RIPE, RICH AND READY
A joint venture highlighted by the wonders of genetic code, Rupert & Rothschild is South Africa’s icon for prime luscious drinking, says gerrie lim
at the foot of the spectacular Simonsberg mountain in Franschhoek Valley lies Simondium, where the French Huguenot farm Fredericksburg was established in 1690. It’s now home to the stately Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons, which was officially set up in 1997 by the late Anton Rupert of South Africa and the late Baron Edmond de Rothschild of France.
“The Rupert family took the property in 1984, with the intention of increasing its wine portfolio in South Africa,” explains Rupert & Rothschild sommelier Brian Hudha, a native of Zimbabwe who is entrusted with our welfare as we tour the premises. “And they’ve been running the farm since.”
Their joint venture kicked off with two reds and a white from the 1998 vintage. Their sons, Johann Rupert and Baron Benjamin de Rothschild have inherited this partnership.
While the Rothschild banking family holds a stake in Bordeaux First Growth Chateau Lafiterothschild in Pauillac and owns a cluster of other prominent wine estates, Johann Rupert is chairman of Compagnie Financiere Richemont, which owns luxury houses Vacheron Constantin, Jaegerlecoultre, Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. Rupert also heads the independent Anthonij Rupert Wine Estate, which he took over when younger brother Anthonij passed on in 2001.
The objective is to showcase Rupert & Rothschild as a prestige brand, with three wines united under a core idea of excellence: Baroness Nadine (named for Edmond de Rothschild’s wife), Baron Edmond, and Classique, each a drinking style unto itself. “It’s a relatively new venture between two big families respected in the wine industry coming together to produce an exclusive brand of wine that represents quality and good value for money,” says Hudha.
Hudha, who has been with the company for four years, shows us the private guest rooms, the tasting centre, and the restaurant designed by Malherbe Rust Architects and kitted out by interior designer Christiaan Barnard. It looks like a Cape Dutch architectural masterplan save for one vital component — though the actual winemaking is done on premises, most of the grapes are not grown here, having been trucked in from nearby areas like Stellenbosch and Elgin.
“From day one, we focus on the quality of the grapes as opposed to the quantity,” Hudha says. “The estate is about 90 hectares, very small, and we’re not thinking of increasing the quantity of the wines.”
Even wine tourism is something the estate has only lately embraced. “A lot of people knew about our property but didn’t get the chance to come here until July 2014, when we opened to the public.” So pristinely quiet is Rupert & Rothschild, only a handful of visitors
stand mingling in the tasting centre and I suspect the staff prefer it this way.
The first wine, as we tuck into lunch at the Chef Anwar Abdullatief-headed restaurant with views of the vineyards and Simonsberg mountain, is the Baroness Nadine 2016, enjoyed with an appetiser of spiced prawns. A Chardonnay with a total production of 40,000 bottles, it’s typically French in that the grapes are grown in Elgin, which retains a lot of flavour since the climate is less warm and suited for the grape. “You can taste the purity of the fruit in the Chardonnay,” opines Hudha.
“The oak is about 85 percent, in 300-litre new French oak, for 10 months. It’s also a little smoky; you get the lime juice on the tongue and a long, lingering aftertaste.” Will it live up to the palate? I’d say wait another five years to see.
What’s intriguing though is the use of egg-shaped Nomblot concrete wine tanks (named after the company that popularised it). I watch assistant winemaker Kayla Oertle demonstrate the sundry intricacies. “We do wholebunch pressing for this, as opposed to our Bordeaux blend which needs basket-press and skin contact,” she says, having worked here since last November after moving from the Vergelegen winery in Stellenbosch. Head winemaker Yvonne Lester, handpicked by the late Anthonij Rupert in 2001, was unfortunately away on business.
“For our whites, we use a third and sometimes a fourth barrel run, because we do a French-style Chardonnay — it’s fruitier as opposed to very wooden,” she adds. “The Nomblots ferment our Chardonnay with constant motion on the yeast, so the wine gets more balance at the bottom and gains more minerality. This constant motion of the yeast during fermentation gives it a fuller, rounder palate.”
The vat room where Baroness Nadine is made also houses its flagship, the Baron Edmond, a red named for its French co-founder. “The grapes are from Stellenbosch. We select only the best bunches,” Hudha starts to explain as I dive into my main course, a juicy aged beef sirloin. “This wine here, the 2014, is 60 percent Merlot, 25 percent Cabernet Franc and 15 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, matured for 18 months in 100 percent new French oak, 225-litre barrels.”
It has another 15 years of ageing potential, offers Hudha, but even at this youthful, I find the 2014 attractive with its blackberries and blueberries, touch of coriander, and layers of complexity awash with silky tannins and hints of chocolate. Each year, 100,000 bottles of Baron Edmond are made.
With a production quantity of 1.3 million bottles a year, Classique, on the other hand, is both widely sold and easy on the wallet. Also a red blend, the 2015 vintage is composed of 50 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 40 percent Merlot and 10 percent Cabernet Franc from grapes in the Stellenbosch, Helderberg and the West Coast. It’s an easy-drinking wine, macerated for 17 months and one-third in 300-litre French oak and the rest in second and third barrels. So popular is Classique, production occurs in its own separate cellar, which was constructed just last year.
“Our reds utilise Merlot for a large part, just like some of the best Bordeaux Right bank wines in the world, like Chateau Petrus and Chateau Cheval Blanc in Pomerol,” Hudha upsells with pride.
Some 30 percent of the wines produced here are exported, with the Asian market remaining significant thanks to the crossover appeal prompted by its Chateau Lafite connection. Those interested in other international wines will also find releases from the Rothschild family in the tasting centre, such as Rimapere, a Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand, and Aguaribay, a Malbec from Uco Valley, 120km south of Mendoza in Argentina.
I ask Hudha what he himself likes to drink. “When you have friends over who want something that can age, I’d go for the Baron Edmond.” I’ll toast to that.
“When you have friends over who want something that can age, I’d go for the Baron Edmond” — Brian Hudha
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: BRIAN HUDHA; THE WINE CELLAR; DINING AT THE ESTATE’S RESTAURANT OFFERS VIEWS OF THE VINES; OPPOSITE PAGE: BARON EDMOND 2014