Fabulous wines for warm, cool or undecided weather
If you are living near the Mother City, you can hardly complain about this year’s summer weather — if anything it’s been too warm. The fire season, which runs from November till the end of April, has so far seen almost 900 fires in the Winelands district alone.
The coastal region is a winter rainfall area so there is little ambient moisture to dampen the tinder. A carelessly dropped match, a cigarette butt, an untended braai fire are all that it takes for the vegetation to catch alight. Then there’s the small matter of the breeze, a euphemism for the often galeforce winds that blow in off the ocean before being funnelled through the complex topography of the landscape. A flicker of fire, a real gust of wind and suddenly tens of thousands of hectares of fynbos, vineyard and alien vegetation have been turned into a furnace.
Johannesburg, on the other hand, has been a beneficiary of Cyclone Eloise. The great tropical storm came in from Mozambique and dumped enough water on the Witwatersrand to fill all the dams in the Rand Water catchment. For more than six weeks Gauteng weather has been cloudy, cool, almost autumnal. By the time that most people consider it appropriate to draw the cork (or twist the cap) on a bottle of wine, something red may seem just what you need to raise your body temperature a degree or two.
Fortunately my week’s tastings yielded fabulous wines for warm or cool weather. On the white wine front, the treat included two varieties we see little of — one because it seems to have faded from fashion except among European wine geeks, the other because it’s been slow in getting converts to its cause. True riesling — as opposed to what used to be called Cape riesling (and which was really crouchen blanc) — yields completely extraordinary wines. It is naturally versatile — it will deliver a searingly dry expression which is perfect as an aperitif, or a dessert wine treacly enough to stand a spoon in. Wines from the best sites are truly immortal.
The oldest unfortified wine I’ve ever drunk was a riesling that was almost 300 years old. Obviously no longer youthful, it still had discernible fruit and lovely detail.
There’s one problem when it comes to riesling in SA, and it’ sa deal-breaker: riesling doesn’t sell. Since growers and producers are economically rational, many have abandoned it altogether. Gary and Kathy of Jordan persist: their Real McCoy is the genuine thing, and worth tracking down.
It’s not bone dry, but it is fragrant and fresh. To kick-start a warm evening on the deck it’s hard to imagine a better bottle.
If however your taste demands the steely flintiness of sauvignon or unoaked chardonnay, you might be ready for verdelho. In its most famous execution it makes fine dry Madeira, but it also performs well as an unfortified wine.
It’s become a popular blending component in a number of Stellenbosch whites, though the single varietal bottling from Stellenbosch Vineyards has been the most successful in recent years. If you like the mouthfeel of sauvignon blanc but you are looking for something of even greater purity and linearity, the Stellenbosch Vineyards Limited Release Verdelho 2019 may be ideal.
On the red wine front there were four outstanding wines: a merlot from Lanzerac which was surprisingly sumptuous but still fresh, the consistently standout cabernet franc from Warwick, and two completely different Syrah/shirazes, both good. The Lanzerac Merlot 2019 was creamy and textured — much what you would expect from a decent Pomerol from Bordeaux’s Right Bank; the Warwick Cabernet Franc 2017 walked the knife edge of precision without succumbing to skeletal leanness.
Of the two shiraz examples, the Spier Seaward 2019 was youthful and opulent, while the Trizanne Syrah Reserve 2018 was concentrated, peppery, seamless and reserved. The Spier is sumptuous and brash, ready to engage; Trizanne’s much awarded wine is subtle, intricate and fine.
TRUE RIESLING — AS OPPOSED TO CAPE RIESLING (REALLY CROUCHEN BLANC) — YIELDS COMPLETELY EXTRAORDINARY WINES