Tim James: Some (mostly) great older Cape whites
By Tim James, 27 January 2020
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Having a rather chaotically organised cellar – not to mention it being dispersed over three places, two of them only seldom examined – is of mixed benefit. Perhaps it’s surprising that there can be a benefit at all, but there can: it largely consists of forgetting about some wines, which can give a marvellous revelation when they turn up. Though there’s sometimes a bout of self-recrimination when the opened bottle – shot – tells me that I’d forgotten about it for too long.
I was expecting mostly the latter when I rummaged about in a wine fridge and in the stash of wines which Angela Lloyd kindly keeps for me in a corner of her enviably airconditioned cellar and found some older Cape white wines. My working principle with South African whites is to expect them to peak at not much more than five years – though there are exceptions which I know about and, as I’m about to reveal, that I don’t know about.
The first bottle I opened I had little hope for, though I remembered that it had been splendid a decade back: Oak Valley OV 2007 (a blend in which unoaked sauvignon blanc greatly predominated over-oaked Semillon; it was later renamed Mountain Reserve White Blend, but was then dropped from the range). How wrong my doubts were! A lovely lightish straw colour promised well for the wine’s freshness (NB it was under screwcap), and it turned out to be superb, with fresh aromatics and little of the advanced sauvignon character which doesn’t appeal to me; elegant but with a rich texture counterpointing the fine acidity. I returned three days later to finish off the bottom glassful, and it had if anything, grown more complex and lovely. One of the finest bottles of mature Cape white that I can remember.
A slightly younger, rather similar blend delivered rather more of the character I’d been a little apprehensive about: Magna Carta 2010 (MMX as the front label has it), the then unprecedently expensive wine from Steenberg. Still very much alive – dry and steely, with a firm, integrated lemony acidity, and nicely textured; and in fact, the asparagus-green bean notes and obvious bottle development, never excessive, seemed to become subdued over a day or so and an acceptable part of the subtle depth of flavour. A good wine still, but not as lovely and graceful and vital as the Oak Valley.
Another wine from Constantia, Eagles’ Nest Viognier 2015 (also screwcapped), was much younger, but viognier doesn’t have much of a track record for ageability and I thought I should try one of the bottles I’d bought when I was immensely impressed by the wine on its release. There was a gorgeous lusciousness to the wine, with balanced acidity and a lingering finish, and I much enjoyed my first half-glassful. But somehow it lacked freshness. not inviting drinking, and I thought I should have opened it a year or two back. That’s probably true, but when I returned to it after a few days, it was altogether much more pleasing. (Angela Lloyd, to whom I spoke about this, had a similar experience of it opening up after a day or two, though she’d liked it less than I had on first opening.)
And so to chardonnay. The first two vintages of Restless River, 2008 and 2009, including some Elgin fruit, were necessarily somewhat experimental essays by Craig Wessels. He now uses only his own Hemel-en-Aarde grapes in his top-class chardonnay and none of the new oak which is discernible in a kind of heaviness on the older wines. These two vintages were fairly advanced in colour and aroma, but still eminently drinkable. The 09 showed a touch lighter and more elegant, while the 08 was particularly intense in its ripe, rich flavourful-ness. Both revealed themselves as remarkably good wines for their age, especially coming from a neophyte winemaker.
A finer example of mature chardonnay came with Glenelly 2010, to represent Stellenbosch in my little survey. It even promises a few happy years ahead of it (if you’re luckier than I and still have a bottle stuck away). Like the other whites I’ve been talking of, I felt it had developed rather than merely grown older (I wonder if that’s perhaps truer of Cape whites than Cape reds, on the whole?). A restrained wine, though the oak is arguably a touch obvious still, elegantly balanced, reminding me what a fine winemaker Luke O’Cuinneagain is – this was the estate’s maiden chardonnay, presumably off pretty young vines.
On the evidence of these wines, I should generally raise my expectations about the development possibility of Cape whites. There’s recently been a call for entries for the 10-Year-Old Wine Report. Probably the majority of wines considered will be 2010 reds, but I’m confident that there are a number of genuinely viable mature whites out there, and it would be great to see them entered and doing well, demonstrating the ever-increasing potential of South Africa’s serious white wines.
- Tim James is one of South Africa’s leading wine commentators, contributing to various local and international wine publications. He is a taster (and associate editor) for Platter’s. His book Wines of South Africa – Tradition and Revolution appeared in 2013
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Tim James | 27 January 2020
J Carpenter – your amazement and disappointment is also ill-considered, unimaginative and remarkably pompous. My wines are indeed all treated with care and respect – either in a temperature-controlled room in a private house, or in professional storage space, or in wine fridges. Unfortunately, one of the problems of most wine-writers without more-or-less questionable relationships to the industry is that they are not rich, and my small house does not have a room spare for a devoted wine-space. Though, yes, that would be cheaper to run than the wine fridges in my garage – but no more effective in suitable wine storage. Can you really not think of a more interesting or intelligent comment than this?
Greg | 28 January 2020
Very well said Tim…. “remarkably pompous indeed” 🙂 I was recently given a small collection of various 8 – 18 year old Constantia Chardonnays that had spent most their lives in ‘storage’. Needless to say most of them were as dead as Monty’s parrot – except for a 2011 Constantia Uitsig unwooded, which remarkably still had life and character, and perhaps was the daisies that that the parrot was ‘pushing up’. So silly of your critic to think that you’d written about wines that had lived neglected lives.
J. Carpenter | 27 January 2020
I am amazed, and very disappointed, that a wine writer, would not have a temperature controlled cellar.
I believe that a room with a simple aircon should be prepared before any wine (other than for consumption that week) should be purchased. It is usually less costly than a wine frig and cools 20 times the # of bottles. This is the reason it is so difficult to find properly cellared mature wines in S.A. If the wine writers don’t teach proper care, and respect for wine, who will?
Keith Prothero | 27 January 2020
I much prefer Cape white wines with ten year plus bottle age,especially Chardonnay and Semillon. Had a brilliant bottle of Uva Mira Chardonnay 2004 recently and always keep my Landau du Val and Bouk semillon for 15 years or so.
Udo Göebel | 29 January 2020
My Boekenhoutskloof semillon 2006 I recently purchased at La Cotte was oxydised and undrinkable. Maybe not stored properly?
Kwispedoor | 29 January 2020
I had a 2004 about two years ago and it was quite gorgeous, with plenty in stock.
Gregory | 27 January 2020
We stopped in at South China on Long St last week and they had (have?) 2011 Eagles Nest Sauvignon Blanc on the specials board. It was in good condition and pairedwell with the dim sum, all for the princely sum of R175!
Carl | 27 January 2020
Agree we do have some amazing whites and that ’09 can certainly age a few more years. Ian Naude’s 2006 is also still young and vibrant – thanks to the screw closure and formidable wine making. We drank a Pieter Walser Manon des Source 2010 which was under a cork closure, at 15,5% abv well preserved and with perhaps a year or two left maybe more. Stunning wine.
Kwispedoor | 27 January 2020
Yet another pristine older wine under screwcap, yet many people maintain that cork is always a better stopper if a wine is designated for bottle maturation. I’m not convinced of that at all.
Our club, The Noble Rotters, had a tasting themed White Blends From 2012 Vintage and Older (including, incidentally, the 2010 Magna Carta and a 2010 Mountain Reserve) earlier this month. It much to affirm the ability of our top white wines to mature with benefit. Amongst one Bordeaux and a Rhône (both also splendid), it was probably only the 2009 Nederburg Ingenuity White that seemed to show signs of tiredness. The 2009 Mullineux and 2007 Vergelegen white blends were arguably two of the stand-outs in an excellent lineup. The 2009 Naudé Old Vines White even gave the impression that it needs more time in the bottle to show its best!