Koen Roose of Spioenkop in Elgin, nothing if not individualist, is constantly re-imagining how his wines might be better, and watching his progress from vintage to vintage is particularly fascinating. Tasting notes and ratings for the new releases as follows:
Spioenkop 1900 Sauvignon Blanc 2016
Approximate retail price: R165
Previously released as a first label wine. Yellow apple, peach, apricot as well as some white asparagus on the nose. Rich and broad – creamy texture offset by tangy acidity, the finish nicely savoury. Unusual and compelling. Alcohol: 13.98%.
Editor’s rating: 90/100.
Spioenkop Riesling 2017
Approximate retail price: R265
Pear, peach, green apple and lime plus hints of petrol and smoky reduction on the nose. A vivid palate with pure fruit and racy acidity, the finish extremely long and bone-dry. Precise and direct, this once again sets the standard for what can be done with this variety in South Africa. Alcohol: 12.81%.
Editor’s rating: 93/100.
Spioenkop Sarah Raal Chenin Blanc 2018
Approximate retail price: R285
Matured for nine months in tank before a further three months in older oak. A wonderfully complex nose – yellow apple, peach and some yeasty complexity with an overlay of flowers, fresh herbs and spice. The palate as presence and poise – a terrific line of acidity (TA 7.5 g/l) but plenty of dense fruit packed around it – nothing angular or astringent about it. Alcohol: 13.36%.
Editor’s rating: 95/100.
Spioenkop Johanna Brandt 2017
Approximate retail price: R265
Matured for 11 months in French oak, 30% new. Yellow fruit, some nuttiness and spice. Rich and full with tangy acidity and a savoury finish – arguably a bit foursquare compared to the much lauded previous vintage. Alcohol: 13.66%.
Editor’s rating: 90/100.
Spioenkop 1900 Pinot Noir 2016
Approximate retail price: R200
Previously released as a first label wine. Matured for 11 months in French oak, 30% new. The nose shows a quite pronounced note of smoky reduction to go with red cherry, some meatiness, earth and spice. The palate is not insubstantial (alcohol: 13.28%) with bright acidity and fine tannins, the finish savoury. Intriguing but somehow not fully formed.
Editor’s rating: 89/100.
Spioenkop 1900 Pinotage 2018
Approximate retail price: R265
From Bottelary grapes and made as a tribute to mentor Francois Naude, previously of L’Avenir. 20% whole-bunch fermentation and matured for 11 months in French oak, 55% new. A floral top note before red and black fruit, a not unappealing hint of banana loaf and spice. Juicy and fresh with supple tannins – good fruit concentration plus zippy acidity and a nicely savoury, even slightly bitter finish. A very elegant rendition of the variety. Alcohol: 13.34%.
Editor’s rating: 93/100.
Live ammunition.
Spioenkop Pinotage 2018
Approximate retail price: R425
From Elgin fruit. Matured for 11 months in French oak, 80% new. Violets and herbs before red and black cherry, cinnamon and clove. Massively dense on the palate but not at all short of freshness, the tannins firm and grippy in the best sense. A forceful wine but equally wonderfully balanced, this has an effortlessness about it. Alcohol: 13.68%.
Editor’s rating: 95/100.
Find our South African wine ratings database here.
Wine drinkers are brunch eaters. Brunch is not a functional meal like breakfast. Brunch is not interested in “flushing” with “fibre” – a queasy pair of words, even for the mildly groggy. Brunch is not quick. It’s not a meal taken standing, with spoon held between damp face and cold bowl.
Brunch is warm, rich and slow. It’s taken sitting down, with company and, if possible, a view. Brunch is not rushed. Brunch is a relief, a comfort, and – ultimately – a triumph of decision-making.
Wine drinkers appreciate brunch more than most. There are two reasons for this. First, wine drinkers welcome time at the table. We like to treat our palates, and we enjoy doing so in company, in pleasing surrounds. Second, wine drinkers sometimes don’t feel up to eating first thing. By the time we do, we may require not just coffee and eggs, but also a buttery sauce and a buttery pastry.
Brunch is sometimes associated with log fires, sofas and rugs. This is a very English fantasy of brunch, one that involves a faint smell of kippers and the distant sound of a minor noble shouting at his dogs.
But consider brunch with an open window and the scent of the sea. Salty air and twinkly ocean are an excellent antidote to the wine lover’s invisible but potentially calamitous unsteadiness in the morning.
Kalk Bay is the perfect place for just such a breezy meal. It’s by the sea. It was recently voted one of Forbes Magazine’s 12 coolest suburbs in the world. And here, a piece of very good news: The best brunch spots in Kalk Bay bookend each other at the outer limits of the restaurant strip. There’s the stalwart Olympia Café at the Fish Hoek end, with Salt alongside. Newcomer Dalebrook Café is at the Muizenberg end. So, no dodging surfboards or dog leads before coffee.
The Olympia Café opened in November 1997 and has been an institution ever since. Its influence is evident in almost every café along Main Road: Salt, Lekker, Ohana, Sirocco, Bob’s Bagels, Expresso, Bootlegger and Courtyard Café all serve good coffee, good baked goods and foodie breakfasts in spaces that are variations on the Olympia’s boho décor scheme.
For a period, there was little to challenge The Olympia’s gastronomic dominance. The Annex introduced the anchovy breakfast and a benedict served on vegetable rosti – but it lacked confidence. C’est la Vie offered artisanal French bread – but the quality of the croissants was variable.
At The Olympia the chippolatas were consistently juicy; the scrambled eggs were consistently creamy. The ciabatta was superb, the coffee was good. British celebrity chef Rick Stein visited. The Olympia was featured in the New York Times and Vogue Entertaining. On the whole, a grand experience was guaranteed: warm staff, excellent views and the prestige that came with being in-the-know.
Famously, the Olympia does not take bookings. Often on weekday mornings the place is swarming with visiting Scandinavian families and clacky-shoed, obscenely short-trousered cyclists. You’d think the next-door restaurant would thrive on overruns.
On the contrary: Home of Waffles and Pancakes struggled and failed. Michael Townsend’s La Parada was good-looking and buzzy, but it succumbed. Nick Macloed’s Salt, opened in 2017, became the first establishment in 20 years to co-exist with The Olympia Café as a restaurant of choice, not a second-best.
Salt is vegetarian- and vegan-friendly. The shakshuka is one of the only spicy brunches available in the South Peninsula and the vegan almond croissant may be the best in the country. Plus, Macloed had the canny idea to sell coffee for R10 before 9am. This has created a base of local support. On weekday mornings, Salt is almost exclusively occupied by Kalk Bay residents with their yoga mats, laptops and wet towels.
And this year, thrillingly, Dalebrook Café has hopped into the ring with The Olympia to take it on at its own game.
Dalebrook Café – “an ambitious project”.
Like The Olympia, Dalebrook Café is located in a charming historic building. Like The Olympia, Dalebrook Café occupies a prime spot. The Olympia Café presides over harbour beach and Kalk Bay harbour. Dalebrook Café fronts the immensely popular Dalebrook tidal pool and adjacent Dalebook beach.
The owners of both Olympia Café and Dalebrook Café have proper foodie cred. Olympia owner Kenneth McClarty co-founded his café with two acclaimed chefs, both of whom contributed significantly to the menu before leaving to open their own restaurants. Coincidentally, Dalebrook Café owner Charmaine Lilje had her first restaurant job at The Olympia. She went on to work under Franck Dangereux at La Colombe, even acting as head chef for eight months before Luke Dale-Roberts took over from her.
Dalebrook Café is an ambitious project. There are café tables, long tables and numerous bar counters over four different areas, including a large outside courtyard. The Café makes and sells six different loaves, including a 100% rye and a sourdough. The chocolate cake is famously rich. All the bakes are made with stoneground flour, free range eggs and farm butter. Lilje sells readymade meals like lasagnas and the ice creams are homemade. Lilje does all this at her first restaurant, Chardonnay Café, too. With so many irons in the fire, quality control becomes an issue.
Half a year in and Lilje has her head above water. She won over the swimmers and yoga practitioners almost immediately, offering take-away coffees, Kalk Bay’s first energy bowl breakfast – with almond butter, oats, dates, coconut milk, apple and banana – and a generous avocado smash with salmon and poached eggs. She even installed lockers for towels and cellphones.
The décor is not exactly what we’re used to – it’s a little bit Melissa’s / Tasha’s – but the crisp, feminine styling has proved refreshing. At places like Ohana – and some have said at The Olympia itself – shabby chic can stray into grubby.
The core menu at Dalebrook Café is good, but there is room for development. Despite the offer of oysters for breakfast, one feels the influence of both The Olympia Café and Dangereux’s Deli in Noordhoek.
There is something about the homemade peach sorbet at Dalebrook Café that suggests a culinary direction for Lilje. It’s the combination of delicacy – the ripe fruitiness, the hint of rose and the overall skill – the decadent richness of the sorbet – that echoes Lilje’s gentle nature and her strong work ethic.
If brunch this Sunday is less about mopping up the previous night’s damage and more about celebrating Mothers Day – it may be an idea to swop the clamour at the Olympia for a quiet outside table at Dalebrook.
Your other Kalk Bay brunch options are:
Bob’s Bagels
There’s nothing wrong with the food and drink. The bagels are handmade, locally, in small batches. The coffee is roasted in-house. It’s just that the kitchen is tiny, resulting in a tiny menu. If it’s a multi-course brunch with sauces that’s required, you won’t get it here. Nonetheless, it’s glorious to sit in the sheltered park with a genius flat white and a fresh-as-spring cream cheese bagel. This is the ideal brunch with young children.
Ohana – “high marks for its plant-led menu”.
Ohana
The Vegan Love breakfast with sautéed mushrooms, nutty humus, wilted spinach, sweet tomato relish and toast is excellent. The cold-pressed juices are equally good. Ohana gets high marks for its plant-led menu – and its location on the water – but don’t put your head in the kitchen if you’re a neat freak.
The Courtyard Café
It’s calm, secluded and soothingly decorated with hanging plants. The Courtyard Café does excellent salads and its tea menu is impressive.
Sirocco
Newly acquired by Salt owner Nick Macloed, outdoor café Sirocco has all glam and people-watching potential of a pavement coffee shop on the Camps Bay strip.
Olympia Café: 021 788 6396; 134 Main Rd, Kalk Bay, Cape Town
Salt: 021 788 3992; 36 Main Rd, Kalk Bay, Cape Town
Dalebrook Café: 083 326 0184; 20 Main Rd, Kalk Bay, Cape Town
Bob’s Bagels Café: 083 280 0012; 6 Rouxville Rd, Kalk Bay, Cape Town
Ohana: 021 788 4761; 23 Main Rd, Kalk Bay, Cape Town
The Courtyard Café: 021 788 1691; 48 Main Rd, Kalk Bay, Cape Town
Sirocco: 021 788 188; 75 Main Rd, Kalk Bay, Cape Town
Pair with seafood.
Those who monitor SA wine social media closely will have noticed the incredible hype surrounding the small-batch Revenge of the Crayfish Chenin Blanc 2018 made by 27-year-old Sakkie Mouton from Koekenaap grapes, Greg Sherwood MW calling it “one of the most profound Chenin Blancs produced in South Africa since Eben Sadie conjured up Skurfberg and Skerpioen in his old vine series” (see here).
The nose shows guava, pear, white peach and citrus plus dried grass and the merest hint of waxiness. The palate is light and fresh with a saline finish – tightly wound, it’s very elegant and has a lovely energy about. Only 370 bottles produced and uncertified, a few of the country’s specialist wine retailers have managed to get their hands on it – approximate retail price is R400 a bottle.
Editor’s rating: 93/100.
Find our South African wine ratings database here.
Michael Fridjhon, chairman of the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show.
Michael Fridjhon made a rather poignant remark at the end of Sunday afternoon’s old wines tasting which, as usual, prefaced the start of his annual Trophy Wine Show competition. I can’t remember the exact words, but many of those who made the wines we’d been tasting are now dead, he pointed out; and they all did their best… And some of them did very well, I might add, and their efforts still strive successfully with and against the oxidation that eventually claims all wines – and all winemakers.
For around a decade now, Michael has been hosting this tasting of older South African wines, primarily for the judges of the TWS and especially the foreign ones, to give a context to the youthful brutes they’ll be looking at over the next few days. White wines must be 15 years to be eligible (and there are always fewer of them – partly because on the whole they haven’t aged as well as the reds, partly because no one expected them to do so, and therefore didn’t hang on to them); reds must be 25 years old at least. Here I’m only mentioning those of the 30-plus tasted that were particularly impressive or interesting.
The whites were all quite good, with the DeWetshof Rhine Riesling 2001 best of all: dry, mineral and fairly elegant, with a good acidity, not too much terpene development, and some fruit intensity still. The two 2003 chardonnays were very drinkable but, unsurprisingly for their time, marked by too much oak, especially the Warwick which still also showed ripe fruit, and retained length and volume. Quoin Rock (from Agulhas grapes) very attractively fragranced, with the high acidity leaving it now a trifle sour and lean. The oldest white we had was the Overgaauw Chardonnay CIWG 1988, a little oxidised but reasonably balanced and a surprisingly intense finish.
A mahogany-brown Swartland Cinsaut 1975 had its admirers but I thought it too old and acidic (undoubtedly added acid). Later in the tasting came a Stellenrood 1964, which must have also been from cinsaut (perhaps ex Stellenbosch?), and this was much better, with a very developed bouquet; lightly structured, pleasant, quite harmonious and nice (bizarrely, perhaps, it reminded me of the Tassenberg I reported on recently – 55 years more youthful).
The shirazes were led by the famous Stellenzicht Syrah 1994, made by André van Rensburg and the first local to be called syrah rather than Shiraz. The consensus was that this bottle at least had passed its best. My note: “Deep, opaque. Still fruit on nose, with some development. Spicy, rich. Powerful, vital, chewy, far from elegant. Full of flavour. Plenty of oak showing. Touch drying on finish.” The best of the older shirazes for me was Fleur du Cap 1973: attractive; the acid a bit apart, but the tannins nicely resolved, the fruit still quite nice and fresh. There was also an impressive blend with cab – Nederburg Private Bin R103 1982: “Rich, powerful, extracted. Forthright structure, still showing ripe fruit. But green notes too. That sweet finish.”
As usual, it was not only with the shirazes that the 1980s showed rather less well than the generally more graceful 1970s and 60s, often with oak standing out and the added acid making for hardness, generally more intrusive winemaking perhaps, together with whatever in the vineyards contributed to it (irrigation perhaps, bigger crops, more virus?). The youngest of the crop of cabs on offer, Stellenryck 1986 (an expensive and prestigious label at the time, made by the Bergkelder) was certainly more impressive than likeable: powerful, sturdy, sweet-finishing, oaky – its descendants are still being made today. Compare that to one of the oldest we tasted, Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon 1975, and it’s to enter a different vinous world: one of grace, elegance and charm; light-feeling wine, with good sweet fruit but a dry finish. (This was a particularly good bottle, it seems.)
Nederburg Cabernet Sauvignon 1971.
Batting for the same team were the two Nederburg cabs, with the 1971 fresher, with greater purity and also sense of youth than the 1972 – both with firm but resolved tannins and good acidities (no doubt adjusted, but probably at least responsible for keeping these wines alive). Two other 1972s were better than the Nederburg: Vergenoegd showing well, as old Vergenoegds almost invariably do, without being stunning; and Backsberg, a bottle of which would have been a delight with dinner.
There were two good blends: Kanonkop Paul Sauer 1993 was fairly elegant but full-flavoured (albeit a touch dilute); a touch too acidic, and the tannins starting to dry out (the editor liked it quite a bit more – see here). Nicer and more impressive than I’ve made it sound and very much in the noble Kanonkop tradition! And there had to be a Chateau Libertas: the 1979 it was, ex-magnum, made from cab, cinsaut and shiraz. My note: “Rather charming nose, balanced and fresh. Rustic, sweet-fruited and still drinking well. Moderate tannic structure, quite fresh.”
The tasting finished with a flight of pinotages, about which Michal Fridjhon pointed out that, as usual, they had lasted well and had softened satisfactorily, but hadn’t really evolved in terms of flavour development. But Swartland Co-op 1975, Neethlingshof 1973 and Lanzerac 1968 were all lively and pleasant, the tannins certainly there, but sufficiently integrated and unobtrusive.
One must hope that the Trophy Wine Show judges are this week finding a few happy echoes of the best of Cape’s past.
Tidy.
The traditional Old South African Wine Tasting to mark the commencement of judging for the 18th annual Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show took place last night, as always a fascinating bit of wine archaeology.
White wines have to be 15 years or older, reds 25 years or older to qualify. It’s a tricky exercise assessing quality because you’re compelled to make a call whether the wine has become more interesting with time in bottle rather than simply surviving but some of my favourites were: Warwick Chardonnay 2003 (91), Stellenzicht Syrah 1994 (92), Chateau Libertas 1979 (91), Vergenoegd Cabernet Sauvignon 1972 (92), Bertrams Cabernet Sauvignon 1976 (90), Nederburg Cabernet Sauvignon 1971 (90) and Neethlingshof Pinotage 1973 (92).
The stand-out, however, was Kanonkop Paul Sauer 1993. Red and blackberries, violets and herbs on the nose while the palate showed relatively dense fruit, bright acidity and fine tannins. Lovely poise but equally power given that this was apparently a wet vintage. So absolutely of the property and not at all hindered by having an alcohol of just 13% compared to 14.47% as is the case with the much celebrated 2015.
Editor’s rating: 94/100.
Find our South African wine ratings database here.
Announcing the inaugural Best Value Pinotage Tasting aimed at finding the best examples of this variety costing between R60 and R100 a bottle.
Wines will be tasted blind by a three-person panel consisting of journalist Malu Lambert, Warwick Estate sales manager Spencer Fondaumiere and winemaker as well as a business development manager at Wine Cellar Jolette Steyn.
Entries are now closed. Results will be announced on Tuesday 18 June.
Announcing the inaugural Best Value Chardonnay Tasting aimed at finding the best examples of this variety costing between R60 and R100 a bottle.
Wines will be tasted blind by a three-person panel consisting of journalist and taster for Platter’s Joanne Gibson, Blaauwberg Beach Hotel food and beverage manager Ndaba Dube and Jeanri-Tine van Zyl of Feed that Bird communication consultants.
Entries are now closed. Results will be announced on Tuesday 11 June.
Jaco Engelbrecht and Tremayne Smith
Death, Famine, War, and Conquest are not immediately cheerful concepts – and not names that your average drinker would happily find on winelabels. So, having decided to invoke the four horsemen of the biblical Apocalypse for their new range of wines, Tremayne Smith and Jaco Engelbrecht have concentrated on the colours of the horses rather than the, well, apocalyptical associations (see the book of Revelations, if you care to – it’s not likely to make you much the wiser, I suspect). Actually, the guys both tend more to the Old Testament than the New in appearance, given the splendid beards they sport – but perhaps they’re just trying to make Adi Badenhorst seem inadequate in his emulation of Paul Kruger’s fundamentalist facial decor.
Jaco and Tremayne have been good friends since their time together studying at Elsenburg, though they’ve specialised in different aspect of wine-growing. Viticulturist Jaco was recently with the Old Vines Project but is now consulting more widely, including for Eben Sadie (and Tremayne); Tremayne, after a stint at Mullineux, is winemaker at Fable and also has his own range of strictly minimal-intervention wines under the Blacksmith label. Some of the existing Blacksmith wines also, now that I think of it, have rather lurid names and imagery – though the skull-and-crossbones stuff presumably attracts other wine-loving heavy-metal fans. Looking at the strong monochrome style of the labels, it’s not surprising to learn that the designer is the tattoo-artist who also decorates selected bits of Tremayne himself.
The new Horsemen range is broadly associated with The Blacksmith more than just visually, but is more of a full collaboration, including ownership, between Jaco and Tremayne. Each tends to his own specialty, however, with Jaco tending the vines, but able to get closer to the actual wines than usual, and Tremayne doing the vinification in the Fable cellar in Tulbagh.
I can’t pretend to understand the significance of the relevant biblical prophecies, but for Jaco and Tremayne there seems to be something about establishing balance (even through violence), and the Horsemen range is particularly focused on sustainability, especially efficient vine utilisation of water in face of the threats of climate change and therefore concentrating on particularly suitable varieties.
All the maiden releases are from 2018, all naturally and wholebunch fermented and made without additives, and matured in old oak. The two whites are both from what sound like really interesting chenin vineyards. The Black Rider is from a young one on a ridge of rocky broken slate in Philadelphia – between Swartland and Durbanville – designed by Jaco. Appropriately, the wine is mineral and flinty, though not short on stonefruit, with remarkable depth and character for a maiden harvest. White Rider is from much older dryland, terraced bushvines in Paarl – a neglected and now rejuvenated vineyard that hadn’t been harvested for ten years. This is a notably riper, richer wine, evoking golden grapes, with a note of real concentrated fruit sweetness, but with adequate acid balance; by a long way the most alcoholic of the wines at 14%. Both whites should retail for around R200, with the reds R20-30 more; fair prices as things go these days for wines of this type and quality.
Both reds are from Darling bushvines. Red Rider is a lightly spicy carignan – a pleasant, fresh wine, with flavour and structure, but I fear it still doesn’t bring me closer to being convinced that this is a grape that anyone should bother with much; for me it has an inherent insipidity. Grenache, on the other hand, is doing marvellously well in the Cape for this style of unwoody, fresh wine, harmonious and delicious in youth but with the structure to age with character. Such is the elegant and firmly grippy Pale Rider. As with all Tremayne’s wines, there’s a notable loveliness of silky texture. Happily there’s no need to think of violence and destruction, and plenty of opportunity for enjoyment.
Some new wines in the Blacksmith range have also been released alongside these. I’ll write about them shortly.
The eighth annual Cabernet Sauvignon Report sponsored by multinational financial services company Prescient is now out.
94 entries were received from 76 producers and these were tasted blind (labels out of sight) by the three-person panel, scoring done according to the 100-point quality scale.
The top 10 wines (with rating alongside) are as follows:
Blaauwklippen 2017 – 93
Croydon Vineyards Covenant 2017 – 95
Delaire Graff Reserve 2017 – 93
Fleur Du Cap Series Privée 2016 – 92
Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection 2017 – 93
Le Riche 2016 – 93
Neil Ellis Stellenbosch 2017 – 92
Plaisir de Merle 2015 – 93
Rust en Vrede Estate Vineyards 2017 – 94
Strydom Rex 2016 – 93
To read the report in full, including key findings, tasting notes for the top 10 and scores on the 100-point quality scale for all wines entered, download the following: Prescient Cabernet Sauvignon Report 2019
To view a photo album from yesterday’s announcement function, CLICK HERE.
To find out more about Prescient, CLICK HERE.
Given that the Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon blend that is GVB White from Vergelegen in Somerset West is rightfully much celebrated, I was intrigued to revisit the two component parts as single-variety wines. Tasting notes and ratings for the current-release 2017s as follows:
Swashbuckler.
Vergelegen Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2017
Price: R260
Grapes from the famous Schaapenberg vineyard, 2.5ha in size and planted in 1988 – 60 rows of grapes destroyed by fire just before harvest but still considered one of the best vintages ever by winemaker André van Rensburg. Fermented and matured for eight months in a combination of 2 500-litre foudre and 363-litre stainless steel drums.
An exotic nose of lime, grapefruit, granadilla and blackcurrant with some fresh herbs in the background – recalls New Zealand more than the Loire. The palate is rich and full with coated acidity and a gently savoury finish. Seamlessly assembled, this makes for a wonderfully multi-dimensional drinking experience. Alcohol: 14.41%.
Editor’s rating: 92/100.
Vergelegen Reserve Semillon 2017
Price: R315
Fermented and matured in 224-litre French oak barrels, 25% new. A rather shy nose with subtle notes of hay, white peach, oak spice and white pepper. The palate is rich and broad with nicely integrated acidity and a savoury finish. Not quite as striking as the Sauvignon Blanc but quite clear to see why the two varieties as grown on this property marry so well.
Editor’s rating: 91/100.
Find our South African wine ratings database here.
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