Uncorked
South African Wineries Blend Us Some Tenners
By jurgen gothe
Publish Date: 13-Jan-2005
Gearing up for their first "group show" at the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (March 14 to 20), 30-odd South African winemakers are picking their finest and packing them to go. South Africa is the theme region for the 27th annual fest, which promises to be a fascinating event, an eye-nose-and-throat opener for local wine lovers.
One of the terms you'll hear bandied about a lot will be Cape blends, a concept in the making, patterned after the world-famous, often-copied Bordeaux blends, or California's Meritages; in other words, grape varieties blended according to a fixed pattern, if not necessarily proportion.
To be distinctive, a Cape blend should in all likelihood contain Pinotage, the pretty much grown-only-in-South-Africa grape variety that assures the result is something unique. More and more are being made and winning awards. (There will be at least one panel discussion on Cape blends during the festival, which I will be moderating along with winemaker Mike Ratcliffe from the Warwick Wine Estate; stay tuned for details.)
Among the visiting South African wineries, you'll find quite a few that are producing Cape blends. A fascinating part of your festival visit would be a comparison tasting--doable, since I expect there will probably be about 20 such wines in the room.
One of the wineries that won't be attending this year is Flagstone, an innovative, forward-looking family operation, whose team is headed by Bruce Jack, one of the new breed of "flying winemakers". He looks after a few far-flung vineyards around the country, although the base is in Somerset West; some of his exciting and already award-winning Cabernet Sauvignons are coming out of the relatively new Elim grape-growing region.
Besides bottling wines with delightful names--Mary Le Bow, Music Room, the Poetry Collection (a splendid Pinot Noir), Writer's Block (a solid Pinotage), Semaphore Rosé, the Glass Carriage, Ruby in the Dust, the Heartbreak Grape (obviously also a Pinot Noir!), Green on Green Sémillon, and Noon Gun--Flagstone is experimenting with dozens of grape plantings, including Tempranillo and many Port varieties, as well as concentrating on organically produced wine. An organic Pinot Noir is apparently coming soon, too.
Flagstone Cabernets, Pinot Noirs, and Sauvignon Blancs have won international acclaim; at last November's Veritas Awards, South Africa's most important internal wine competition, the winery took home nine medals, including the coveted Double Gold for a 2002 Music Room Cabernet, and an award for at least one Cape blend--a Pinotage/Merlot mix called In Cahoots. I don't know what it means, either.
I do know the origin of the Noon Gun label, the first Flagstone wine we saw here in B.C. It arrived just over a year ago, and was then and is now simply one of the best white blends on the shelves, at $12.99 or any price.
While the components' proportions vary from vintage to vintage, the 2004 currently in stock contains 33 percent each white Riesling and Chenin Blanc, 17 percent Chardonnay, eight percent Pinot Blanc, seven percent Sauvignon Blanc, and two percent Sémillon.
It's bright, fresh, tart, and nicely citric--tasting more of Sauvignon than the percentages indicate, a superb lunch-brunch-dinner wine for fresh garden cuisine, full and robust, no harsh edges, lots of ripe fruit, the art of blending at its most creative and successful.
A more recent Flagstone arrival is the Cellar Hand Backchat blend 2002, which, since it does contain Pinotage--albeit barely 10 percent--has to be considered a true red Cape blend. It's in the LDB system now as a specialty listing ($14.99) and it is sensational. DIY&Mac255;ers will want to take note of the mixture: 40 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 22 percent Shiraz, 15 percent Merlot, nine percent Pinotage, four percent Pinot Noir, four percent Tinta Barocca, four percent Sauvignon Blanc, and two percent Cabernet Franc. Let me just see if that adds up--okay, it does: 100-percent hit.
Talk about kitchen-sink territory; this is "Greg's vintage 2002, Cape of Good Hope". The back label outlines the concept behind the blend, which was "assembled democratically by the winemaking team (i.e. during long chaotic 'tasting sessions'....Our cellar environment encourages rebellious thought, individual creativity and passionate commitment to our cause.
"Visitors to Planet Flagstone find such freedom of expression (i.e. insubordination) strange. But cellar hand backchat and strongly held opinions that contradict mine are part of the secret of our success.
"Our goal with this wine is to make a silky-smooth, satisfyingly complex and intriguingly sexy wine that can be priced for every day philosophizing. It can be used in courting rituals, the ratification of peace treaties or more importantly, to bring a little joy into the world.
"The Cellar Hand range is a joint venture between the Jack family and Flagstone employees. It is a way our long-serving employees can benefit directly from the Flagstone name. It offers those who are committed to Flagstone something above and beyond the monotonous security of a monthly salary."
Signed by the boss, Bruce Jack, and there's as good a manifesto for making a wine as I've yet to see. Oh, I wish the Backchat could be $11.99, but then I wish the same about every wine that winds its way through the currency snake and the usurious LDB markups.
It's hearty and lip-smackingly good--full of rich flavours, as complex as you can ask for (if I didn't tell you what's in it, you'd probably never guess), versatile with just about any food, and I think I better get another box before it's all gone. Who knows when more will arrive?
Start your introduction to Cape blends here and you'll never look back. And book those festival tickets today while you're at it.
©2005 Vancouver Free Press
