet sauvignon. The back label says it all:
“Imagine being a Shiraz Grape. There's a great view from where you're hanging out in the Cape Summer sun. But something isn't quite right with the world. You look at your neighbour - another plump, lazy Shiraz grape, looking as bored as you are with the general Shiraz company. What you need is some South African spice, a little bit of across-the-cultivar-barrier cohabitation. What you need is a bit of sexy Pinotage on the side. And so it is with relief that you are finally picked up and packed onto a truck bound for Flagstone. And there, across a crowded winery you see your first Pinotage in the flesh. You flow together so naturally, into a beautiful Strata bottle to live happily ever after.”
This is one of our once-off, experimental Strata Series wines. Retailing exclusively at Makro, we can offer this at R38.50 per bottle, delivered by the case, free to your door in any major metropolitan centre in South Africa for orders of 12 or more bottles.
New Releases Mary le Bow - Cabernet, Shiraz and Merlot - 2003 R148.00 Order by email >
Kenneth Frater wanted to grow beautifully balanced vines in a spectacular, secluded mountain kloof. This kloof was blessed with rich, well-drained ancient soils. High up into the brooding mountain, the climate is characterised by biting, cold winters and sun-downer inducing summers.
He wanted to make a wine that reflected this compelling beauty, while effortlessly displaying the hallmarks of the great wines (many of them European) he had enjoyed throughout his remarkable life. He dreamed of a wine that almost trembled with power, but never needed to flex its muscle to be enjoyed.
I am very privileged to have been asked by Angela Frater and her children to carry this vision into a bottle. I hope I have done Kenneth proud.
It is a blend of three contiguous vineyards: Cabernet 62%, Shiraz 25% and Merlot 13%. A warm rich red in the glass. Beautiful complex nose of blackcurrant, persimmon, cassis, mulberry fruits, buchu and juniper, which follow through to the palate. Layer upon layer of flavour reveals rich mulberry, cassis and mocha flavours. Pure elegance and sophistication.
Tony Mossop rated the 2003 Mary le Bow one of his top ten wine experiences of last year. It also scored 4 **** stars in Wine magazine and is listed by The Wine Society (U.K), retailing for £16.00 a bottle. Recently it has also just won a rare and coveted Gold Medal at the Swiss Air International Wine Awards (one of only 13 up for grabs) by scoring an outstanding 18 out of 20. And celebrated UK wine writer, Tom Cannavan hailed the Mary le Bow 2003 as his top wine on a recent tasting trip to South Africa, awarding it his “sky's-the-limit” trophy. Check out www.wine-pages.com
The Fiona Range First Release: Fiona Syrah 2002 - Usually R118.50. We are offering this at
an introductory price of - R90.00. Order by email >
This is a joint venture between my sister, Fiona and myself. In her words…. “My brother, winemaker at our family winery, Flagstone, thinks that my wines are like me; complicated and vivacious. What do older brothers know anyway! I like enough complexity in my wines to hold my interest, but there must be purity of fruit and balance to reward that interest.”
The wines are made at Flagstone with Fiona's input on style and sold primarily direct to her customers around the world. They differ from my wines quite a bit as they are more restrained, relying on elegance and poise to melt your heart.
The colour is deep, brooding, sultry red. On the nose - Indian spice, chocolates, vanilla and ripe juicy plum. This wine is a luscious, balanced combination of ripe mulberry, blackberry and cherry, framed with smoky, spicy wood. It is quite delicious.
The Fiona Syrah 2002 was recently awarded a coveted 4 **** in Wine magazine.
For more information on our latest releases,
please contact Sarah on sales@flagstonewinery.co.za
or call ++ 27 (0)21 8525052.
