A focus on variety: the big tasting trend of 2013

Monday, 6 January, 2014
Graham Howe
Varietal tastings were a major trend in 2013 - with tutored winemaker tastings of Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Malbec, Shiraz and Zinfandel. Graham Howe reports on a few of the highlights on the wine calendar last year.
A focus on expressions of a signature variety at a wine tasting tends to be far more of a learning curve than a multi-varietal “shotgun” tasting of a winery’s new releases. Whether varietal tastings are led by individual cellars or associations of Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinotage producers, a showcase of a single variety - or a category such as Cap Classique - is a lesson in variations in expression of terroir, region, clones, viticulture, vintage, maturation and winemaking techniques.

One of the highlights on my tasting circuit in 2013 was a vertical flight of Gravel Hill Shiraz at Hartenberg led by Carl Shultz. The focus red variety of this estate comes in five distinct expressions - made by a cellar master who has spent twenty years specialising in making Shiraz here. Over a tasting of key vintages from 2003 to 2008, Carl spoke about the character of the original and newer clones, regional differences (expressing pepperiness in Swartland versus primary red berry in Stellenbosch), the age of vineyards, evolution of style, linearity of vintages and on stalk/stem ferment.

Carl offers his words of wisdom on winemaking - “We’re just scratching the surface of Shiraz in SA. You don’t grow a great site. It takes up to seventy years to build a wine - to achieve recognition for a special parcel of vine. That’s the legacy a winemaker wants to leave. Wine hates change. If the jockey keeps changing, the horse starts to define the wine! If you have four winemakers in one decade, the ball is dropped. The top French cellars have three winemakers in a century - and transfer intellectual capital”.

Paying tribute to the pioneers of Shiraz in the Cape - Allesverloren (the mother bloc), Jacobsdal, Meerendal and Middelvlei - as well as the modern fathers like Abe Beukes formerly at Lievland. Carl says Gravel Hill offer a climactic snapshot of different vintages and carries the signature of the vineyard. He adds, “You must avoid vigorous soils for Shiraz - and pick purely on taste. We make Shiraz from nine different clones. Cooler vintages develop more elegant character of violet and spice. The biggest difference between Bordeaux and Burgundy coopers is the way they fire their barrels. At Hartenberg we don’t want to add wood tannins or make vanilla-driven wine”.

A lesson in Sauvignon at Durbanville Hills was another highlight of 2013. Martin Moore belongs to that elite club of Cape winemakers who have stayed with one winery since start-up. Over a tasting of Biesjes Craal, Rhinofields and Durbanville Hills Sauvignon, the cellar master spoke about changing consumer preferences - and the evolution from greener to more tropical, less acidic expressions of the variety. He talked about changing trellis systems to increase sun exposure and tropical flavour formation, using certain yeasts to release and transform varietal flavours.

The forthright winemaker adds, “When we started, we gave people what they wanted - greener, pyrazine flavours, typical cool climate stuff that irritates the back of your throat. After attending a wine show in Hawkes Bay, I asked myself, ‘Do we stay unique with our style or adapt to evolving consumer preferences?’ We started watching out for the precursors to tropical flavours on the vine. Flavour formation is dependent on temperatures. Now we have tropical flavours with pyrazine nuances”.

The two winter and summer showcases held by the Chenin Blanc Association has rapidly grown into a key annual event on the tasting calendar. Specialist winemakers demonstrated the two main styles of Chenin Blanc - fresh ‘n fruity versus rich ‘n ripe - while showcasing variations like bush vine, region, natural yeast, barrel-fermented, wooded, unwooded and botrytis dessert styles. The Chenin kings from Beaumont, Graham Beck, Ken Forrester, Klein Zalze, Raats Family Wines, Rijk’s, Simonsig (who released their first varietal Chenin back in 1968) and Villiera discussed the several expressions of Chenin Blanc each cellar makes as a focus white variety.

Bruwer Raats commented on a few of the challenges facing Chenin. He says “If you put ten winemakers around a table, you won’t get agreement on styles of Chenin. We’re trying to get a clear message across to consumers. Most consumers can only identify two main styles (fresh ‘n fruity and rich ‘n ripe) of Chenin. We need to start planting new Chenin sites and clones. The older vines give low yields but great concentration; while the older clones are volume-driven for making brandy”. David Trafford adds, “You don’t get great Chenin because it’s from bush vines per se - but because its older, less vigorous. New trellised vineyards give you great quality fruit”.

A learning curve in Chenin continued over a tasting with a difference at Terroir at Kleine Zalze. Wine writers explored flights of five domestic and export labels of Chenin, the cellar’s focus white variety. We also tasted varietal components sourced from three terroirs blended into Chenin at Kleine Zalze - namely, weathered shale in False Bay, duplex soils in Bottelary Hills and weathered granite in Stellenbosch. Winemaker RJ Botha explained, “Different soil types, elevations, canopies and regions produce different styles of Chenin”. The weathered shale produces wine with pure apple, pear and mineral quality; duplex intense peach and pineapple fruit with structure; weathered granite, fresh quince flavours with great acidity and backbone.

In a fascinating exercise, RJ Botha showed us three versions of Kleine Zalze Chein made for three different countries with three different palates. He comments, “We make a diversity of styles for different market segments.” The winemaker says of the best-selling Bush Vines Chenin Blanc, “This is Chenin the way we want to make it - fresh ‘n fruity with balance, a fuller mouthfeel and length. We’re looking for purity of fruit. The first thing we look for is guava, and also for quince! White phenols give Chenin its longevity - and long fermentation with lees contact.”

Co-owner Kobus Basson commented, “Chenin Blanc is the heartbeat of Kleine Zalze. Chenin Blanc really over-delivers in the entry-level category. We’re doing really well in the UK. We find Chenin Blanc does better in a blind tasting than as Chenin Blanc”.

Last but not least, Peter Finlayson, a winemaker with staying power has been making Pinot Noir in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley for over three decades. Two tastings of his legendary Galpin Peak Pinot Noir, offered annually to media and consumers were another stand-out on the tasting circuit in 2013. At vertical flights of different expressions - Tete de Cuvee, Cape Winemakers Guild and Galpin Peak from 1997 to 2011 - he has made at Bouchard Finlayson, Peter spoke about his passion for “the most challenging of all red wines - and the most expressive of terroir and vintage”.

I attended benchmark tastings at Bushmanskloof Wilderness Retreat in the Cederberg and La Colombe over two of the finest food and wine pairings of the year:

Peter quips “Pinot Noir is a white wine variety which only makes red wine under special circumstances. Really good Pinot Noir with good colour and extraction is the exception in South Africa. The cool climate and clay soils of Walker Bay and Elgin favour the heartbreak grape. Cool climate should mean dry not wet. Low rainfall and cool temperatures make for great vintages - as in 2005. If it’s too hot, you get too much tension (tightness) in the grapes. As you go up the Hemel-en-Aarde valley you get a different style … cooler, more aromatic, fruitier.”

The devil is in the detail when it comes to Pinot Noir. Peter adds, “Non-vigorous growing conditions in cool vineyards produce good colour - and high density plantings create vigour in the wine and greater balance on the mid-palate. Pinot Noir is the first grape to be harvested. You have to watch tannin and acidity very carefully. Smaller batches of wine pick up more micro-oxidisation and tend to develop faster. Pinot Noir is very temperamental. It doesn’t like to be in the company of other wines - or even to follow Chardonnay in tastings.”

If comparative tastings of foreign benchmarks and local wines were an innovative trend of 2012, tastings of signature varieties were undoubtedly a highlight of 2013 - building a focused brand identity for leading cellars. When it comes to cult varieties I also enjoyed the novel Pinot Gris tasting at De Grendel, the sixth annual international Zinfandel tasting led by Blaauwklippen, the Malbec tasting led by Doolhof; the Graham Beck MCC showcase led by Pieter Ferreira. A lesson in variety is surely a smart way of attracting wine writers spoiled for choice on a crowded wine calendar.


Graham Howe

Graham Howe is a well-known gourmet travel writer based in Cape Town. One of South Africa's most experienced lifestyle journalists, he has contributed hundreds of food, wine and travel features to South African and British publications over the last 25 years.

He is a wine and food contributor for wine.co.za, which is likely the longest continuous wine column in the world, having published over 500 articles on this extensive South African wine portal. Graham also writes a popular monthly print column for WineLand called Howe-zat.

When not exploring the Cape Winelands, this adventurous globetrotter reports on exotic destinations around the world as a travel correspondent for a wide variety of print media, online, and radio.

Over the last decade, he has visited over seventy countries on travel assignments from the Aran Islands and the Arctic to Borneo and Tristan da Cunha - and entertained readers with his adventures through the winelands of the world from the Mosel to the Yarra.