Boplaas, a Portuguese connection and a taste of things to come

The story goes, that Oupa Danie Nel, Boplaas patriarch, returned from a visit to the Swartland in the late 70’s with his Chevy El Camino packed to the rafters with Pinotage and Shiraz, his neighbours duly finished off the Shiraz and a decision was made to plant some then and there. Planted the vines produced an unusual “Shiraz”, which in fact proved to be Tinta Barocca, a trip to Portugal followed with a rambunctious night at a pub and lifelong friendships being made with some of the best Port shippers – including the Symingtons. Many re-visits were undertaken to learn the intricacies of Port production, but also crafting table wines from these wild varieties.

Although far removed from the precarious schistious slopes of Portugal’s Duoro, Calitzdorp and much of the Cape share much in common – a Mediterranean climate, low rainfall, testing growing conditions, ample sunshine and ancient soils. The Portuguese varieties are perfectly suited to low rainfall, poor soils, high temperatures, while producing sustainable yields of high quality fruit offering the opportunity to craft exceptional wines and fortifieds. Boplaas has old vine plantings of Tinta Barocca, Touriga Nacional and Souzão – with new plantings of all three coming into production soon - while Verdelho is a recent addition to the farm. Portugal is a veritable viticultural cornucopia of vinous gems, possessing over 200 endemic varieties.

Last week’s visit by eight winemakers from the Lisboa Wine Appellation, hosted at the Table Bay Hotel, was a rare opportunity to taste Portuguese varieties from a traditionally important, yet lesser known region and a glimpse at what they have to offer. Contrary to popular belief, the growers the Lisboa region not only grow Portuguese varietals, but are allowed to utilize “international” grape varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon for some DOC (denomination of origin) and VR (regional wines). The region is dominated by co-operative wineries, producing exceptional value driven quality wines, while a few serious family wineries do exist. The red which stood out was the Paço Das Côrtes Reserva Da Família 2012 – a blend of Castelão, Tinta Roriz and Alicante Bouschet – with its intense colour, berry aromatics, firm tannins and exceptional balance crafted by António Ventura (Portuguese oenologist of the year 2006). A revelation were the range of Arinto’s of Quinto Da Romeira, who possess one of Portugal’s largest planting of this aromatic white Portuguese varietal, these wines impressed with their diversity, fruit intensity, complex citrus flavour spectrum, minerality and Old World finesse.

However, our local bottling of Portuguese varietal and blends utilizing these varieties need not stand back for the foreigners, especially wines such as the Boplaas Gamka 2012 – originating from a trio of low yielding Touriga Nacional vineyards blended with bush vine Shiraz, this buxomly fruited, complex and cellar worthy wine. The maiden release Boplaas Gamka has already got a Top 100 South African Wine 2014 nomination, Gran d’Or medal from the Michellangelo International Wine and 4 Star from Platter’s. Boplaas proved its prowess with Portguese varieties at this year’s Cape Port Producers Association Challenge, by crafting 5 of the TOP 10 table wines, with the Boplaas Tinta Barocca 2013 taking top honours and a gold medal, while the Boplaas Family Reserve Touriga Nacional 2012 also won gold and the Woolworth’s Boplaas Portuguese Connection 2012, Boplaas Tinta Chocolat 2013 and Boplaas Touriga Nacional 2013 rounded out the royal flush. The Boplaas Portuguese Connection – a blend of traditional Portuguese and classic French varieties – is crafted exclusively for Woolworth’s and since the inception of the CAPPA Challenge TOP 10 has featured every time.

A new addition to the Boplaas Portuguese Collection, noted by the distinctive cockerel package design launched earlier this year, is the Boplaas Cape Portuguese White Blend 2014 – incredible value at R40 per bottle from the cellar door, garnering an unheard of 4 Star Platter’s rating and a blend of 50% Verdelho with equal parts Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay all from the Klein Karoo. Punching way above its weight, the Boplaas Portuguese Connection 2012, greets the taster with Verdelho’s distinctive combination of zesty pineapple, citrus fruits and zippy acidity while the Sauvignon Blanc adds familiarity with tropical fruit flavours & Chardonnay adds a touch of weight to this utterly drinkable dry white – all at a modest 12% alcohol and ideal for summer sipping around the braai while enjoying fresh seafood, grilled peri-peri chicken or light summer fare.

Boplaas is also pleased to announce a true first, with the Boplaas Family Reserve Touriga Francesa 2012 and Boplaas Ring of Rocks 2013. The former is South Africa’s only single varietal bottling of this aromatic, structured and extremely rare varietal, approximately 4 hectares planted in South Africa. A mere 2500 bottles of the Touriga Francesa is available, exclusively from the cellar door at R150 p/b and is another cellar worthy wine possessing plush fruit, inky black colour and incredible drinkability. The Boplaas Ring of Rocks 2013 is a co-fermented blend of old vine Tinta Barocca and Tourgia Francesa offering the best of both varietals – Tinta’s intense plum and coco nib flavours combining seamlessly with the fynbos, black hedgerow fruit and slight herbal tannic twang of Touriga Francesa – an incredible bargain at R80 p/b cellar door.

Come discover the finest of the Portuguese variety tablewines grown in the Cape and our range of Cape fortifieds, at our cellar door in Calitzdorp, as well our tasting room in Little Brak along the Garden route.

For more information visit www.boplaas.co.za, give us a call on +27.442133326, send us an email to info@boplaas.co.za, tweet us @Boplaas1880 or better yet, drop in for a tasting at our cellar door in Calitzdorp.

Calitzdorp Cellar door: OPEN Mondy – Friday, 09:00 – 17:00; Saturday 09:00 – 15:00 & Sundays 10:00 – 14:00

Boplaas Family Vineyards, Calitzdorp – Tending vines & Crafting wines, since 1880