Wine changes a treat for palates

SA’s new young vintners extend creativity frontiers

PART of the excitement of the world of wine – an excitement which doesn’t diminish over time – is that it is in a constant state of flux.

You might doubt that any innovation is still possible, given that wine has been produced for at least 7 000 years, that it pre-dates any concept we have of civilisation, that it was part of human culture before we could write, and from a time when homes were the most primitive shelters.

Anyone who grew up with the great wines of the millennium as vinous benchmarks will hardly recognise the names which are fashionable today.

A glance at the five-star laureates in the 2017 Platter Guide shows a vast number of brands that did not exist 15 years ago. Those which were in business may have been little more than grape growing enterprises – you certainly could not easily have found a bottle of Bosman, Kleine Zalze or Olifantsberg, and you could safely say that many of today’s high achievers – Mullineux, Sadie, Botanica and Alheit – for example, had not even been launched.

This may suggest that the wine industry is obsessed with change, which in turn suggests that it is almost impossible for even the best winemaker to stay for any length of time in the limelight.

There is a truth to this, especially in the New World, where new appellations are opened up all the time, and youngsters keen to make a name for themselves seek new frontiers.

It’s less of an issue in Europe, where areas, brands, chateaux and villages have acquired their brand status over several centuries. Even here however, the vibrancy and dedication which characterises the Cape is to be found everywhere – often in the most hidebound of places.

Germany, for example, which has a wine law which leaves little room for creativity, has become the source of some of the most exciting wines of the Old World.

The particular features of change in South Africa arise from the geography, but also from the creativity of the producers. Until the 1990s the KWV enjoyed statutory powers to determine where vineyards could be planted.

Following the abolition of this authority, adventurous growers went out and opened up a number of new appellations. Some were quite close to the traditional areas – Hemel-en-Aarde for example, or Elim near Agulhas.

But others, like Bamboesbaai up the West Coast, Plettenberg Bay or even KwaZuluNatal required the kind of pioneering spirit which was always going to translate into ultra-modern winemaking.

Winemaking technology has also changed – often in quite a polarised way.

From the 1960s onwards cellar techniques evolved to ensure that wines stayed fresher for longer, more stable, and less prone to unpleasant surprises when the bottle was opened.

On the other hand, younger winemakers have recently come to regard this approach as sterile, and have chosen to focus instead on natural wines, many of which are not protected by the products which modern chemistry has brought – as tricks of the trade – to producers’ cellars.

Finally, in South Africa, the number of available cultivars has increased enormously. In the 1990s the industry was hugely dependent on Cabernet, Pinotage, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc for most of its better wines.

While all these varieties are still available – and are better than ever before, the arrival on the scene of ample quantities of Merlot, Shiraz (or Syrah), and Chardonnay, as well as reasonable amounts of Mourvèdre, Grenache, Tempranillo, Sangiovese and Roussanne has made a vast difference.

There are also larger than merely experimental plantings of such esoteric (for us) grapes as Gruner Veltliner (at Diemersdal) Marsanne (at Leeuwenkuil) and Nebbiolo (at Steenberg, Morgenster and Bouchard Finlayson.)

No wonder tracking what is happening with Cape wine is a little like riding a rollercoaster at a links course in the Outer Hebrides.

Michael Fridjhon is regarded as South Africa’s foremost wine authority. He is the director of RMB WineX and the FNB regional wine shows. Fridjhon is wine writer for Business Day and contributor to international and local publications.