The 2022 vintage of Botanica Mary Delany Chenin Blanc has an alcohol of 12.8%, a touch lower than usual, and the resulting wine therefore has a restraint about it.
Grapes come from an OVP certified heritage block planted in 1960 on Citrusdal Mountain – grower Henk Laing died in February of harvest and the back label acknowledges his memory.
The nose shows pear, peach, citrus and dried herbs while the palate is harmonious with good fruit concentration, moderate acidity and a gently savoury finish. Not without weight but perhaps not quite as vivid as this wine is in truly great years. Price: R490 a bottle.
CE’s rating: 94/100.
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Belgian JP Colmant established a specialist Cap Classique cellar under his own name in 2005 (first bottling 2006) and the wines quickly gained a reputation for their elegance and precision. Highly regarded bubbly winemaker Paul Gerber came across from Le Lude in 2019 and Colmant has continued to go from strength to strength.
Colmant Blanc de Blancs NV is made from Chardonnay off selected vineyards in Franschhoek, Elgin, Hemel-en-Aarde and Robertson. True to house style, 15% of the base wine was barrel fermented and 20% of the wine is selected from the previous year’s harvests while maturation on the lees lasted 45 months.
The nose shows subtle notes of citrus, peach, nectarine and brioche plus a hint of struck-match reduction while the palate has big volume and a creamy mousse but also plenty of freshness to go with a savoury finish (alc: 12.5%). A flavourful and harmonious example of the category. Price: R365 a bottle.
CE’s rating: 93/100.
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The ArtiSons label exists as “a creative playground” for Tertius Boshoff and Kobie van der Westhuizen of Stellenrust allowing them to create small batches from old vineyards.
Grapes for The Mothershio Chenin Blanc 2022 come from a Bottelary vineyard planted in 1964 on granite and maturation took place in foudre and concrete egg. Exotic aromatics of marmalade, yellow peach, spice and bee’s wax while the palate is rich and luscious – a slight sweetness offset by tangy acidity (alc: 13.8%). Full of flavour, it’s a wine that makes a big impression. Price: R520 a bottle.
CE’s rating: 94/100.
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Nuschka de Vos left Reyneke Wines in Stellenbosch after a six-year stint at the end of 2021 to start her own venture called Vulpes Wines. Maiden release is The Cape Fox Chenin Blanc 2022, grapes from two Paardeberg vineyards, winemaking involving spontaneous fermentation and maturation lasting some eight months in older 300-litre barrels.
The nose shows pear, peach, lime, earth and a hint of leesy complexity while the palate has great clarity of fruit, racy acidity and a pithy finish (alc: 12.3%). Taut, focused and long. Plenty of detail both in terms of flavour and texture. An arresting wine and one that suggests that this is a label to watch. Price: R360 a bottle.
CE’s rating: 96/100.
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There is an argument that bigger wine tasting panels (five judges better than three, and seven better than five) are more proficient when it comes to valid outcomes because individual tasters all have genetic strengths and weaknesses – 25% of the population are anosmic to rotundone, the aroma compound that presents as pepper, for instance. If, however, exceptional wines are inclined to be divisive, then it could equally be contended that larger panels are counter-productive.
I was part of the five-member FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 panel in 2018 and the organisers provided each of us with a 10-pack of the winning wines. How are these showing five years on?
Ratings and tasting notes as follows:
92
De Grendel Koetshuis 2017
The nose shows lime, Granny Smith apple, green pepper and fresh herbs plus a touch of peach. The palate is linear – dense fruit matched by punchy acidity. This shows clarity and verve and is drinking beautifully. Alc: 12.5%.
92
Flagstone Free Run 2017
Lime, lemon, fresh herbs and some leesy complexity on the nose while the palate has good concentration, snappy acidity and a dry finish. Well balanced and holding well. Alc: 14%.
92
Nitida Wild Child 2017
Enticing aromatics of potpourri, naartjie, nectarine, blackcurrant and perhaps a touch of mushroom. The palate is broad and flavourful with well-integrated acidity – most pleasurable. Alc: 14.15%.
92
Tokara Reserve Collection Elgin 2018
Blackcurrant, pear, peach and green apple. The palate is polished – blackcurrant, pear, peach and green apple. Round and creamy, this is nicely resolved and ready for drinking. Alc: 13.5%.
90
D’Aria The Songbird 2017
Green bean, lime and melon on the nose. The palate shows super-concentrated fruit and hard acidity – intact but rather ungiving.
90
Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection 2017
Peach, nectarine and a slight herbal note on the nose. The palate is well balanced – good fruit definition, creamy texture and well-integrated acidity. Pleasing if not thrilling. Alc: 13.5%.
89
Diemersdal Winter Ferment 2018
Exotic aromatics of orange, granadilla and pineapple. Sweet, rich and round, tangy acidity preventing the wine from becoming entirely cloying. Still alive but lacks detail. Alc: 14%.
87
Bellingham Homestead 2018
Developed aromatics – a slight vegetal quality, pineapple and bee’s wax. The palate is thick-textured and somewhat lacking in verve, the finish slightly bitter. Alc: 12.5%.
87
Rustenberg Stellenbosch 2018
The nose remains quite primary with top notes of hay and herbs before lime. The palate is light and somewhat dilute, the finish short. Alc: 13.5%.
84
Doringbay 2017 (Fryer’s Cove)
Nose and palate have faded significantly. To the extent that there are any aromatics, there are notes of asparagus and ashtray. The palate is dreary with a short finish. Alc: 14.5%.
In summary, then, four wines on 92 and therefore have proven themselves to be genuinely age-worthy; two wines on 90 and therefore intact but not necessarily more interesting than they were on release; and four wines sub-90 and hence relatively disappointing.
I’m very much in the camp that Sauvignon Blanc benefits from time in bottle but this exercise was chastening in the sense that clearly it is necessary to be highly selective about what is going to be put aside for maturation.
The wines probably all showed well enough five years ago but taken as a collective, they are now somewhat underwhelming. Would a smaller panel have produced a more compelling line-up of wines? I suspect so. That said, I increasingly realise that it is a much smaller number of wines that mature well than we all might like to think.
Sam Lambson of Minimalist Wines keeps a relatively low profile and yet his wines are increasingly talked up by the trendsetters. Stars in the Dark Syrah 2022 is the fifth vintage of his Cape Agulhas wine, the vintage generally cooler and later than usual allowing for extended hangtime. Winemaking, meanwhile, involved one-third whole-bunch fermentation before maturation lasting 12 months in older 228- and 300-litre barrels.
The nose shows floral perfume, red berries and white pepper while the palate is full, rich and ripe – succulent fruit and a smooth texture make this immediately accessible. Alcohol is 14% and I did wonder if this vintage lacks a little freshness and structure.
CE’s rating: 91/100.
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The challenges posed by the drought in the second half of the last decade for wine producers are well documented, 2016 the vintage perhaps most blighted. Somerset West property Morgenster, however, seems to have negotiated any lack of water well enough, its top-end wine from that year now coming to market at R645 a bottle.
Consisting of 44% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc and 15% Petit Verdot, it was matured for 18 months in oak, 60% new. Complex aromatics of red and black berries, olive, oystershell, dried herbs and undergrowth while the palate is full bodied with bright acidity, tannins already quite far resolved, the finish gently savoury. Classy and understated. Alc: 14.5%.
CE’s rating: 92/100.
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The 2020 harvest at Stellenbosch property Meerlust must have been tricky with winemaker Chris Williams on his way out and his replacement Wim Truter only set to join officially in May of that year plus of course there was the Covid-19 lockdown to contend with. Happily, Rubicon 2020 has turned out well.
A blend of 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, components were matured separately for eight months before being blended and put back into barrel for a further 10 months.
The nose shows red and black berries, floral perfume, a hint of fresh herbs, pencil shavings and spice. The palate is medium bodied (alc: 14.55%) with pure fruit, fresh acidity and fine-grained, silky tannins. It’s a wine with certain modesty to it and already drinks well. Price: R550 a bottle.
CE’s rating: 93/100.
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“There´s never been a greater time to drink wine”. If I had €1 for every time I’ve heard or read this over the past couple of years, I´d probably be able to buy a 375ml bottle of something I actually want to drink. My cynicism around rapidly escalating prices aside, there´s genuinely some truth to the statement. Whilst the truly great wines of the world may now only be readily available to the wealthy and the well connected, there has never been such a broad spread of accessible, quality wines across the globe. A big part of this is a general improvement in viticultural and wine-making practices, particularly recently with so many wine-makers maintaining modern hygiene standards whilst reincorporating traditional techniques in the winery, often to great effect. A big part of it is a huge improvement in logistics (2020-22 a notable exception), allowing for wines to be shipped and enjoyed around the world, often even in small quantities. For me though, a key part of this period of plenty is that the spectrum of wine styles has been drastically expanded, to the benefit of wine drinkers everywhere.
Variety is the spice of life and it´s a key strength of the wine world. Of course, this is usually simplified for the sake of navigation. Open a wine list anywhere in the world and with few exceptions, you´re likely to find the list split into sections according to style, notably Sparkling, White, Rosé, Red and perhaps Sweet, if you´re lucky. It´s long been accepted that within “White” and “Red” that there will be stylistic differences according to location, grape, vintage and producer. As much as some would dearly like to condense these options for the sake of simplicity, wine simply pushes back and continues its merry journey of organic expansion instead. Whilst new categories have been added, orange/amber wines in particular, it´s the growth of the existing categories that has had the greatest impact on the options we have available to us. Lighter styles of red wines are now, finally, often as acclaimed as their bigger, bolder brothers. White wines range from the chiselled, feather-weights of the Mosel Valley to the waxy, rich wines of the Northern Rhône. Now, it´s the category of rosé that is spreading its wings and taking flight.
The growth of rosé wine in the last decade has been nothing short of remarkable. For some reason, pink suddenly became a popular colour and certain wineries reaped the rewards, whilst others scrambled to board the train. As with any sudden period of growth in quantity, there comes a period of slowing down after the initial frenzy, which often leads to improvements in quality. The rush to suddenly create rosé wines led many down the Provençal route; high yields of thin-skinned grapes, usually directly pressed and fermented at cooler temperatures to create a rather insipid, pale wine with the same generic characters as their neighbours. Bottle in clear glass, light-strike be damned, sell at an affordable price and it´s a commercial winner, particularly if your margins can afford an unusually shaped bottle to grab attention. Whilst these wines may still rule the supermarket shelves, the attention to the category unearthed a lot of more traditionally-made rosé wines in other parts of the world, whilst inspiring others to create high quality, pink wines of their own.
At their best, rosé wines are a true bridge between the world of white and red wines, taking positive elements from both without ever directly competing with either. Perhaps unsurprisingly, France takes centre stage when it comes to rosé wine, both in terms of production quantities and also for high quality wines. Every category must have its benchmarks and it would be hard to dispute that Domaine Tempier of Bandol is just that for rosé wine. As John Atkinson MW once put it, “it´s a wine that´s folded back on itself multiple times, like a Japanese sword”. However you produce a rosé wine, the limited time to extract flavour from the grape-skins is always a constant challenge, yet Domaine Tempier manage to create a wine with an undeniable sense of place; sun-kissed red fruits, garrigue and wild herbs instantly transport you to the French Riviera. Slightly further north, the remarkable wines of Domaine L´Anglore in Tavel explore the limits of rosé wine as a category; I´ve had red wines with lighter bodies and a paler colour! Yet their drive, energy and transparency is unparalleled in a region known exclusively for rosé wine production.
In Spain, the north has traditionally been the home of rosado wines, particularly from Navarra and Rioja. The Holy Grail for Spanish rosado is Lopez de Heredia´s unique Rosado Gran Reserva; ironically, they stopped producing it from 2000-2008 due to a lack of demand! Now this savoury, multi-dimensional rosado is near impossible to find, with recent vintages doubling or tripling in price. The deeper colours of Spanish rosado may be a little jarring for those used to a paler style, but the results are often spectacular. Dominio del Aguila in Ribera del Duero might be famous for its fresh, vibrant red wines, but their Picaro del Aguila Clarete is my pick of their line-up; field blends of red and white grapes are co-fermented in a traditional style before ageing in oak. The finished wine is a deep, soulful rosado with layers of ripe, red fruits, watermelon and smoke.
Italian rosato wines are perhaps the truest to themselves of all; like so many wines of the country, they come to life most when they´re enjoyed at the table. Valentini´s cherry-red, Cerasuolo is perhaps the most sought-after wine, but the country is awash with bright, delicately grippy examples that can be found without filing for bankruptcy in the process. Nervi-Conterno´s Rosato, high in Alto-Piemonte, is a wonderful tribute to Nebbiolo; red fruited, lifted and remarkably fresh, with more than a hint of the tarry, savoury depth of the grape itself. At the opposite end of the country, Giralamo Russo´s Etna Rosso is deliciously evocative of its volcanic soils and high altitude plantings, on the slope of Mount Etna.
The New World, by comparison, involves much more cherry-picking. Few regions have laid a claim to a consistent style of high quality rosé wine production, with the more traditionally minded producers hitting the closest to hitting the mark. It´s perhaps not a coincidence, then, that South Africa is perhaps making the most interesting rosé wine of the New World, particularly in regions such as the Swartland. My favourite of them all is Samantha Suddon´s project. The salty, briny character of Vine Venom´s NV Rosé sets it apart immediately; a short period under flor complements the verve and ripeness of the Paardeberg fruit. Interestingly, some of the best rosé wines across South Africa are increasingly made from Pinotage, a grape that splits opinions more than any other when used in red wine production. L’Avenir´s Glenrosé is a great example of this; a single vineyard Pinotage wine made into a serious rosé wine, with all the bright, berry-fruit and freshness of Pinotage, without its wilder side showing up to divide the room.
It may gall me to see rows upon rows of cheap rosé wine dying in shop windows as the sunlight slowly breaks it down through clear glass, but the knock-on effect to the world of fine wine has been very welcome indeed. The fact that I could now pick up a wine list and seriously consider a rosé with my meal instead of a sparkling, white or red is testament to how much I, and the wine world, have changed their view on the category. As more wine lovers discover the depth of rosé and wineries focus on it as a stand-alone project, rather than a side-effect of red wine production, the spaces around the edges will continue to be filled in and the rosé wine will continue to evolve. Watch this space!
Daniel Colombo, is a former bartender at Leo’s Wine Bar in Cape Town and has worked stints at both Crystallum locally and Matassa in France. He started his own label in 2021, his aim being to make wines that “challenge conventional thinking and light up the palate”. Tasting notes and ratings for current releases as follows:
White Blend 2023
Price: R295
59% Colombar from Paarl, 41% Muscat d’Alexandrie from Goudini. Matured in old French oak. Wonderfully expressive aromatics of peach, citrus, dried herbs and floral perfume. Fresh and juicy on the palate with a saline finish – has a huge refreshment factor. Alc: 11%.
CE’s rating: 91/100.
Muscat d’Alexandrie 2023
Price: R295
Grapes from Citrusdal Mountains – farmed by the Laings and though they don’t know how old the vineyard is, they do know that when the first family member arrived in 1940, the vineyards were pre-existing. 14 days skin contact. The nose is wonderfully enticing with essence of grape, orange, honeysuckle, ginger and other spice while the palate is nicely structured – light bodied with lively acidity and just a bit of pithy texture. Alc: 12%.
CE’s rating: 92/100.
Syrah 2022
Pirce: R295
65% Elgin destemmed grapes, 35% Bot River grapes, fermented whole-bunch. Red and black berries, olive, a hint of fynbos, a touch of reduction, some meatiness, white pepper and other spice. Good fruit expression, moderate acidity and fine, lightly grippy tannins. Well balanced – immediately approachable but not at all facile.
CE’s rating: 93/100.
Check out our South African wine ratings database.
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