The project has been launched in conjunction with research institutions in Chile and Germany.

Mario Pablo Silva planting carmenère

Casa Silva already has a reputation for making fine quality carmenère wines and the company is already making Chile’s star grape variety, carmenère, its own. Their investments appear to bear fruit, as Mario Pablo Silva, managing director of Viña Casa Silva explained: “we think carmenère is a very important grape for Chile, and we trust carmenère will produce differentiation for Chile [from other countries].  Casa Silva sells as much carmenère as cabernet sauvignon, and we sell more carmenère than cabernet sauvignon of our top wines.”

The research aims including looking at the fine balance of herbaceous green pepper notes, which in certain small proportions are a complexing factor, but more than this turn into a marmite issue. Additionally, carmenère is susceptible to unpredictable fruit set, so finding clones that are reliable for this aspect will be high on the agenda.

Pyrazines

Along with the herby green pepper notes are other pyrazines such as green asparagus, green beans and peas flavours.  Too much of these is considered a fault, and not enough of them can make the wine a little one-dimensional.  These aromas are called pyrazines, and existing carmenere clones show a near four-fold variation in amounts, from 40 to 150 nanograms/litre (ng). These are infinitessimally tiny amounts, but which are easily detectable on the palate.

Carmenère

Professor Yerko Moreno, director of grape and wine research at the University of Talca,  is one of the collaborators in the research project. He said “We would like around 60-70ng. We don’t want to lose the peppery characters, otherwise it wouldn’t be carmenère.”

But what creates the pyrazines, and how to manage the vineyard to optimise the quantity? Moreno said: “By removing crop we increased the amount of pyrazine in the remaining crop.  The pyrazine produced in the leaves concentrates in the fewer bunches that remain.

“High water stress got rid of pyrazines, but it got rid of everything else as well. We don’t think stressed vines produce good quality, we think happy vines produce good quality.”

Moreno went on “we can harvest carmenère earlier if we treat it well in the vineyard. If we stress the canopy, it won’t get rid of the green characters. But by keeping the canopy alive late in the season, we ended by harvesting earlier.” Managing director of Casa Silva, Mario Pablo Silva, added “we like the greenness of the carmenère. Winemaker friends’ are surprised to see us harvesting Los Lingues in April and they are thinking to harvest in May.  If you taste a really good carmenère you taste freshness and greenness.” But not a lot of greenness. Though the earlier harvest helps to retain a little more natural acidity for the freshness.

Variable fruit set

Another of the issues with carmenère is a variable fruit set, which directly affects the yield and therefore profitability of the harvest. Variable fruit set results in both ripe and unripe berries on one grape bunch.  Moreno said: “doing pollen analysis we found up to 30% of carmenère pollen grains has faults.”

Clones

One of the ways to gain more control over these issues is to breed carmenère for the desired traits – better fruit set, limited pyrazines. 

Los Lingues vineyard

Specific clones of most grape varieties exist for various traits, such as small berries, or drought resistance, or stronger wood etc.  But at the moment there are no official clones available of carmenère. Carmenère is just carmenère, with all vineyards (not just Casa Silva) being a massale (vineyard) selection.

There are, however, some candidate clones. Moreno said it takes 7 to 8 years of information gathering and validation before a clone can be registered and authorised, adding “at the moment we have 42 candidates at the University”. 

This will open up the whole clone versus vineyard selection debate on carmenère, as Pablo Silva said: “the best wines may still be produced from massale selection; we don’t know.”

Over the next few years they’ll be working at the genetic level, studying the expression of the gene producing pyrazines, as well as researching the faulty pollen grains to improve fertility. And if they solve the various issues, Moreno said: “we will have a super-carmenère, which should give better wines.”  You can’t fault that.  

No results are expected for two or three years.

Understanding the cooler aspects of the South African climate is complicated. South Africa’s climate is undoubtedly warm Mediterranean and hot continental.  But that’s only part of the story. There are a number of cooling influences, most notably those from both proximitous oceans, giving some validity to the old adage that if a vineyard can see the sea, it’s a good vineyard.

Lambert's Bay, Atlantic Coast

When the various cooling influences are combined with precise viticultural techniques and pristine winemaking, a sometimes quite remarkable new world expression of coolness appears in the wines.

In the search for cool climate, some have tried to come up with sound bite definitions and Charles Back of Fairview was succinct with his “cool climate is where grapes take a month longer to ripen than traditional areas such as Stellenbosch and Paarl … in Darling they’re harvesting chardonnay at the end of February, and they were finished in Paarl a month before.”

Andrew Gunn at Iona in Elgin agreed, saying “to me the proof of the pudding is in the grapes, and picking date. You can’t claim to be cool climate if you’re picking sauvignon blanc in Jan or February” before moving onto a stylistic element “cool climate wines are more elegant, more restrained.”

Winds and coastal proximity

Constantia and Walker Bay are the traditionally-regarded ‘cooler’ climate regions in the South African paradigm. Both are close to the cooling effect of the oceans, so as the land heats up during the day, air rises, sucking in cooler ocean air, the effect of which can be felt up to 15km inland.

Dr. Victoria Carey, at the department of viticulture and oenology, University of Stellenbosch, said: “the sea breezes cool on two levels:  humid air, and air movement which prevents a build-up of heat. Closer to the coast, the cooling effect is by way of the humid air, even to the Bottelary Hills. By Stellenbosch, [about 20km from the coast] the breeze has lost most of its humidity, but there is still air movement.” 

Over Elim vineyards, Indian Ocean coast

There is also differential cooling according to the current of influence.  Pioneer vineyards are popping up along the west coast, north of Cape Town. The Antarctic-origin Benguela current that sweeps up the west coast is said by locals to be icy (though ‘quite warm’ to a northern European perception), varying between about 10°C and 15°C, and is cited as bringing about a 5 to 7°C cooling. This is cooler than the Agulhas current that sweeps southwards from equatorial parts down the east coast of Africa then westwards around False Bay. The temperature of Agulhas varies from 14°C to 26°C, with a suggested 3 to 5°C cooling for areas within its breath.

Then there is the renowned south-easterly Cape Doctor, more prevalent during spring and summer, which both cools the vineyards, and inhibits disease development.

Even though the South African vineyards are at similar latitudes to those in Australia, Argentina and Chile, Dawid Saayman, a soil specialist for Distell, said: “we’re cooler because of the oceans. In South Africa we’re a pimple sticking out in the ocean.” Carey cited Valérie Bonnardot’s study of South African sea breezes which found the maximum temperature of coastal areas is lower than inland, and the maximum temperature happens earlier in the day, adding that temperatures can drop by as much as 6 or 7°C within two hours.   

The wind theme is well worked by Cape Point Vineyards, on the south west facing slopes below Constantiaberg. Winemaker Duncan Savage admitted “cool is a relative word. You can never have a vintage and not expect a heatwave.” But, he added “where we have not done bunch exposure, we’ve got green flavours” highlighting the need to manage the effects of the regular south-easterly winds from False Bay which are persistent enough to damage the ends of the vine rows facing head-on into the wind so it blows down the whole row.

Aspect, altitude and attitude

Proximity to the oceans is evidently a big part of this, and in the post-quota era vineyards have been vying to be closest, with Fryer’s Cove, just 800m from and 20m above the Atlantic Ocean pretty well-placed for the nearest. 

Cederberg, 1,000m up

The topography of the Cape is as complex as the mesoclimatic picture.  In Elgin, for example, which is surrounded by mountains, the winds bring welcome cloud cover. Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen, owner of Oak Valley, said: “the cooling south easterly prevailing wind in summer brings cloud cover in the valley.  The cloud cover gets trapped against the mountains and it can be 10°C cooler than Somerset West.  This is a regular occurrence and a major contributor to our climatic opportunity.”   

Over on the west coast, one hour north of Cape Town, fogs come rolling in 5 to 10km towards Darling, the new darling region of sauvignon blanc. Back said they are “seaward facing vineyards, with breezes off the coast. We get 5-6° C lower than [Paarl], and the temperature drops dramatically overnight.”

Bruce Jack of Constellation’s Flagstone said: “In South Africa we have more wind than any other grape growing country, both speed and volume. At our farm in Overberg, the farm’s hottest time of day is abut 11.30am.  We’re at 400m, up against a mountain. The wind goes up the mountain, cools and comes down again. The farm is at 24°C instead of 30°+ if there was no wind chill.”

At 1,000m above sea level, Cederberg exemplifies the cooling effect of altitude, where high altitude also gives high diurnals.  It became wholly a wine farm just in 1997.  Owner David Nieuwoudt said: “there are no heatwaves up here.  We don’t have to spray for downy mildew [as coastal vineyards need to do].  Our normal night time temperature is below 10°C even in summer, and the day time temperature can reach 30°C, giving a 20 to 25°C difference between day and night” which enables the grapes to retain natural acidity.

In Constantia, it’s the mountains again that provide relief, both in terms of aspect and shade. Constantiaberg itself is over 900m. Its height means the sun has gone over top of mountain, shrouding the east-facing vineyards in shade, while vineyards further east such as in Stellenbosch, and Simonsberg continue to receive another 1-2 hours sunshine.

Combine this with an afternoon breeze for extra cooling, as Lowell Jooste of Klein Constantia said: “we’re 7 km from the sea [at False Bay]. The afternoon breezes cool the south-facing slope by 4 to 5°C. And at 300m the altitude is also significant, as we’re exposed to the south-east wind at higher altitude.”  He added “sunlight hours are another thing here. We have significantly less sunlight at end of day as sun sets over the hill [Constantiaberg], but we still have day light for photosynthesis to continue.” 

Steenberg to False Bay

It’s a similar story at Steenberg, a couple of kilometres closer to False Bay, where wind and aspect are again important factors.  John Loubser, their winemaker and general manager, said: “we face east for the morning sun. But by 5.30pm the sun is ducking behind the mountain. We can see Stellenbosch getting another 1.5 hours of sun.”  

It’s not all about being high altitude or sitting in the shadow of altitude. In more coastal areas, closeness to sea level to maximise the winds. In Elim, which is, according to Nieuwoudt, “by far the coolest spot in South Africa, where you don’t buy land you buy wind.”   Dirk Human, Black Oystercatcher’s owner confirmed this, saying “We get wind 400 [exaggeration intended] days a year. We have ocean on three sides. If we didn’t have wind we’d be a hot climate. Wind puts the characters in the grapes.”

Whatever the aspect and altitude, attention to detail in the field can moderate a warm climate, or take advantage of cooling winds, as at Cape Point Vineyard. “With successfully manipulated viticulture” said Chris Keet of Christopher Keet Wines, “you can sidestep the issue of cool climate.” Greater shading to protect fruit, row orientation to maximise the benefit of breezes or minimise exposure to the sun are all warmer climate techniques to offset the warmth. Gyles Webb at Thelema agreed that “canopy is the single most important thing in the vineyard.”

Pocketing the difference

Given the complex topography, there are plenty of cooler south (poleward)-facing slopes in all locations which are becoming more popular. Eben Archer the viticulturist at Lusan Premium Wines said: “we’re looking for the cool situations. The best we can do is talk about cool pockets.”

Charles Back supported this, saying “you can find enclaves within both Stellenbosch and Paarl where fruit ripens a month later, for example in the Bottelary Hills, also in Helderberg near where Vergelegen is.” And at Delheim winemaker Brenda van Niekerk said “our coolest slope is at Klapmutskop, directly south facing at 320m above sea level. There’s always a slight breeze. The sauvignon blanc has more green flavours, a little grassy, so I leave it hanging. In Stellenbosch it’s not easy to find these spots.”

Viticultural pockets may be the new South African mantra.  Nieuwoudt summed it up: “we’re a hot climate wine producing region and we must concentrate on what we do best. But there are great pockets, for example 5km from [his Cederberg property] it’s 5°C warmer. If we can explore these pockets, if places such as Elim can fine tune their wines, they’ll make phenomenal wines. It will take a while to get to this point.”

Topography: the basis for terroir

The Cape’s ancient geomorphology underwrites its terroir. A complex geological history with several periods of sea flooding and tectonic mountain-building activity ended about 550 million years ago, with further uplifting and folding 250 million years ago. This has given rise to three main bedrock ‘foundations’, underlying diverse soils, topography and geology over short distances.

Dr Victoria Carey, at the University of Stellenbosch, said: “the basement is of Malmesbury shales – sedimentary rocks.  There was a period of granite intrusions. After an orogenic period, the sandstones were laid down.  Since the Pre-Cambrian, mountains have a sandstone cap, and granite, shale at the bottom.”

• Remnants of Malmesbury shales and schists (1bn to 600m years) are hills of 20m to 200m such as in Swartland.  Shales often surround granite instrusions and undulating hills.
• Granite intrusions (600 and 500m years) include Paarl and Paardeberg mountains, Bottelary Malmesbury and Darling Hills, as well as granitic foothills of sandstone mountains e.g. Table mountain, Stellenbosch mountain, Hottentots Holland, Helderberg, Simonsberg.
• Deposition of the Cape Supergroup, including the Table Mountain sandstones (400 to 300m years) were originally overlain on eroded shales and granite intrusions, and has itself been eroded to leave e.g. Table Mountain and Simonsberg on granite foothills.  

Though soils are derived from these three main rock types, different climates over geological time have complicated the picture further: tropical soils developed just past the Cambrian resulting in stable, weathered, acidic soils with few nutrients. And a Mediterranean climate developed after the Benguela current formed, with a different rainfall and weathering pattern.

South African wine regions showing traditional climate data, with European comparisons

There’s no Winkler region I in South Africa, which emphasises Winkler is useful only as a start point from which refinements and modifications need to be made to explore viticultural climate. Flagstone’s Bruce Jack said: “the Winkler definition of cool climate doesn’t work here, because it’s a sum of averages.” He’s got a point: take two examples from Winkler IV: Springfield (Robertson) has long made one of the zestiest and steeliest sauvignon blancs from South Africa, and Cederberg (Cederberg) makes pristine wines from varieties not traditionally associated with Winkler IV.  

Sources:                  Wines of South Africa                                        
                                Viticulture and Environment by John Gladstones                                         
                                NB: values from different sources may not be directly comparable.

This article was researched during a visit to South Africa in March 2009, sponsored by Wines of South Africa.

Present were:

• Jean-Christophe Mau, owner of Château Brown in Pessac-Léognan.
• Bruno Eynard, general manager of third growth Chateau Lagrange in Saint-Julien.
• Eric Perrin, owner of Chateau Carbonnieux in Pessac-Léognan, classified for red and white.
• Francois Despagne, owner of Chateau Grand-Corbin-Despagne in Saint Emilion, promoted to St. Emilion Grand Cru Classé in 2006.

Red wine

(Whites to follow.) The discussion naturally and immediately gravitated to reds, which account for 90% of Bordeaux production. The ability to grow and create a unique balance is one of claret’s enduring qualities, but how and when will a warming climate begin to degrade that balance?  Eynard said “it’s the balance between alcohol and acidity that’s unique in the world, with 3.2 to 3.4 [g/l total acid expressed as sulphuric; (5 to 5.2 g/l expressed as tartaric)] acid, and rich in tannins. It’s impossible to find this elsewhere in the world.  But I feel this balance is threatened by climate change, and the 2003 vintage is the evidence.”

Château Lagrange

Part of the arguably changing style of Bordeaux red wine seems to conflict with a warming climate, where picking times would generally become earlier in order to retain freshness. In Bordeaux, which is essentially a cooler, marginal climate for the grape varieties grown there, greater knowledge, especially understanding the difference between physiological and phenolic ripeness, which develop along different curves, has lead to later picking. Eynard said “today we pick one week later than before because we’re able to check the ripeness of polyphenols. Twenty years ago, we would have picked the 2009 earlier than we did. And because we wait for a good ripeness of the seed tannins, the alcohol also goes up, but it’s better for the overall balance of the wine.”  

Over on the right bank, the warming climate issues are slightly modified by the soils.  Despagne said “Pomerol and northern St. Emilion have more gravel and sand. Here the harvest is earlier that where the soil is clay-limestone. There are more problems on clay-limestone due to the concentration, with some alcohols reaching 14%, 14.5%, even 15%.”

Vintage 2003 was a seminal moment also for Despagne. He said: there is a problem when physiological and phenolic ripeness do not occur at the same moment.  In 2003 physiological ripeness came, and we waited for phenolic ripeness. Then we got the concentration, with small berries and lower acidity.”

In the great 2005, as well as 2009, predicted for greatness, Despagne said these different aspects of ripeness proceeded at a similar pace, resulting in high concentration, yet with a good level of acidity. Synchronised ripening of sugars and phenols is the ideal scenario.

Vintage 2003 was more of a new world vintage, and, said Despagne, “it was a good vintage to change.”  It’s surprising to imagine the Bordelais as inexperienced, but, said Eynard “hot vintages are the most difficult to manage. We don’t know them very well. No-one find the right dates for picking, one neighbour picks two weeks ahead of the other neighbour. It’s the same for vinification: we are less experienced.”

This was the vintage that stopped these guys dealing systematically with their vineyard management.  Where once they would have routinely de-leafed in June and July, Despagne de-leafed just one side in 2003, and only once, and “in 2005, with the water stress of that year, we limited de-leafing” leaving more bunches in the lower evapo-transpiration zone of shade. “Now” he said “we don’t work systematically. We adapt our canopy management according to the weather.”

Part of Despagne’s adaptation is to increase his cabernet franc plantings. He said “I am increasing cabernet franc because of the balance [in the wine].  It has tannins and acidity and doesn’t have big alcohol. Cabernet franc to help deal with climate change is very interesting.”

Data on average alcohol levels from the CIVB show remarkably little increase in figures. In the 17 years from 1990 to 2007, St Estephe has moved from an average 12.9% to 12.6%, peaking at 13.2% in 2002. Pomerol has moved from 12.8% to 13.1% in the same period. St. Emilion is 13.1% in both 1990 and 2007, though got up to 14% for the 2005 vintage.  However this is all rather spurious as it is muddied by the chaptalisation waters.

Jean-Christophe Mau, of Ch. Brown

At the four Châteaux, between these dates, yields have not fluctuated markedly, nor have total acidity figures, or pH, which runs between 3.6 and 3.8.  Alcohol extremes are 12.5% (Château Brown, 2000) and 13.9%, also Château Brown, 2009).

Despagne reverted to the balance of Bordeaux wines, saying “we must understand what happens, and do what is necessary.  In 2005, and 2009, the alcohol is important [high], and the tannins are rich, with balance.  Also the pH is more interesting, 3.6, 3.7” which keeps that fresh balance alongside the richness and concentration.  Mau added: “in 2005 the sugar level of cabernet sauvignon at Château Brown was 12.5%.  In 2009, it was 14%, but my acidity is good” reflecting the more synchronised ripening of sugar and phenols in that vintage.

The longer cycle

Looking beyond the last 20 years, a short series of hotter or colder years can be identified in most decades: the 1940s, the 2000s on the hotter side; the 1960s, the 1990s on the cooler side.  The vintage of easy choice to pluck out of the pantheon on such occasions is the remarkable 1947 vintage, with Cheval Blanc being cited with alcohol of 14.4%.

But Eynard has noted a changing theme to the decade rule of thumb.  He said: “in a decade we used to get one exceptional, three good, three medium and three modest [for which read not great]. Now we get 3 exceptional, six very good and one medium.” Despagne emphasised the point “we have no more bad vintages in Bordeaux.” Which for the immediate moment, is enviable.

However, no-one is in any doubt that the climate is warming.  For the moment, the Bordelais have some time to adapt each year.  Being originally ‘cooler climate’, in fact a warming climate in the short term enable grapes to ripen more regularly and consistently, as Eynard noted, saying “it’s not too late for us. The new weather is still comfortable for us. We have enough technical capabilities to manage the vineyard, for example de-leafing, the date of the harvest, even a higher crop could be possible.” But he warned, “the most difficult choices are for the next 20, 30, 40 years. For example, when we plant, should we drain, because in 20 years we will need the water.”

Whether the choice of grape varieties planted might change is also an issue to address now. Despagne is already planting more cabernet franc.  

Anecdotal tasting

We tasted 2007s, 2003s and 1989s from the châteaux, being one cool and two hot vintages. Whilst trying to eliminate the variation of age … and hopefully not pre-empting what one might be expecting to taste … the 2007s were unexpectedly fine and approachable, obviously youthful with tight, sweet fruit in the ‘cooler’ blackcurrant spectrum.   

On the 2003s, by comparison, I felt the tannins, rather than alcohol gave away the heat of the 2003 vintage.  Indeed the alcohol was supremely well integrated across the board: ‘warmth of alcohol’ didn’t feature in any of my notes.  The 2003 tannins though, relatively, I felt to be a little coarser, a little chunkier, a little grittier, a little more granular, and hessian-textured, with a little more friction in the mouth, by comparison to the smooth, almost slippery and fine-grained tannins in 2007.  I supposed the heat of 2003 was challenging for the phenolic development.  

On this purely anecdotal tasting, bottle evolution may also become an issue in a warming climate. I felt the 1989s to be approaching full maturity, indeed one of wines I felt to be drying out just a little. Perhaps the – relatively speaking – coarser-textured tannins of the 2003 are also more evolved than in a cooler vintage and may be less able to provide traditional levels of bottle ageing capacity.

All were still medium-bodied, so classically Bordeaux, with no overtly noticeable alcoholic perception, so no risk yet of Bordeaux becoming a chunky, clunky, full-bodied, alcoholic, spicy and jammy wine, which one might be forgiven for associating Bordeaux grape varieties in a hot climate.

Los Lingues vineyard

The Casa Silva study came about because the family-owned and run company wanted to understand why they had the same grape variety in the same climate but they were getting quite different wines.  They wanted to explain this variability so the knowledge could be used to grow grapes better matched to the style and quality of wines they wanted to make. 

And they’ve discovered that even very small distances in the vineyard can produce different results in the wine, which is making them re-evaluate what they plant and how they manage the vineyard on a micro-scale.

How it happened

The research project was started in 2005, by Casa Silva’s technical director and chief winemaker Mario Geisse, in conjunction with Professor Yerko Moreno of the University of Talca, where he is the director of grape and wine research, specialising in viticultural issues including clonal selection. 

They started looking at small ‘terroir units’ of 0.1 to 0.5 hectare with an aim to identify the pre-requisites for growing high quality carmenère in Colchagua.

Prof Moreno in a soil pit

They investigated crop load (the weight of grapes per vine), vegetative vigour (foliage), as well as the soils, which have all been brought down from the Andes over the last 300,000 years, and contain more or less rock, depending on location.  Professor Moreno said the team identified “small terroir units for carmenère, cabernet sauvignon, viognier, syrah, petit verdot, considering climatic conditions, topography, soil composition and origin, vine rootstock, variety and clone, and viticultural managment.”  He said they dug hundreds of soil profiles, describing them for chemical composition, water holding capacity, rooting capacity, which allowed them to separate areas into different units, broadly along the lines of sand, limestone and clay.

They measured growth parameters of the vine, including the vegetative canopy and yield, and related this to bunch shade/exposure. Moreno said: “If you have a grape cluster that is too exposed under our conditions, you can cook the berries. It’s completely different from areas of cooler climate. It can reach up to 45°C in our valley.” What they found was that sunny berries had lower colour, harder and drier tannins. 

Then they did lots of small batch winemaking and carefully analysed the resulting wines, creating a virtual warehouse of vineyard and winery data.  Once they started to sort out some of the effects, Moreno said “One of the most important for me was the water behaviour of plants. Cultivars have different responses to stress – syrah copes with more stress than cabernet sauvignon. And vines of the same cultivar behave differently in different sites, and within one season.”  He added “cabernet sauvignon with severe water stress produced more astringency in the wines, the tannins were too harsh.  And if there was no water stress, we tended to have similar problem – the tannins were too harsh.” 

But on carmenère the results were different. With no water stress there were “green characters.  We got some dry tannins with increased water stress, though not as much as cabernet sauvignon.” He explained “the best expression of carmenère was achieved where the plant had to explore greater soil volume to get its water supply, at least one metre deep.”

The results of this research are enabling Casa Silva to replant areas of vines. Moreno said: “I would change the way the vineyards are planting, not the direction of rows. This project is aiming to produce high quality wines, the variabilities are subtle.  New plantings are being done considering the soil.” Combine this with tweaking vineyard management to realise more potential from their grapes should enable Casa Silva, Geisse said, “to get the best possible quality wines” from each plot.

The research also revealed quite marked genetic variability in the carmenère vines, so Casa Silva recently embarked on new research into carmenère clones to identify those that produce better quality fruit for high class winemaking.

The briefest of internet searches about wine storage yields a plethora of possibilities for almost any shape and size of space you may have available to mature your favourite bottles of wine.

Always start with the end in mind

Always start with the end in mind. How much storage do you want? Is it just storage for ongoing consumption, or for maturation?  What space can you make available? Do you have different sized bottles, for example magnums and halves, or traditional flute bottles? Do you want space to store full wooden cases as well as unpacked bottles? How much do you want to spend?

Racking systems

You have the space and its conditions are OK (see below). Maybe it’s a cellar, maybe it’s an insulated outhouse.  A & W Moore is just one company offering bespoke racking systems to fit the shape of space available, usually made of galvanised steel with wooden blocks from front to back. They can be made to measure for any bottle shapes and sizes, and they can even come with steel shelves for wooden cases.  Costing about £1 a hole, and covering 100 bottles in one square metre, this is a pretty cost and space effective system.

The Cavovin ‘building block’ system also needs a reasonably stable environment, although the company says the material has some insulating capacity to moderate temperature fluctuations.  Their basic system 12/24 is listed at £27 plus VAT and delivery, and they have some different shaped and sized sections, giving size increments that can fit most gaps. 

Both of these options can move with you.

Temperature controlled cabinets

If your home does not provide a constant and suitable environment, one option is a temperature controlled cabinet, which plugs into an electricity socket.  This is a fertile marketplace (see links page: wine storage).

The best of these cabinets come with both temperature and humidity control systems, which alert you either visually or aurally when either parameter falls outside of your specification. New models of market leader Eurocave for example, have a packet of clay balls which sit on the bottom of the cabinet.  If the humidity alarm sounds you simply add a cup of water to the clay balls to boost humidity.

Eurocave say their most popular model is the V283 classic cabinet (175H x 66W x 70D) which holds 200 bottles and costs from £1900 including VAT and delivery, depending on your choice of door, cabinet finish and shelving options.   

Built in cellars

As well as offering temperature controlled cabinets, (starting at £1,250 including VAT, for 156 bottles), Vinosafe’s most popular offering is a walk-in cellar.  One of its biggest advantages is that you can take it with you when you move house. It is a modular unit, an air-tight, enclosed room, with racking on both sides.  It has air-conditioning and a gravel floor to which water may be added to keep the humidity level topped up. They take just 3 hours to assemble and can be located in a spare room for example, or in the garage or basement. 

The smallest, most popular, module, accommodates 1,000 bottles and costs £7,585 including VAT.  The modules can be extended to store up to 4,000 bottles, in a system costing about £20,000.

For a non-movable solution a spiral cellar could be the option for anyone with a garden, a garage or a ground floor that they own.  This is a 2m diameter hole, up to 3m deep, into which are stacked a series of wine-bins. The company says that planning permission is not required and they organise all the necessary building regulations approval. Prices start at £8,000 for the smallest cellar of 650 bottles, up to £15,000 for 1,600 bottles.  There are no running costs as ventilation pipes feed to the outside, and the whole thing is usually up and running in a week.

Outsourcing storage

If you don’t have sufficient space at home, or you have a lot of wine that needs maturing for several years to reach its ‘drinking window’, outsourcing may be a good option. Services can be offered ‘in bond’ where the excise duty only becomes payable when the case moves from bond to duty paid, and ‘duty paid’. Most providers offer both.

While traditional wine merchants offer customers storage facilities for wines bought from them, if it is important to store all your wines in one location, bespoke services exist, such as those offered by Smith & Taylor. Each customer has their own ‘bin’.  Each case is opened when it first arrives, to ensure the contents are as expected, and resealed with a metal seal.  Whilst a case rate is offered, it only includes limited liability insurance which is invariably insufficient for wines worthy of storage. The pricier alternative is a charges based on the value of your total wine portfolio, for example £15 a week for up to £10,000 worth of wine.

The big advantage of ‘in bond’ storage is to trade your wine. The physical case can remain in the bonded warehouse in a consistent environment, for example at London City Bond, probably at their Vinotheque bond in Burton on Trent, for £10.80 per dozen per year, including full replacement value insurance.  You  might sell your case to someone in Singapore, who may choose to leave the case at LCB, later selling it to a resident of the USA for example.

Depending on your needs, almost any storage possibility exists, for all budgets. An increasing number of companies are offering tailored cellar construction on any scale within the fabric of a home’s living space.  As wine becomes a lifestyle fixture, detailed choice of construction material and finish, use of glass to show off a wine portfolio, lighting design as well as accessorising with all types of wine paraphernalia are possible

Good conditions for wine maturation

• Temperature: ideally a constant 10-12°C. A temperature without large diurnal and seasonal fluctuations is good, which makes an un-insulated outhouse a poor idea.
• Light: ideally without light
• Vibration: keep to a minimum
• Humidity: a compromise is needed here. The wine prefers a higher humidity, but the label rots when it is too high. Somewhere between 60-80% is thought to be good.

Other considerations

• The running costs of your chosen system to maintain the above maturation conditions
• Insurance costs. Whether at home or away, ensure you have sufficient cover. For really posh wine you  may consider ‘replacement value’ insurance
• The conditions at your outsourced location

 
See links page for more wine storage companies.

• Temperature: ideally a constant 10-12°C. A temperature without large diurnal and seasonal fluctuations is good, which makes an un-insulated outhouse a poor idea.
• Light: ideally without light
• Vibration: keep to a minimum
• Humidity: a compromise is needed here. The wine prefers a higher humidity, but the label rots when it is too high. Somewhere between 60-80% is thought to be good.

Other considerations

• The running costs of your chosen system to maintain the above maturation conditions
• Insurance costs. Whether at home or away, ensure you have sufficient cover. For really posh wine you  may consider ‘replacement value’ insurance
• The conditions at an outsourced location

Carlo Ferrini

Last month in London, heralded consultant winemaker, the Italian Carlo Ferrini, presented some of the wines he’s influenced, and outlined his philosophy.

Ferrini works for about 30 producers, unusually all of them being in his home country of Italy. He is a Tuscan man by heritage and mien, and he made his first vintage in 1979, subsequently heading up the technical department of the Consorzio del Chianti Classico.  He was also a leading light of the Chianti Classico 2000 project, which researched sangiovese to find better quality clones.

He has stretched his consulting expertise across the thousand miles of Italy’s wine regions from Sicily in the south, to, most recently, Piedmont in the north.

This is a man who says his role as consultant is “to give each producer a proper character to the wines of the estate.” He emphasises the ‘whole property’ aspect of his consulting, saying vineyard is inseparable from winemaking. He said “I try to manage the vineyard, the foliage, the yields, and bring together two concepts of paramount importance: one, the care in the vineyard, the second one in the cellar, with open fermentation vats, longish fermentation with punching down, up to 20 days.” 

He believes punching down the cap is gentler than pumping over, and he’s keen to avoid bitterness in the tannins and fruit, which he does by avoiding stressing the grapes in the cellar.

Ferrini’s also keen to distance himself from formulaic winemaking, a critique often levelled at consultant winemakers. He said “though I’m in favour of punching down the cap rather than pumping over, I change my way of working mainly in the vineyard and much less so in the cellar, for example, I look for leaf surface in some areas, in other areas I cut down the leaf surface.” His aim is to impart elegance in all his wines. 

Another aim is to express the sense of place in the wines. He said: “if I talk about Bordeaux, when I taste Pétrus [nearly all merlot], the nose is Bordeaux; when I taste Château Latour [mostly cabernet sauvignon], the nose is Bordeaux. I try to transcend the grape variety and express the area of production. If I succeed in using different grape varieties to paint a picture of an area, it doesn’t really matter what the grape varieties are. How do I get there? Pruning, vineyard management, to fertilise or not … use grape varieties to express the area rather than to express the grape varieties.”   

Sangiovese, ready for harvest

He added “I’m much happier when consumers taste the wine and can taste whether the wine comes from high up or a coastal area, or from a dry or rainy area. When it is the grape varieties that prevail it is a mistake, it should be more about the area than the grape varieties.”  

With his heartland in Tuscany, we tasted four sangiovese-dominated wines from classic appellations, from four quite different areas. Ferrini said: “The difficulty of working with these different areas is to manage to give the grapes the balance between ripening and complexity, and to get elegance from them.” For example, he said, 5 to 6 kilometres separate the Bonelli from the Ricasoli, but the sangiovese is very different, as is the altitude.  

Of his Piedmont project Ferrini said he had a “second youth in Sicily, Apulia, Alto Adige”, but he wanted “to prove myself with Barolo. As a Tuscan winemaker I was looking for another second youth, to work somewhere such as Piedmont.”  But it was no easy feat as these regions are poles apart, and, he added “for a Piedmontese to hire a Tuscan winemaker does not happen every day.” After 30 years, he said, he found a client in Emiliana Romagna whose project it is to buy vineyards in several Italian regions.

Tasting notes, London, January 2010

Tenute Costa. Tenuta Duecorti, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC 2008, Piedmont
This is the first vintage of this wine. Ferrini said a priority was “trying to get the aromatic character of dolcetto, with the acidity and a great colour.”
Crunchy morello cherry on the nose. Very smooth attack, quickly into a chalky-dry tannin texture, with fresh dark cherry support. Warmth of alcohol is evident. Serious style of dolcetto, with fine-grained, dry tannins.  Dry finish to tannins which detracts a tad from fruit expression. Good length of black cherry fruit.

We then moved into a mini-flight of four sangiovese-based wines.  The Bonelli is on a plateau with quite deep, stony soil. The Brolio is much rockier; and the Brunello and Vino Nobile have soils with a high clay content.

Poggio Bonelli, Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva 2006, Tuscany (Castelnuovo Berardenga)
Ferrini: “Bonelli is a challenging estate to work for. There is not an owner who gives direction to the products, the owner is a bank, so there is no person to relate to, and measure yourself against.”
Leather, balsamic spice, black tea leaves and tar. Sweet attack of dark forest berries, a little rumtopf spirit note. Lush sweet mid palate and finish. Modern expression with good depth and volume of dark fruit. Decent length.

Barone Ricasoli, Castello di Brolio Chianti Classico DOCG 2006, Tuscany (Gaiole in Chianti)
Fresh leather, violet note, mulled dark berry fruit. Smooth attack hints of fresh beefsteak; very smooth, with a freshness through the core. Sweet fruit attack, with firm acidity to avoid flabbiness. Elegant and long palate length. Very good.

Castello Romitorio, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva 2004, Tuscany
The closest to the sea, possibly the warmest.
Chalky nose, papyrus-like with smoked red berry fruit, elegant palate core that belies a rich, dry tannin frame, hints of early fruitcake just beginning to appear. Long finish, tealeaf savoury core, excellent balance and concentration.

Az. Agr. Poliziano, Asinone Vino Mobile di Montepulciano DOCG 2006, Tuscany
Cooler area.
Smoky, soft berry fruit, hints of voluptuousness in the mouth, modest acid mouth-feel, with gentle, berry and red plum fruit. Supple, soft, and roundly structured, with lush and curvy texture. Tannins quite plush and velvety, very fine, providing good strength, and frame.  Sweet fruit, with hints of fruitcake savouriness. Very good.  

Tenute Mater Domini, Casili Salice Salentino DOC Riserva 2006, Apulia
Historically an area of bulk wine production. This is made from older bush vines, averaging 50 years, of negroamaro.
Smoke and tar on the nose, with smoky black fruits and aromatic spice. Smooth, lush, full bodied attack, mouth-filling volume of fruit, alcohol a hint evident at the back palate. Rich, strong, muscly, just a hint of attractive rusticity. Big volume in the mouth, still with smooth texture.

We then moved mainly onto IGT wines, where international grape varieties have more of a presence, taking over from the traditional grape varieties.
 
Fattoria La Selva, Pometti, Tarchun us 2006, Toscana IGT, Tuscany
80% cabernet sauvignon, 10% petit verdot, 10% sangiovese
Tarry with violet back notes. High-toned new oak notes with sweet red berry fruit core slowly subsuming the oak. It will meld together into a sweet-fruited whole, still with fresh acid spine holding the lush fruit aloft. Finish at the moment still a little oaked.

Az. Agr. San Fabiano Calcinaia, Cerviolo Rosso 2005,  Toscana IGT, Tuscany
40% sangiovese; 30% merlot; 30% cabernet sauvignon
Tarry spice nose, muscular, quite grippy tannic core, with sweet black fruit surround-sound. Savoury barbecued beef and venison notes beginning to simmer among the super-ripe black berries. Not massively complex or layered.

Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino, Dofana Toscana Rosso IGT 2006, Tuscany
50% sangiovese; 50% petit verdot
Tar, with smoky black fruit and biltong. Dense black fruit, with layers of supple, plentiful tannin at the wine’s base. Mouth-filling, dense spicy fruit, lush and rounded, with voluptuous volume of fruit. Modest acid balance, and long sweet finish

Podere Sapaio, Sapaio Bolgheri DOC Superiore 2006, Tuscany
55% cabernet sauvignon, 25% cabernet franc, 10% merlot, 10% petit verdot
Perfumed, lifted violet nose, dark forest fruit berry flavours, very smooth texture, quite refined palate length in the mouth. Cassis and blackcurrant, with notes of baked berries, and an attractive complexity. Rich, long, refined warm finish. Good.

Petrolo, Galatrona Toscana IGT 2007, Tuscany
Cherry blossom and red cherry. Lifted, medium-bodied palate attack and core. Crunchy fresh fruit with sweet core and fine tannins, supple and rounded. In comparison to the others, almost a little frivolous, but this may be doing it an injustice. Long flavour.

Tenuta San Leonardo, San Leonardo Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT 2001, Alto Adige
60% cabernet sauvignon, 30% cabernet franc and 10% merlot
Leafy, cassis, blackcurrant nose, with bits of developing fruitcake mid palate. Smooth, silky palate texture, very appealing. Coolness in comparison to Tuscany seems evident in ‘cooler’ blackcurrant fruit, not baked. Has silky texture to tannin, elegant, refined, with plenty of plush fruit sensuously draped over the frame. Medium bodied finesse.  Long finish, very good.

Castello del Terriccio, Lupicaia Toscana IGT 2004, Tuscany
85% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot, 10% petit verdot
Smoky, baked black fruit nose, warm feel to palate entry, tannins with warm, faintly grainy feel. Lush mid palate, with sweet black berry fruit layers, full bodied plush-ness, lushness and voluminosity. And a slight grainy finish to warm tannin structure.

Shiraz in the Bot River

Shiraz has seen something of an explosive growth in South Africa.  Plantings have increased from 2% of the vineyard area just over a decade ago, to 10% today. It is now the fourth most planted variety in South Africa, after chenin blanc, cabernet sauvignon and colombard. Sauvignon blanc and chardonnay are next.   

Part of this rapid increase is a wider trend to grow more ‘international’ varieties -  chenin blanc is coming down – not surprising considering it used to comprise one-third of the vineyard area less than a generation ago, now down to less than 20% –  as well as colombard in the whites. Merlot and cabernet sauvignon are on the up, but not near the growth rate of shiraz, which has really become the flavour of the month.

Another part of the trend is the changing political situation in South Africa.  Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa, the generic promotional organisation, pointed out just how young the industry is in real terms saying: “until 1992 you couldn’t plant grapes unless you had a quota from the KWV (a co-operative established in 1918 to stabilise the industry). And you could only export through the KWV. There was a pool of cheap and cheerful wines and 85% of the vineyard was colombard and chenin blanc.  In 1994 we achieved democracy. So we are only a 15 year old industry, and had to drag ourselves up from a low position.” 

The achievement of democracy has allowed producers to break out of traditional wine-growing regions and explore brand new ones, many of which are towards the coast – of both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and others have sought increasing altitude, not just for shiraz, but for other varieties too, notably sauvignon blanc.

Of course shiraz loves warmer climates, and South Africa has plenty of those, and this is one of the reasons it is thought to have so much potential in the country. It’s in these traditional regions where the earlier shiraz plantings are – Swartland, Paarl and Stellenbosch. One of the things that is new within the warmer regions is a trend to smaller scale production, with lower yields and more terroir-related results. People like Eben Sadie of Sadie Family Wines were one of the early ones, at the turn of the millennium, to make wines of acclaim in Swartland, with his Columella blend of mainly shiraz with some mourvèdre. 

Swartland, 50 miles north east of Cape Town, has seen a boom for shiraz. Prices were relatively inexpensive in this pretty hot, dry climate, which gets some differences in vineyard climate due to its relative proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, and this encouraged new winemakers wanting to make a name for themselves. Stalwart of the region though, with more than 60 years experience, is the Swartland Winery, representing 200 growers, and bringing in fruit from a 20 mile radius, which gives enough fruit character differences to offer interesting blending opportunities.

Sorting shiraz berries at Saronsberg

A little further inland,  to the north-east, is Tulbagh, with a continental climate, dry and hot during the day, though differences in day and night-time temperatures are also quite marked. Here, Saronsberg, whose first vintage was 2004, have more recently being making medal-winning shiraz. The shiraz 2006 won Gold at the Veritas and Double Gold at the Michaelangelo Awards in South Africa, and their Full Circle 2006 (shiraz, mourvèdre, viognier) also got Gold at Veritas and five stars (the maximum) in the UK’s Decanter magazine tasting.

Their winemaker, Dewaldt Heyns explained their rapid success: “It’s hot and we’ve adapted to the area. We’ve worked against the heat and abundant sunshine by changing row direction, the canopy system and trellising height and by lowering yield.” 

Given how recent is the surge in shiraz plantings, the vines at Saronsberg are quite old by comparison with many at an envious 10-12 years old, just coming into their prime. This no doubt plays a part in the consistent success the winery has had with their past few vintages, and Heyns added: “We want to create stunning wines. Our wines are fairly big and bold with a measure of elegance. We work with skins but we de-stem everything.  Our biggest bonus which helps a lot is our hand-sorting system, we have tight selection, and yields are very low, about 28 to 32 hl/ha.

“We also pre-cool the grapes before start anything. We take the temperature down very quickly; we were the first cellar in South Africa to use this system and we feel it helps with quality.” Of course he said “we pick early morning, and are finished by 9am.”

Saronsberg is making shiraz something of a speciality, and the variety accounts for 40% of their plantings. In trying to identify the reasons for their success, Heyns said: “we try to take all the small things you can do to make a better wine.  Each contributes a small amount, and you just need 1 or 2% to elevate the quality level to something different.”

La Motte's Edmund Terblanche

Saronsberg are the boutique end of things.  Total production is just 12,000 cases. But a different approach is that of La Motte.  They were an estate, meaning they could only use fruit grown on their property in Franschhoek, but they de-regulated which allows them to buy fruit from any wine-producing area in the country. As Edmund Terblanche, their winemaker, said: “this where the future lies – there’s too much diversity [in South Africa] to harvest just from one wine-farm.”  This is certainly something with which Australia is familiar.

It was in 2002, said Terblanche “that we decided to go for shiraz more, and make different styles.” It has become something of a flagship variety for them. They bought another vineyard 60 miles away in Bot River, near Walker Bay and these two wine-farms supply the bulk of La Motte’s needs. But said Terblanche “we also get fruit from Darling, Wellington, and Paarl, and lately we’re looking for more cool-climate grapes from emerging areas such as Elim.”

Terblanche is also the chairman of the Shiraz Association in South Africa, a group that hopes to emulate the achievements of the Pinotage Association. It was only last October they formally got together, and they are yet to decide a corporate identity and website. But, Terblanche said “we have the potential to become a strong body. Shiraz is the second most planted red. There are over 700 labels for shiraz in South Africa, yet in 1992 there were just 50. And South Africa is the fourth biggest producer of shiraz in the world.”

Mazon

Pinot noir is one of those grape varieties with an abundance of names.  In Italian, it’s called pinot nero, in German it’s spätburgunder. But it’s also called blauburgunder in German, and in Alto Adige this is often how it’s referred locally, though not necessarily on the label, especially for an international audience.

Mazon

One of the most highly regarded sites for pinot noir is the Mazon (Italian: Mazzon) plateau. This is in the relatively warmer southern part of the region to the east of the river Adige, on west and south facing slopes, with some cooling elevation from 350 to 450m. 

Weingut J. Hofstätter, in Tramin/Termeno is well-known for it pinot noir, which now accounts for about 20% of their production. Markus Heinel, winemaker since 2001, said the Mazon side of the valley “is cooler, you get the soft sun in the afternoon. There is a layer of porphyry and sandstone which is very good for the minerality of the wine. The altitude keeps the acidity on that cooler side of valley, ripening is slower and later than our side of the valley [at Tramin]. We have pinot noir and pinot blanc.”

The top Hofstätter pinot noir is named after Ludwig Ritter Barth von Barthenau who brought pinot noir to Alto Adige from Burgundy and planted it around Mazon in the late 19^th century. The estate was acquired by Foradori- Hofstätter family which has given them access to old vine fruit.  The fruit from 60 year old plus vines is reserved for the Barthenau Vigna San Michele pinot noir.

Hofstätter

Even the basic Hofstätter pinot noir uses some fruit from the Mazon plateau, and is labelled after the historic name of the Mazon hamlet – Meczan.

Mason

Just up from Tramin/Termeno is another producer aiming to make pinot noir one of their specialties. Tenuta Manincor is located in Kaltern/Caldaro, and owner Michael Goëss-Enzenberg said: “our pinot noir comes from Mason at 400m altitude. In our country pinot noir needs high elevation because we have a warm Mediterranean climate on south-inclined vineyards.”

Manincor’s Mason is named after their vineyard on the Kaltern side of the valley, the opposite side from the Mazon plateau.  In particularly good vintages they make a Mason di Mason. Goëss-Enzenberg said the aim for his pinot noir is ”deepness and delicacy and elegance.  We want to have elegant pinot noir fruit, very pure and persistent fruit that draws you back in.” And, he added, “we replanted 15 years ago to newer clones and trellising” as part of his quality drive. 

Thirty years ago the property sold its wines in bulk and Goëss-Enzenberg has been turning the estate around, having trained at Geisenheim in Germany, and Babcock Winery in California. 

Vinschgau/Val Venosta

In the far northwest of the region lies Val Venosta, an upstream extension of the Adige river as it flows in an east-north-easterly direction, before turning south-east towards Merano and on to Bolzano.  Here vineyards are on the south-east facing slopes, with a bit more altitude, from 500 to 800m. And here, pinot noir has recently been becoming something of a specialty. 

Unterortl

This is something of an extreme viticultural environment. The vineyards of Weingut Unterortl lie on steep south facing vineyards, 600 to 850m above sea level, amid rocky outcrops.  Their general manager, Martin Aurich, said the area is “high and open to the valley, it’s open to glaciers and open to cold climate,” adding “the wines have a mineral character because of their high content of acid.”  Harvest here is two weeks later than the main Adige valley.

Pinot noir is grown with pinot blanc and riesling.  Aurich said: “the quality is regular, but the weather and the wind can dry out the grapes. If the sugar became much higher it would become bitter.  We have the elegant point for pinot noir. Pinot noir is not a tannin monster, we have a sweet tannin that can be aged.”

Whilst pinot noir undoubtedly specifies a cool climate for its best expression, the winemaking approach is important not to lose the potential. All three producers here use a varying dose of 225 litre barrique, with up to a third mentioned as being new. They also use big oak, from 500 to 5,000 litres, which imparts only a little, if any, oak flavour and tannin. All of them are aiming for long-aged pinot noir.

Tasting notes, in situ, November 2009

Hofstätter, Crozzol Pinot Nero 2007
Pale ruby colour, bright and attractive, with aromatic smoke and toasty oak. Sweet attack, falling into fruitiness. Bright, crunchy fruit, neatly focused and elegant.  

Hofstätter Mazon Pinot Nero 2007
Translucent ruby; savoury, tar nose, with toast and spice. Phenols a little bit chewy in youth, with plenty of vibrant fruit mid palate. Nicely balanced mid palate, with a purity of redcurrant fruit running through the whole. 

Hofstätter Barthenau Pinot Nero 2007
Not yet on the market. Translucent medium ruby colour. Deep, pipe-tobacco smoke nose, full bodied and a hint balsamic still as the rich fruit is still absorbing the oak.

Hofstätter Barthenau Pinot Nero 2004 
Rim just turning away from youthful cherry. Sweet stewed berry attack leads into a lush-textured mid palate of lovely balance and dimension. Youthful.

Hofstätter Barthenau Pinot Nero 1998   
Garnet rim with a nose of mature undergrowth. Palate shows stewed cherry fruit with a savoury/sweet combo undergrowth finish. Elegant, silkily textured; really very classy.

Manincor Mason Pinot Noir 2007  
Pale ruby, fruit focused palate, clean and define. Fresh cherry with new oak peeking over the youthful fruit.

Manincor Mason di Mason 2007   
This comes from the heart of the vineyard, oldest vines now 15 years. Only made in the best vintages.  
Medium translucent cherry colour. Violet perfume; fruit a bit subdued due to recent bottling, but texture, weight and density are all refined, with lovely balance.  

Unterortl Castel Juval Blauburgunder/Pinot Nero 2007,
Medium pale translucent cherry colour. Aromatic strawberry nose, both spicy and lightly toasty, with a complexing tar note. Strawberry and redcurrant fruit is putting on a bit of weight in bottle, with poise to come.

Loacker Pinot nero 2007 Norital
Medium translucent ruby colour. Vibrant black cherry nose, with hint of tar at beginning of the quite full-bodied palate. Attractive varietal definition of warm cherry fruit, currently a little subdued by still-integrating toastiness.

This piece was inspired by a visit to the region in November 2009 sponsored by the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) and EOS, the export organisation of South Tyrol.

Hervé Augustin

Champagne Ayala

 is the only non-German, non-French name in Champagne. It was founded in 1860, two years after Spaniard Edmond de Ayala married Gabrielle d’Albrecht along with her dowry of the Château d’Aÿ and some very nice vineyards in Aÿ and Mareuil sur Aÿ, in the Montagne de Reims region.

In 2005 Champagne Ayala was bought by the company that also owns Champagne Bollinger – Société Jacques Bollinger. The SJB portfolio also includes Domaine Chanson in Burgundy, Langlois-Château in the Loire and Cognac Delamain. 

Augustin explained Ayala’s route towards low and no dosage Champagnes. He said: “dosage [generally] used to be very high, for example 100g/l RS [residual sugar] in the UK, in Germany up to 150-160g/l. In Russia it was up to 330g/l RS.”  The 1876 Cristal from Louis Roederer, for example, had over 100g/l RS.

“Ayala is said to have shipped the 1865 vintage in 1870 with dosage as low as 20g/l RS, which was like a revolution at that time, though now, it seems high,” adding “in 1913, even the Grandes Marques of Champagne refused to sell low dosage champagne.”

After the house was bought by Bollinger, a clear revitalising strategy was laid. Augustin had been the number two to Ghislain de Montgolfier at Bollinger, and was parachuted in to Ayala, with the mission of keeping a distinct identity, separate from that of Bolly.  Ayala uses no oak and no malolactic fermentation, for example.  

Augustin said: “we had to find a new way to have a clean position in Champagne.  When I arrived, we discussed dosage with the cellar master. The wines were good but with too much dosage, around 10g/l, though this is not high now for Champagne.”

They were keen to get a move on, so in conjunction with Nicolas Klym, who has been cellar master at Ayala for thirty years, they decided on a zero dosage cuvée to present at an international wine trade exhibition in the middle of 2005. Augustin said: “it was a completely new philosophy for champagne. We could not build a new cuvee; it was the cuvee built three years previously.”

Another five years on, and two ranges exist:  the low dosage range, with maximum residual sugars of 8g/l; and a zero dosage range, with no added residual sugars.

Low dosage range

1. Brut Majeur
2. Perle d’Ayala (prestige cuvée)
3. Rosé Majeur NV
4. Millésimé
5. Blanc de Blancs
6. Rich Majeur

Zero dosage range

1. Brut Nature NV
2. Perle d’Ayala Nature (prestige cuvée)
3. Cuvée Rosé Nature

A note on dosage

Champagne spends many months, sometimes years maturing in bottle on its yeast lees.  At the end of this time, the wine is ‘disgorged’, meaning the yeast lees are removed.  A final ‘dosage’ – a wine/sugar solution – is added immediately afterwards, which gives the wine the level of dryness/sweetness required by the cellar master.

A note on Brut 

Brut Champagne, by law, can have anything between 0 and 15g/l of residual sugars. Normally the wines taste dry because of the high acidity levels in Champagne, that palate-tingling freshness common in so many bubblies.

Quite often Brut Champagnes have around 12-13g/l RS as a result of the dosage, though the overall trend seems to be a slow reduction in this amount.  This is partly a stylistic tweaking by individual houses and partly a result of recent warmer ripening conditions in the region which means that acidities are coming down a tiny bit.  In turn this obviates the need to add as much sugar in the dosage.

For whatever reason, Augustin believes in zero dosage, saying it’s “a big trend for the future.  I believe zero dosage will be more important than rosé in 20 years. And we want to be the pioneer and leader of that segment of the market.”

One of the unusual things about Ayala is, Augustin said, that “100% of our stock is able to be zero dosage. We do not have two cuvees [of the Brut]. If there was a great demand tomorrow, 100% of our brut could be zero dosage.”  He added “others [Champagne houses] are building a separate cuvee for their zd. Here we have only one stock.”  Louis Roederer, for example, are aiming to release a zero dosage towards the end of 2010.

At the moment just 5% of Ayala Brut is sold in zero dosage. They’re ready to immediately meet any increase in demand, but given that zero dosage Champagne is a taste that needs to be acquired, they’re not likely to see an immediate rush on stocks.

Tasting notes, January 2010, London.

We compared the first three wines in each range.

The first two, Brut Nature NV and Brut Majeur NV, are the same wine maturing on lees, until the moment of disgorgement.  It is only then, at disgorgement, that the dosage is added, or not. Both are the same blend, with the same length of time on the lees, more than two and a half years.

Brut Nature NV

40% pinot noir; 40% chardonnay; 20% pinot meunier
Dosage: zero
Augustin: the wine has “citrus, purity and precision.  There is a marine air from no dosage.”
As if by association I pick up a salty, yeasty, dry tang on the nose. The effervescence is attractive and smooth, the core is tight and clenched.  The wine is palate tingling-ly fresh, with savoury, dried bread notes.  There is not much berry fruit expression.  It is tight and angular, with steely notes and a fine mousse.

Brut Majeur NV

40% pinot noir; 40% chardonnay; 20% pinot meunier
Dosage: 8g/l RS
This is much more floral, more forthcoming, more expressive on the nose, with white flowers, buttery bread, and red berry fruits. The palate is fuller, with a more expressive and softer body, not surprisingly, given the note of sweetness from the dosage. The wine is easier and friendlier on the palate, giving it a much wider appeal.  It’s fresh and youthful, with a long fruity finish.

The prestige cuvée Perle d’Ayala is also made from the same base wine, aged for the same length of time, so again we’re comparing the organoleptic effects of the dosage.

Perle d’Ayala Nature 2002

80% chardonnay; 20% pinot noir
Dosage: zero
Aged six years on lees
Creamy, soft, citrus; intense on the nose. Rich, savoury, toastiness on the palate from long lees ageing; supple and mouth-filling. Remarkably lush flavours, considering the zero dosage, but no overt ‘fruitiness’. Good complexity and volume. Creamy persistent mousse and long creamy finish.

Perle d’Ayala 2002

80% chardonnay; 20% pinot noir
Aged six years on lees
Dosage: 7.4g/l RS
Fruit to the fore on this one, with white flowers and citrus, supple attack, with the little bit of sweetness obvious by comparison to the zero dosage version; it’s a little softer and simpler, a bit fuller on the palate without adding vinosity or complexity. And this has none of the savoury toastiness coming through. 

The umbrella house style with the rosés is for a high proportion of chardonnay.
Unlike the previous pairs, the rosés do not come from the same base wine, or predominantly the same vintage. 

Cuvée Rosé Nature NV

Augustin: “The first rosé without any dosage made by a Champagne house.”
Augustin: “this is for people who don’t do rosés. High dosage and high pinot noir [found in some other Champagne houses] can make a rosé heavy.” 
50% chardonnay; 40% pinot noir including some still red wine; 10% pinot meunier
Dosage: zero
Quite a deep salmon pink. Faintly spicy strawberry fruit on the nose, with a fresh palate attack, tight and angular, softening into gentle mousse, with nicely toned fruit structure. Good vinosity and backbone with a long finish.

Rosé Majeur NV

50% chardonnay; 40% pinot noir including some still red wine; 10% pinot meunier
Dosage: 7g/l
Deep rose petal pink. Greater fruitier aroma, fresh red berries, with citrus lift, soft, caressing mousse with lovely depth of flavour. Fuller, broader mouth texture, and somehow less complex.

Observations

The low dosage works really well, but as I find I prefer Bruts with lower rather than higher dosage this is no surprise. I’ve started to notice those brut Champagnes with higher dosage. I tend to mark them down for an element of overt sweetness, and a bit of flattening of fruit aroma and flavour.

In comparison to the zero dosage opposite numbers, the low dosage appeared less complex, perhaps less erudite, but easier to appreciate, and with a much broader appeal.

The zero dosage seems quite an ‘intellectual’ style of wine, requiring critique and analysis. Maybe this is in part its newness as a category (and to me). The wines are clearly good, though I’m not convinced I yet need to intellectualise and analyse when I’m consuming Champagne; I rather want to enjoy it without consciously doing so.

The first article looks at where the scientists are at with minerality.  The second one speculates scientifically, if such a thing is possible. I’ll post it here later.

What follows are some thoughts of winery people I have quizzed on my various research visits, along with dates, so the comments can be put into the perspective of our evolving knowledge on the subject of minerality in wine.  These comments are unfined, unfiltered, uncategorised, not that we yet possess the knowledge to categorise minerality.
 

A few developing themes, make of them what you will, not all highlighted in the following quotes, include

• linking minerality and acidity.
• linking minerality and ageworthiness.
• linking minerality and (bed)rock.
• linking minerality and complexity.
• linking minerality and freshness.
• linking minerality and tannin.
• linking minerality and terroir.
• suggestions that not all grape varieties have the potential to express minerality.

Olivier Humbrecht, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, Alsace, France. November 2009
“You cannot smell minerals as they are not volatile. Salt is associated with other molecules, for example iodine, which is volatile.  Minerality is more a palate sensation than an actual smell.  If a wine is going towards more undergrowth, earthy, it goes to more mineral. The brain does not associate fruit with minerality.”

Minerality “leaves your palate more salty than sweet. And it’s more difficult to see it on sweet wines than dry wines, as sugar will hide it.  Also the tannins of oak will cover or overpower a sense of minerals on the palate.”

It’s a “sensation on the palate.  You can also sometimes detect it in a way of pH. Acidity potential might reflect how minerals have reacted with the wine.  A higher pH, if not caused by a fault, such as rot or dilution, for me, is that soil is more present in the wine. The more minerals in the wine, pH increases.”

Wolfgang Klotz, marketing and sales manager at Cantina/Kellerei Tramin, Alto Adige, Italy, November 2009.
“If I smell stony, chalky, and stones banging together, and the wine is dry and crisp, this I think of as minerality.  The topsoil is chalky, and 1-2 metres below is volcanic porphyry.  Porphyry gives lot of minerality. You could age wines up to ten years and more.”

Klaus Gasser, sales director at Cantina/Kellerei Terlan, Alto Adige, Italy, November 2009.
The mountain “Tschögglberg is porphyry, a quartz porphyritic rock, high in minerals, with a high silicate concentration, like in Pouilly-Fumé with silex. There’s a high mineral concentration in the soils. Minerality in the wines is a salty note, and great ageing potential.”    

Martin Aurich, general manager at Weingut Unterortl, Alto Adige, Italy, November 2009.
“Minerality is a certain amount of acid, acid which is not sour; a positive acid which requires another sip. It’s like a game in your mouth – acid, tannin, sugar.”

Franz-Joseph Loacker, sales manager at Tentute Loacker, Alto Adige, Italy. November 2009.
“Minerality comes from the stones and from the power of the soil, from the terroir, and what we have in the soil. Some grapes such as sauvignon blanc have minerality; other grapes do not, such as gewürztraminer, which goes more in the sweet direction.”

Willi Bründlmayer of Weingut Bründlmayer in Kamptal, Austria, June 2009.  
“In spring, the terraces are soaked with rainfall. Water remains hidden in clefts of the rock, and takes up minerals. Vine roots need water. But the taste is something different.  For me, the wines are not too alcoholic, they lack creaminess and softness. I feel a slight roughness, a substance and structure but different from the substance and structure tannins give.”

Hannes Hirsch of Weingut Hirsch in Kamptal, Austria, June 2009.
“Minerality is like an extra layer of Maldon sea salt, which bubbles and explodes on your tongue. Heiligenstein has a smokey nose, like banging stones together.  As grüner veltliner  and riesling wines get more powerful, they lose their fruit definition. Minerality comes through as a tension on the tongue.”

Andi Kollwentz of Weingut Kollwentz-Römerhof in Burgenland, Austria, June 2008.
“Minerality comes from the soil but it’s not a chemical influence, it’s a physical influence, it’s stoney. If you get the grapes in the right state, and you don’t interfere with the wine in the cellar, you get an impression of minerality: fine, fragrant fruit, but not bold, and a spiciness, not from oak.”

Alvaro Palacios of Alvaro Palacios in Priorat, Spain, April 2009.
“Minerality is exactly as you see in the slate or granite soils. There are huge levels of minerals and metals. When you lick them you can feel that. Vegetal tannins are normally very fat, and mild, gentle, soft. Minerality is different. It’s something tiny and vertical that dries out: micro-particles. It’s a blend of tannin and minerality.”  

René Barbier of Clos Mogador in Priorat, Spain, April 2009.
For Barbier, minerality “is all to do with terroir.” Of his Clos Manyetes wine, he said the “wine is built on the basis of terroir; the minerality and tannins are interwined. When wine is created on a more technical basis, the tannins are clearly defined. With terroir and minerality the tannins are intertwined.”

Sara Pérez of Mas Martinet in Priorat, Spain, April 2009.  
“Minerality in Priorat is complicated to understand sometimes. Minerality is all the aromatic components of the soil – liquorice, iron, non-organic things that you can find in wine. You never have liquorice or iron on calcareous soil. The floral and fruity elements are the climate and the grape variety.”

Jürgen Wagner, winemaker at Celler de Capçanes, Montsant, Spain, April 2009.
“Minerality adds some astringency. Minerality disguises. It gives a feeling of a higher level of acidity.  It is a certain saltiness; the graphite of lead pencil. For me it means nerviness, liveliness, even astringency.”  

Duncan Savage, winemaker at Cape Point Vineyards, South Africa, March 2009.
“Minerality is the most abused tasting term. It’s a perception, an holistic picture. You identify with the soil, and feel like you’re tasting what you see in the soil. This is minerality by association.”  

Neil Ellis of Neil Ellis Wines, South Africa, March 2009.
“Minerality is a term to describe a certain feel in a wine, not massive, not big, more elegant. On chardonnay I use ‘restraint’.”

Andrew Gunn of Iona, South Africa, March 2009
“Minerality is flintiness, wet stones, chalk rocks.”

Bevan Johnson, manager of Newton Johnson Wines, South Africa, March 2009.
“Minerality is the poise of the finish. Minerality brings a freshness from mid palate to the finish; a freshness that’s not just acidity. An harmonious finish that’s fresh.”

Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen of Oak Valley Wines, South Africa, March 2009.
“Minerality is a product of the soil, and is something at the back of the wine, a flintiness, a complexity lurking at the back.”

Bordeaux may get all the headlines, but there’s more syrah planted in France than cabernet sauvignon.  The Rhône valley has all the famous, top-notch vineyards, but they are tiny in comparison to total plantings, which are widespread across the whole south of France, where syrah is normally blended with grenache, plus cinsault, mourvèdre (mataro) and carignan.

Rhône valley vineyard

Things are quite regulated in the Rhône valley. And the northern Rhône is tiny in comparison to the southern Rhône. The northern ‘crus’ appellations including Cornas, Côte-Rôtie, Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage and St. Joseph account for only 5% of total Rhône valley production.

The rest is from the broad rolling terrain of the southern Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône-Villages appellations as well as the likes of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas and Vacqueyras.

In total, France has about 70,000 ha of syrah spread over all these regions, compared to Australia’s 44,000.  But this is just 8.5% of the vineyard area in France whereas Australia has made a massive feature of shiraz, which accounts for more than a quarter of the country’s total vineyard area.

At the crème-de-la-crème end of syrah wine, Côte-Rôtie vies with Hermitage for top dog slot, and it’s often personal preference. They’re on different sides of the river, the ‘roasted slopes’ of Côte-Rôtie face the warm east and south, and the appellation allows the use of viognier in the blend, something that’s also become very trendy in Australia.  Meanwhile Hermitage is considered more muscular and tannic, the slopes face mostly west and south, and the wines must be made 100% of syrah.  The total production of these two appellations combined is in the region of 160,000 cases. Rarity value alone stretches the imagination.

The Hermitage appellation, at just 130 ha, is a hard, granite hill, an outcrop from France’s Massif Central, separated from it by the River Rhône. The river was forced to take a nearly west-east squiggle past the 344m high hill on its way south to the Mediterranean sea.  The west sides, those facing across the river to the Massif, are therefore all granite-based soils. On the east side of the hill, soil influences come more from the Alps, with glacial deposits.

Jaboulet Hermitage

One of the most iconic Hermitage wines is Jaboulet’s La Chapelle. This chapel of Saint Christopher has been owned by Maison Paul Jaboulet Aîné since 1919. Caroline Frey, their winemaker said: ”one of the particularities of La Chapelle is to blend all the different terroirs of Hermitage – Méal, Bessard, Rocoules, Murets – that’s why the wine is so complex and so well balanced, with such a long ageing potential.”

Michel Chapoutier, the seventh generation to run his eponymous business, whose L’Ermite wine is also from Hermitage added, with “the same grape you have different expressions in different soils – the granite part of Hermitage is graphite dominant, in Méal, you get ink.” On this basis a winemaker can choose whether to blend different parcels, as in La Chapelle, or create a unique expression of a single vineyard site, as in L’Ermite. 

Other appellations also have different expressions, he said: “Côte-Rôtie gives black olive and bacon, Cornas is fig leaves.” Chapoutier didn’t restrict his comments to France; he also works in Australia and said of his projects there “the Cambrian rock at Heathcote gives a concentration with ink and violet [and] in the Pyrenees, on schist, it is liquorice and pepper. Even with same clone, we have different expressions thanks to soil.” Terroir, or site-specificity clearly influences syrah’s flavours.

Côte-Rôtie is a little bigger than Hermitage, but still only musters 224 ha in total. It’s generally less tannic, and the best are more floral, fragrant and elegant than Hermitage. Guigal is one of the best regarded proponents of the appellation, and his single vineyard wines La Mouline, La Turque and La Landonne are some of the most sought-after wines.

Guigal Côte Blonde

Philippe Guigal, general manager and winemaker at E. Guigal took up the terroir theme for syrah in the northern Rhône. In terms of quality, he said: “high quality parameters are the vineyard and terroir, and the people behind the terroir. We have a lot of winemakers who counterbalance what is normally done by terroir and nature. On the Côte Blonde, we expect very fine, delicate wines. Brune has more tannins, more structure.” He said some winemakers might do more pumping over on Blonde fruit to counter its delicacy, But at Guigal he added, the “balance is the opposite: if the terroir says the wine should be fine and delicate, we want to keep the level of finesse and delicacy. And to keep the phenolic potential of Brune.” Their ‘Blonde et Brune’ Côte-Rôtie is a blend of fruit from these two vineyards. And the Guigal vineyards are co-planted with a tiny percentage of viognier, as permitted in the regulations. It is all picked at the same time and fermented together with the shiraz.

Given that the northern Rhône appellations account for just 5% of total Rhône production, it is no surprise that the main producers also run merchant businesses in the southern Rhône, buying in fruit and wine, blending it and bottling under their own label, for each appellation. In this respect it’s no different from the bigger Australian companies buying fruit in several regions.  Guigal’s Côtes du Rhône is probably one of the best known brands. Philippe Guigal said: “we taste blind finished samples on a large scale.  Every day [after harvest] we receive 50-60 samples and we select one or two each time. 90% of the time, we buy wine from the same people” even though the wines are tasted blind, which shows both the consistency of the tasting and of the growers.

There are more than 6,000 wine growers in the Rhône Valley, so this type of business is important for Rhône brands. The big southern Côtes du Rhône appellation has different regulations again, and here syrah is a contributor to the blend, which contains grenache, as well as mourvèdre. Syrah adds berry fruits, structure and some fine tannins to a Côtes du Rhône blend. Guigal’s usually has at least 50% syrah, and more in poorer vintages to preserve the structure, while Jaboulet’s Parallèle 45 is usually around 60% grenache with 40% syrah.

But it’s not just the bigger players that run their business as a combination of estate and merchant sectors. Château Mont-Redon started out as a Châteauneuf-du-Pape estate. But since the mid 1990s, said owner Jean Abeille “we conduct two different activities – producer with a wine range under the ‘Château Mont-Redon’ label and wine merchant activity under the ‘Monredon’ brand.” This keeps estate separate from brand, but more than hints at the link.  He said they started partly as a response to customer demand and also for their children who will one day inherit the business.  

So just in the Rhône valley, the wines may be 100% syrah, in the north, or 10% or more in a Côtes du Rhône blend – the original GSM (grenache, syrah/shiraz, mourvèdre) wines.  There’s also plenty of syrah planted in the Roussillon and Languedoc, all across the regions that border the warm Mediterranean Sea, offering syrah a climate that makes it smile.

The defining moment for South Africa that the world knows was the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990. Four years later the rainbow nation achieved democracy.

As far as South Africa’s wine industry is concerned, it may well have the longest viticultural history of all the new world countries, with wine first being made there in 1659, during the times when the Cape was a stopover trading and refuelling post on the great sea routes. But the latest liberating chapter in the country’s renewal was the early 1990s scrapping of a quota system which dictated what was grown and where it was grown.  And exports were freed up once the old controlling state co-operative was privatised in 1997. 

Flying by Elim vineyards, Indian Ocean

Since then it seems that everyone has been fleeing to the coasts and the cooling coastal breezes to find new and different places to grow grapes.  A big chunk of the vineyard is already ‘within sight’ of the oceans – the saying goes if you can see the ocean it’s a good place for a vineyard, presumably because of those cooling breezes, though quite how far inland they reach and actively moderate the vineyard climate is not always clear.

Closer to the coast there’s no argument, leaves waft in afternoon breezes. And with this great proximity to the oceans, Cape South Africans can satisfy two great passions simultaneously: making wine, with sauvignon blanc most definitely being flavour of the moment, and messing about on the water, in this case rather serious water in the guise of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. In the decade since 1997, sauvignon blanc plantings have increased from 5 to 8% of the vineyard area. And sauvignon blanc goes pretty well with fresh and simply prepared fish.

But there’s much more to Cape cuisine than fish, and Stellenbosch, at about 20 km from the sea, is the heart of the Cape Winelands, and nearby wineries long ago took the lead to offer local foods with the local wines.  Indeed Delheim, less than 10 minutes from the town, were one of the earliest down this route when they started serving cheese platters in 1976. 

The view from Delheim

Proprietor Nora Sperling-Thiel said they “started serving food as guests arrived in middle of day and were looking for something to eat, so we kept it simple with fresh farm bread cheese and paté. At the time we were the only farm with a restaurant and served 50 guests at a time but did two sittings a day in high season.” Now they have a busy lunchtime restaurant serving local food to accompany their wines. Their Pinotage rosé has become something of a legend in its own lifetime. 

A little further toward Paarl, Fairview has built on its long association with homemade cheeses as well as wine. Four years ago owner Charles Back turned his old winery into The Goat Shed, a breakfast and lunchtime restaurant that’s packed to the rafters at weekends. The dirt paddock at the front has become tailored lawns dressed with tables and chairs immediately next to the closest vineyards.

To keep some of the winery feel, and to break up the large space, Charles said: “we cut out the concrete tanks by three quarters. And” he said “we wanted to use local people, and the kids of the farm workers. It took a lot of training, it took us a year to come out of the woods” while new staff got to grips with the service culture and the professionalism required to efficiently wait tables.  And no surprise given the restaurant has more than 200 covers.  Charles added that having the restaurant meant his “finger is on the pulse, because it elevates wine into the food environment. You have to focus on where you’re going; and you have a product testing-ground on site.”  

A Fairview Goat

As well as the Fairview range, Back also makes the Goats do Roam and Spice Route ranges, so the restaurant has plenty of opportunity to test plenty of products. With so many wines, Back sources fruit from some of the newer vineyard plantings, and his Spice Route sauvignon blanc comes from the Darling region, an hour’s drive north of Cape Town, about 10km inland from the Atlantic Ocean, which he said: “is a seaward facing vineyard, getting breezes off the coast. The vineyard gets 5-6°C lower than [Paarl], and the harvest is about a month later.”  This later ripening helps preserve some of the typical zesty and grassy characters in sauvignon blanc.

Futher up the West Coast, about 300km north of Cape Town, is an even more recently planted vineyard area, around Lambert’s Bay, where the Sir Lambert property can be found, and Fryer’s Cove, lying another half an hour north on a dirt track. Both are producing light, zesty, grass and lemongrass style sauvignon blancs, which are back on track with the local fish at the key attraction of the region, the Muisbosskerm restaurant, an all-South African experience.

View from Muissbosskerm

The Muisbosskerm is as close to the Atlantic coast as it’s possible to get … being on the beach. It takes its name from temporary shelters made from the local mouse bush plant. The restaurant started out feeding family and friends, but it’s been a highlight on the tourist trail for many years, and it’s the clients who have to turn up on time for the freshest straight-from-the-ocean fish. Those local sauvignon blancs match well the atmosphere and the open-grilled and baked kingklip, hake, crayfish, snoek, steenbras and Cape salmon fish braai, whatever’s in season. The traditional stickily-sweet sweet potato somehow works well as one of the accompaniments.

In 2009, the South African wine industry celebrated its 350^th birthday, but it’s the freshness of the last decade that’s getting folk really excited as producers carve out a new identity for the 21^st century.

This article was inspired by a visit to the Cape winelands in March 2009, sponsored by Wines of South Africa.

HJ's Wine Companion

The auspices for this book are good with more than 70% of this sixth edition having been revised and rewritten by respected and readily readable author Stephen Brook, all reviewed and refined by the redoubtable HJ, of course.

The book has the usual preambles in place: the vine, the grape varieties, growing grapes and making wine, neatly laid out here with a bit of explanation as to why the various elements of grape, vine, site, and winemaking option are important for wine’s glorious diversity of style.

I have a few issues with some of the winemaking introduction: as something of a closure analyst myself, I would point out that Stelvin is but one manufacturer’s brand of screwcap, and the collective term must therefore be screwcap. To use Stelvin may be erroneous at best, misleading at worst, as it is a good quality screwcap closure, and less good quality ones might therefore gain from such an erroneous association.

A point of reassurance – blood has not been used as a fining agent for some years.

There’s also a bit of confusion over filter pads and membranes. Pads cannot be guaranteed at a micron level, so it is membrane filters of 0.45 micron that allow the removal of both yeast and bacteria.

The new star rating is a handy at-a-glance addition to this edition. 1-4 stars appear alongside the producer name, with the stars in red if the producer represents good value. Rising stars get no stars (ha, ha) as longevity has not yet been proven. Even Bordeaux has one or two red starred properties, which has to be encouraging.

There are one or two useful pronunciation hints too, for example the ‘the “s” of Cos is sounded’; though he makes no mention of the ‘t’ in Moët (et Chandon).

There aren’t so many ‘no star-rated’ entries in the book, but the Aussie section might have included a few as it is this generation of young guns who are creating the waves of excitement likely to re-invigorate that country’s industry. The likes of Mac Forbes, Pizzini or Ten Minutes by Tractor, for short example, might have deserved a nod.

Pedantry aside, nothing takes away from the fact that this is a great one-stop-shop for top line information on the most important producers across the globe. Even three lines are enough for a sniff and an indication as to whether further research or interest is warranted. This book is likely to remain one of those essential reference works for the bookshelf, waiting to provide that crucial clue at a time of emergency requirement.

In light of the Health Select Committee’s report this week calling for minimum pricing for alcohol and further restrictions on the advertising of alcohol products, the article remains current, and has not been updated.

The chief medical officer made headlines recently with a proposal of £0.50 minimum price per litre per unit of alcohol, which in England and Wales was quickly rebuffed by the prime minister who said he didn’t want to penalise the responsible majority.  But Scotland, which has the power to decide its own policy, is driving forward with its plans for minimum pricing in its bid to counter binge drinking. The proposal is part of a new Health Bill to be debated later this year.

A £0.50 per litre per unit of alcohol minimum price would add more than £3.50 to the average price of a bottle of whisky in Scotland (36% more expensive).

Work done for the government by the University of Sheffield showed minimum pricing would reduce overall consumption, but, said Gavin Partington, head of communications for the Wine and Spirit Trade Associaion (WSTA), which represents the whole of the wine and spirit supply chain “it does not show such a policy would target so-called binge drinkers. In fact a growing number of politicians accept that minimum price is a blunt weapon that would put prices up for the majority but fail to target those who have the problem.” Which may explain Gordon Brown’s immediate distancing of himself from the proposal. 

Partington went on: “In fact levels of alcohol consumption in other Northern European countries such as Sweden, Finland, Ireland, where taxes on alcohol are very high, suggest that price may do little to deter those who are determined to consume alcohol to get drunk”, adding “proponents of minimum pricing have never adequately explained why it is those countries with low or zero taxation on alcohol and hence low prices, where there is far less of a problem with alcohol misuse.”

Everyone agrees binge-drinking needs to be tackled, but the evidence suggests this group of people is least influenced by rising prices. Indeed the government’s own Sheffield research found hazardous and harmful drinkers to be less sensitive to higher prices than moderate drinkers, in terms of their total alcohol consumption.

A different piece of work by the Centre for Economics and Business Research found “that if minimum pricing at 50 pence per unit was introduced in the UK, consumers would end up paying almost £1.8 billion per year more for alcohol products – the equivalent of £68 per household per year.” And that “the savings to wider society including NHS and policing costs, and costs to victims of crime would be around £200 million per year.”

The particular issue for Australian, and other southern hemisphere wines is their typically high alcohol content.  A 14.5% Aussie shiraz would cost about £5.40, but a 12% Italian white, only £4.50.

It is thought that minimum pricing would be illegal under EU competition law. Partington said: “We believe minimum pricing runs counter to both UK and European competition law though the Scottish Government continues to insist it is legally permissible.  It is impossible to get a definitive legal view until the Government has specified the legislative means by which it intends to introduce minimum pricing.”

Alto Adige

Nestled into the early foothills of the Alps, lies Italy’s most northerly wine region, with the Dolomites as dramatic backdrop.  The region is culturally (and historically) more Germanic than Italian, and signage is bi-lingual, which seems to satisfy the three official languages of this autonomous region, though Südtirol makes for a less alliterative headline. Its architecture, topography, cuisine and punctual habit lay claim to a leading Teutonic disposition.

The region’s wines also reflect the cooler, northern, more aromatic paradigm, being some 1,000 miles distant from Italy’s toes tripping through the warmly lush Mediterranean Sea.

Micro-scale

Reflective of the cooler location, and necessary site-selection that it requires, volumes of wine are not large, indeed microscopy is the order of the game in Alto Adige/Südtirol.  The region produces just 0.7% of Italy’s total wine output, less than 3.5 million cases in total (smaller volumes than several single wine brands such as Australia’s Yellow Tail or Jacob’s Creek). Yet there are no fewer than eight DOCs, named for the various hills and valleys in the Y-shaped incision that is the pre-Alpine Alto Adige, which follows the Isarco river as it flows into the Adige on its way south, then east to the Adriatic. 

The Y of Alto Adige

These eight DOCs cover just 5,100 hectares (ha). This makes the average vineyard holding just 0.65 ha, so no-one is making much of anything. Added into the micro-scale are the more than 20 different grape varieties grown in the region. Small wonder the 15 co-operatives are so important here, accounting for 70% of the harvest. What makes this region different is that several of the co-ops are highly regarded for the quality of wine they produce. Outside of the co-ops nearly 150 producers account for the remainder, making and marketing their own wines.  

Wines with altitude

Altitude has a significant influence here. Vineyards range from 200m to 1,000 metres above sea level. Only 15% of the region’s land surface area is below 1,000 metres. Above this lie meadows and pastures for livestock before seriously mountainous territory intervenes. Cooling Alpine winds are clearly an influence, as is warming Mediterranean influence. Bozen/Bolzano is often the warmest city in Italy.  

Given its Alpine heritage, soil and bedrock composition are massively variable, though the region lays claim to the largest porphyry plate in the Alps. Porphyry is a group of igneous rocks with large grained crystals in a finer-grained mass, and the Alto Adige variety is red.  

Vineyard slopes

Interestingly, given the topographical and pedological complexity of the region, several producers cited altitude as a more important influence on a single grape variety than soil/bedrock, as there is a huge difference in average temperatures over the 800m spread of vineyard altitudes. Michael Goëss-Enzenberg, the owner of Tenuta Manincor said: “for a type of grape variety the altitude is more important. I couldn’t plant pinot noir at 200 metres, it would be overripe and jammy.”

Pinot noir needs a cool and cooler climate to perform at its aromatic best, and there is a tiny amount produced in Alto Adige/Süd Tyrol. But it is local red grape varieties schiava and lagrein that account for a third of the vineyard area, and some of these are interesting.  Overall, though, white wines edge out the reds, made from aromatic and semi-aromatic varieties, including pinot grigio, pinot bianco (weissburgunder/pinot blanc), sauvignon blanc and Müller Thurgau. Gewürztraminer is something of a speciality in the region.

The best are very good indeed. Here’s a small selection (more to follow) from the short visit I made in November. Fruity purity, focus, definition and flavour concentration are the watchwords.

Cantina Tramin, Pinot Grigio Unterebner 2007, Alto Adige DOC
Coming from a high vineyard 450 to 600 metres altitude.
Lush, slippery glycerol showing off a full body; linear profile, rich white stone fruit, focused.

Cantina Terlano, Weissburgunder classico 2008, Terlano DOC
This had stainless steel fermentation and 5 months on lees.
Creamy, white flowers, white nuts, pure linear profile, medium-full body, has faint salty tang (some might argue this is minerality?) that tingles on the tongue. Long palate and finish. Rich, almost white peachy. Really very nice.

Cantina Terlano, Quarz 2007, Terlano DOC
This has spent a year in 500 litre casks.
100% sauvignon blanc, showing a crystallised pineapple nose, with ginger notes. Full, rich, lush fruit, yet dry. Smooth, glycerol-like feeling with rich, full texture. Focus of fruit, clear definition, and some significant concentration, it demands attention. Long; long.

Tenuta Manincor, Sophie 2008, Vigneti della Dolomiti IGT
A blend of chardonnay, viognier, sauvignon blanc, “like salt and pepper in food” said the owner.
Fresh, with flavours of melon, white peach and stoniness; there’s an attractive chalky character to the mid palate creating a wine of elegance, and with dimension.

Weingut Unterortl, Castel Juval Riesling 2008.
Limey intensity, with a mountain-fresh purity of focus.  Medium bodied, with massive concentration, great elegance and a long palate profile. And a very long finish. Outstanding.

Tenute Loacker, Gewurztraminer 2008 Atagis, Alto Adige DOC
Atagis is an old name for river Isarco.
Aromatic rose petal, with a freshness of attack and attractive medium weight; the tasting balance is dry, with concentration and dry lusciousness. There are even some hints of green apple in the wine’s core. The (14%) alcohol is seamlessly integrated, giving a remarkably light yet intense whole.

This piece was inspired by a visit to the region in November 2009 sponsored by the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) and EOS, the export organisation of South Tyrol.

In the last decade (barely the blink of an eye in viticultural terms) something’s been going on around the coastline of South Africa’s Western Cape, where the winelands are concentrated.

Sauvignon blanc at Cederberg

The old bureaucratic control boards were disbanded in the mid 1990s, which meant that suddenly, growers could plant grapes wherever they wanted, and there’s been a rush to the coasts to find the most maritime-influenced climates possible. 

The variety being planted in these cooler coastal regions is mostly sauvignon blanc. And the flavours in the wines suggest the Kiwis will finally have some competition on the cards for their Marlborough ‘savvies’.  

South Africa might be warm to hot in climatic terms, but a combination of moderating maritime and near-maritime influence, plus some skilful management of the vine canopy to shade grape bunches from the heat, while allowing in light for photosynthesis, has resulted in wines with a range of flavours from green-grassy herbaceousness, through zesty citrus fruit, figs and asparagus, into more tropical guava and passionfruit flavours, all with a steely core of freshening acidity vibrating up their backbones.  Exactly the sort of stuff we love in the UK, and can’t get enough of from the Kiwis.

One of the things that is making these flavours possible is the cold ocean current called the Benguela current which runs up the west coast of Africa.  It’s travelled all the way from the Antarctic. This helps cool down temperatures near the coast.  Fryer’s Cove vineyard, 300km north of Cape Town, is right on the windy Atlantic coast, just a few hundred metres from the ocean, while the Darling Hills, about 75km north of Cape Town, are more like 10km inland, and wine producers say they still get cooling westerly breezes coming off the ocean.

Elsewhere, Elgin is about an hour’s drive east of Cape Town. It’s a natural bowl, surrounded on all sides by mountains, and is a heartland of apple and pear production.  And now wine. With lots of sauvignon blanc. Elgin Vintners’ sauvignon blanc comes from fruit grown on the undulating valley floor, while Iona’s vineyards are higher on the southern-boarding mountain slopes, nearest to the ocean and both have pristine flavours.

Wind here is also a big feature helping to cool the temperatures, with the typical afternoon southwesterlies cooling the vine climate by 4-5°C up to 15km inland, depending on the local topography, which is pretty hilly. As the land heats up during the day, air rises, pulling in cool breezes off the oceans. But, to liberally mix metaphors, the proof of the pudding is in the wine: see what your think of these:

Majestic: Neil Ellis Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Groenekloof, Darling Hills £9.99 when you buy 2 bottles
Stone, Vine & Sun : Fryer’s Cove, Sauvignon Blanc 2008, West Coast, £9.95  
Tesco: Elgin Vintners Sauvignon Blanc 2008, Elgin, £9.99
Waitrose: Iona Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Elgin, £9.99

Heiligenstein vineyard, Kamptal

This hillside vineyard was first mentioned in the Zwettl abbey register of 1280 as “Hellenstein”, or hell stone, because it was a mountain on which the sun “burns like hell”.  It was later renamed Heiligenstein, or “holy rock”, in possibly in an early form of political correctness.

The Heiligenstein is a unique geological formation – a geological island – within Europe, dating to the Permian period some 250 to 270 million years ago, comprising an extrusion of desert sandstone with volcanic and carboniferous conglomerates.

Digging deeper into a more detailed meaning of ‘primary rock’ or ‘urgestein’ reveals many layers.  “In ancient times there were very high mountains here.” explained Willi Bründlmayer of the eponymous Kamptal estate Weingut Bründlmayer. “There was an erosion of 300-1,000m, which left some rock stumps.  These rock stumps are primary rock.  The rocks are silicate, gneiss, granite, amphibolites. Then 250 million years ago, erosion residues and volcanic material and vegetation residues had built up. Later this mixed material compressed over a long time, and changed to soft rock. This was then pushed up again tectonically. What remains are Heiligenstein and Lamm vineyards.

Willi Bründlmayer holding primary rock

Hannes Hirsch of the eponymous estate Weingut Hirsch, added that after the “volcanic activity there was consistent vegetation 250m years ago which left roots and leaves, layers and layers of which built up. A shallow ocean then came in, then tectonic movement which pushed out the Permian material again.”

This complex ancient geology plus centuries of viticulture have resulted in a detailed map of vineyards matched to grape variety, mostly either riesling or grüner veltliner, which now account for 80% or more of plantings in Kamptal.  Bründlmayer said “Heiligenstein is more to the west, cooler, poorer, and better adapted for riesling. There’s no grüner veltliner.  Lamm has a layer of chalk-rich loess and loam, it’s a richer soil, warmer.  It’s suited to rich styles of grüner veltliner.” The Lamm vineyard, lying on the lower slopes below the Heiligenstein vineyard, has a primary rock base underneath the loess and loam. 

Bründlmayer added “riesling is better planted directly in the primary rock, and grüner veltliner prefers the addition of some rich material – sediment, loam, loess.”

Detail of Kamptal vineyards

The Gaisberg vineyard, to the immediate south-east of Heiligenstein, marks the end of the ancient massif coming down from the north, and is founded on primary rock of gneiss and mica-schist. Hirsch said: “you can break it up, it’s schistous with a brown earth layer. And the eastern part of the vineyard has a loess covering, which came from the east”.  Gaisberg is often planted to riesling.

Heiligenstein and ‘primary rock’ are only ever spoken in the same breath, but primary rock is a term used elsewhere for soils coming from this very old rock. Much of nearby Wachau has granite and gneiss primary rock at its foundation, and the primary rock soils have been divided into the three main camps of granite, gneiss and slate.

Over the geological time of millennia, rocks have been variously heated, cooled, compressed and tectonically moved. Granite is a mineral-rich rock formed of molten material. Gneiss can be formed by changes in heat and pressure. Slate can be the product of sedimented erosion material which has been metamorphosed by heat or pressure.

Soils derived from primary rock are often thin and low in organic matter and fertility, a layer of crumbly rock at the surface with the bedrock 20 to 30 cm below.

The importance of primary rock is the structure and flavour profile found in the wines.  Primary rock is strongly argued to confer ‘minerality’ into the wines.  Bründlmayer said: “On the rocky hillsides, grape berries are smaller. It’s not about the 3, 4, 5 principal elements, it’s about the hundreds of elements.  Heiligenstein is silicate with an acidic element and 250 million year old organic matter.  Roots take many different minerals in many different micro-doses.  It contributes to a wine.”

As yet though, exactly, scientifically, how those mineral-laden rocks confer minerality in wine is yet to be unearthed, as it were. Read here for a discussion about minerality.

The 2002 vintage

This is the current release of Cristal, which will go straight on to the 2004, as none was made in the hot 2003 vintage.  It was a great vintage in Champagne: according to Lécaillon “god was champenoise in this year.”  He said it wasn’t a classic year, when the average temperature would finish the growing season at 11.2 to 11.3°C. In 2002 it was sunny and dry, finishing at around 11.7°C.

Lécaillon explained that Champagne is always “a fight between the storms and water of an oceanic climate, and a continental climate that is dry and hot.  In 2002, we got a push of continental weather.  It got dry, with quite cold north-easterly winds which slightly concentrated and slowed down the ripening, giving more finesse.”

In terms of optimal harvest point Lécaillon said: “we taste the grapes, looking for flavour, aroma, balance.  Sometimes we pick at 9% potential alcohol, slightly unripe.  Tasting is the only way to decide which plots are ready.  Sugar is a good measurement, but only as a rough figure, not a detailed figure.” 

He said, simply, “we made exceptional wines in 2002.”

The technical components of philosophy

Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon

Throughout the seminar Lécaillon emphasised that there is no formula at Roederer, but there is a house style led by Roederer’s philosophy of production.

On grape ripeness:  Ripeness in Champagne is likely to be considered unripe in most other wine-producing regions.  Lécaillon explained full ripeness in Champagne “is a question of taste. When you get lot of aromas and flavours, and you still get a focus on acidity and freshness.  A ripe grape for me is, when I taste it, I get a long length with fresh acidity and aromas. It comes back to what you aim for.”  

On stainless steel and oak:  A mix of stainless steel and oak is used for the first fermentation, depending on the cuvée. Lécaillon said “the idea of blending oak fermented wines and stainless steel wines is tradition and modernity: tension, subtlety, pure wines and flavours of the modern with the richness of tradition. We protect from oxidation as much as we can.” The oak used is large casks averaging about a quarter of a century in age.

He added: “Oak is not about taste. Oak is more to do with lees stirring, ageing on total lees, micro-oxidation, creamy, silky texture. We want champagne that is more sensuous and hedonistic when it’s young.”

On malolactic fermentation:  There is no formula, Lécaillon repeated, it’s always a question of balance.  Though malic acid does seem to be prized, as he said “we think malic acid provides life giving acidity, and vibrations to the blend. We look for malic acid, but not too strongly otherwise it’s too appley; just enough to give a crescendo on the palate, or energy as we call it at Louis Roederer. It gives one extra dimension.” 

In 2002, none of the wines underwent malolactic fermentation.

And it’s never done on chardonnay. Lécaillon said: “we never do malo on chardonnay; when we do malo we do it on pinot noir or pinot meunier. It decreases the elegance of chardonnay. And in fact chardonnay is less acidic than pinot noir.” 

On structure and texture: Lécaillon said “structure comes from the vineyards; texture is built in the winery. For that creamy, silky texture, the smooth feeling that wraps around the acidity, we work on total lees, keeping as much solids as we can. We age the [still] wines on total lees for 4-6 months. Sometimes we do lees stirring every week, or every few weeks. When you age wines on total lees you get a creamy texture, but you are on the reductive style, so you need to be careful not to go too far towards a reductive style.” Reductive aromas are not favoured.

On lees ageing in bottle: Lécaillon said “we never look for long ageing on lees at Louis Roederer. A long time on lees brings more oxidation and autolysis which gives a biscuity taste.” More fruitiness is retained when the time on lees is not so long.  For Cristal, Lécaillon said: “four to six years on lees is more than enough. After that we keep it a minimum of eight months on cork before release.”  

On dosage:  The champagnes are in the 9-11g/l dosage range. Lécaillon said: “it’s a new thing for Louis Roederer.  We have some reduction of dosage from 10-12g/l to 8-10 g/l. Any kind of sugar you add, it’s a kind of mask you put on top of the wine. We’ve removed a little bit of the mask.”

On his favourite Cristal: Lécaillon was not to be drawn on his favourite vintage of Cristal. Instead, in truly diplomatic style, he said: “Cristal is at its optimum at 20 to 25 years from the vintage. I love the ’82, the ’85, the ‘79, they all have their own identity, and like children you cannot prefer one. You try to understand why they’re different, and to observe with humility and learn.  It’s a permanent learning process.” 

The titbit of gossip: Roederer have been working for five years to produce a brut nature/zero dosage bubbly for the house and they hope to release it by the end of 2010. 

Tasting notes – Dec 2009

2002 Louis Roederer Blanc de Blancs

Grapes come from four villages in the Côtes des Blancs.   

Gentle lemon spice with apple blossom. Fine mousse opening on the mid palate, aromatic spice, fine, elegant core with mid palate perfume, and lemon toast. There’s a creamy feeling around the fresh acid core. A certain lightness of texture alongside the blossoming flavour.

2002 Brut Vintage

The aim for this wine is to be the classic wine of the Louis Roederer range. It’s pinot noir dominated with about 70%. The fruit comes from north-facing vineyards, which Lécaillon suggests gives more mineral, chalky, spicy flavour in the pinot noir rather than red fruits. 

Spice and toasted almonds aromatise the nose and palate. The mousse has a soft, creamy persistence. Notes of steel magnolias, cream and citrus emerge on the fine, elegant palate profile. Pure and linear structure, with the richness of toasted yellow fruits and white blossom.  It has a rounded, softer style, maybe helped by 11g/l dosage. It’s more than approachable now, not as tight as one might expect. Fleshy white fruits, still with proper deportment.

2002 Brut Rosé

Fruit comes from the Marne Valley, from south-aspect vineyards. The 70% pinot noir component is macerated fro 6 to 10 days at cool temperatures. The grapes are not crushed, thus the very light colour.  The rest is from chardonnay.

It has the faintest salmon pink hue. Dry-baked strawberry fruits on the nose with wafts of cinnamon and fresh almonds. A sweet fruit attack, with hints of honeysuckle and pink grapefruit follow through. A richness of flavour blossoms in the palate alongside the soft, fine, creamy mousse. Fine integration of acidity with light, yet intensely-flavoured fruit.

Cristal

The clear bottle with its flat base, and the golden label resulted from a direct request from the Russian tsar, Alexander II, for whom the original champagne was created. The story goes that the tsar didn’t want his wine waiter hiding poison in the punt…

In 1876 Cristal was noticeably and fashionably sweet, with more than 100g/l residual sugar. Now it is firmly ensconced in the brut camp.  The idea for this bubbly was to blend the old vines, over 25 years, of the three estates, to use the most integrated, balanced, sophisticated grapes for Cristal. Lécaillon said “we still do it the same way; not from the same blocks because we have to replant, and we use the old vines.”

2002 Cristal

A blend of 55% pinot noir, 45% chardonnay. Cream, roasted almonds, and steely nose flow into full fruit on the palate, with a silky, creamy texture, a nutty core and passion fruit and honeysuckle nuances. It’s youthful and fresh, with warm white fruit of nectarine and peach. Very smooth, silky texture, with a soft and almost sensorially lush mousse; refined and long, sublimely balanced.

Lécaillon said “we put this in family of top vintages of Cristal. There is extra energy, length, finesse, and silkiness in this wine, but it was all there from day one from harvest.”

2002 Cristal Rosé

Made from 60% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay, this also has the faintest salmon pink hue (as does the Brut Rosé). Warm strawberry notes with a sprinkle of black pepper precede a spacedust-textured entry mellowing immediately to a soft mousse with a cranberry perkiness. It’s less in the roasted nut spectrum, and more in the attractively fruit-focused forum.  A dosage of 10g/l helps make this soft and readily appreciable already.

1999 Cristal

A very warm vintage. The nose leads with dry honey and dried citrus fruit, followed by a rich, floral perfume, with warm roasted almonds. This has a complex and intriguing nose. The palate entry is of toasted nuts, with warm, savoury fruit, in a refined framework.  Dried citrus comes through on the tight palate though the acidity is not raging, more in the warm and open spectrum. A warm nuttiness, with floral notes and candied fruits follows up behind with possibly a hint of cumin. This is rich and powerful, and long.

1996 Cristal

A very cool vintage.  Hints of aromatic fire-smoke rise aloft the roasted mixed nuts and allspice. There’s even a silhouette of cherry blossom. The palate shows the full breadth of toasted notes, with the enlivening steely core running the length of the palate, creating frame and poise. It’s long, it’s fresh, it’s supremely well balanced and integrated. It’s sophisticated with a certain lushness of expression. The soft silky cream mousse persists throughout. Soft roasted nuts, white fruit, seamlessly integrated into an exceedingly good wine.

1990 Cristal

Not as robust as 1996 or 1999.

Hints of straw colour are emerging. Warm, toasted aromatic spices on the nose, roasted hazelnut with baked honey and sweet, truffle notes on the palate. Rich and powerful, with toasted nuts, figs and even a whiff of bitter chocolate. Still has an upright acid backbone, with mature notes coming to the fore including a hint of mocca; very long finish.

1988 Cristal

The last traditional year, before entering a hot/warm cycle in 1989.

Creamy flavour, with toasted and roasted fruit and nuts. Savoury, nutty, fire-smoke, truffle, and fresh mushroom. Citrus notes are beginning to fade behind the toasted notes, though it retains its fresh core, fleshed out with those savoury, developing notes. Soft and creamy, persistent mousse. Delicous, but not the standout vintage for me. It doesn’t have the persistence in the mouth of the 1996 (or the youth), though its finish is supremely long.

1979 Cristal

Deep straw colour. Aromatic tarry, toasty nose, which is both dense and intense. It has a dark and brooding intensity, with savoury, toasted, full-bodied complexity and richness. That trademark acid backbone continues to confer freshness and longevity. It hasn’t gone into a biscuity profile, just beautifully tarry and toasty, with an admirable length of finish.

Grüner veltliner is Austria’s flagship white grape variety, and to give some idea of its quality and ageing potential, the very best have beaten Burgundian chardonnays in blind tasting assessments of quality. 

Steep Wachau vineyards

Grüner veltliner covers about a third of Austria’s entire vineyard area.  But because Austria is a niche producer – the whole country produces only three-quarters what Champagne produces – it can be a challenge finding the wines in the UK. And because they’re such great food wines, it may even be easier to find them in restaurants, mid-market and posher.

What to expect? Firstly, a bit like chardonnay, it comes in many different guises, from a light bodied aperitif style, to a full-blown, full-bodied, give-me-some-serious-food style, which can age for decades. It’s this latter style that competes so effectively against white Burgundy. 

The classic lighter-bodied interpretation of the aperitif style is of white pepper, with a peppery-spice note. The acidity is fresh, but not as zesty as sauvignon blanc or as racy as riesling and there can be a bit more weight than aperitif sauvignon blancs and rieslings. The styles go all the way up to full bodied, which take on a honeysuckle, even baked honey note, with a fatter, creamy texture of body, rich aromatic spices and concentrated peach or apricot fruit. There’s not usually any overt oaky influence in any style.

Most grüner veltliner is grown in Lower Austria – Niederösterreich.  Get used to this name because it will appear on more Austrian wine bottles in line with some new wine laws they’ve brought in. Niederösterreich has about 27,000 hectares of vineyards: still pretty niche by winemaking standards – it’s less than one quarter the size of the Bordeaux vineyards. Within Niederösterreich, the best grüner veltliners come from regions along the Danube, about an hour west of Vienna, so in easy striking distance from the rigours of the urban cultural environment.  The Kamptal, Kremstal and Wachau all produce really good examples. As with Burgundy, single vineyard wines, not just grüner veltliner  but riesling too, are the norm.  Which makes the niche production even more micro-scale.

Domäne Wachau

For as good an introduction as any to this grape variety, try the readily available Felsner from Waitrose.  The other examples are a few pegs more serious: extra weight, complexity, spice, concentration of fruit, a more seamless texture, longer lasting flavour.  They’re all cracking wines.

Both Noel Young and Nick Dobson have large ranges of Austrian wines, not just grüner veltliner.  So often it is a case of once tried, forever smitten.

www.nickdobsonwines.co.uk: Weingut Hirsch, Grüner Veltliner Lamm 2006, Kamptal, £17.80
Noel Young Wines: Kurt Angerer Gruner Veltliner ‘Loam’ 2006, Kamptal  £15.65
Waitrose: Domäne Wachau, Grüner Veltliner Achleiten Smaragd 2007, Wachau £15.99
Waitrose: Felsner Grüner Veltliner Moosburgerin 2008 Kremstal  £8.99