Melvyn Minnaar
With the real end of the millennium in sight, taking stock of what’s in the wine cellar makes a good reason for a party. While the drinking (but, please not while driving!) is good, let’s open the Cape’s finest wines and see just how good they are.
While sipping a dashing Darling Sauvignon on the summer patio or opening a classy Cabernet from Stellenbosch for discerning overseas friends, we may muse on the general state of South African wine.
It was the year of Cape 2000, export association Wines of South Africa’s ambitious party for agents and media who came for an enlightening jol to Nederburg. A bold move, it may hopefully inspire the flown-in guests to sing loudly the promotional praises on distant shores where pounds, dollars and yen can translate into decent income locally. Thankfully United Kingdom supermarkets and their European kin are still importing more and, more importantly, better wine.
Sadly, local consumption is still declining with no effort by any producer or organisation to develop and promote wine among ordinary South Africans, although the Wine Trust is making some moves of getting black people into cellars.
It was a year in which shows, competitions and awards have turned the wine-evaluation business into a spin of confusion. Ratings by, and stars and medals from Wine magazine, Absa, Veritas, South African Airways, John Platter, Michelangelo, Diners Club and a few other oddballs seem to be more feverishly in competition with each other than striving to acknowledge quality and expertise in winemaking.
In restocking the wine cellar as the new millennium winks, an intrepid collector will tread a precarious path between gold and silver stickers, four and five stars and plenty of hype. Not that wine collectors have been having such a great time. The ”instant-drinkable” syndrome continues, making the concept of ”laying-down” out of date. Ten years ago a red wine would only be released at about four years and drunk five later. This year you could buy a pinotage vintage 2000 a couple of months after the harvest.
Then there is the weather. It’s not in the nature of wine farmers to admit to negatives, but we’ve had three dicey, even mean vintages in a row. Obviously good winemakers do their best and exception is the rule, but to be honest, the last great vintage was 1997.
So what’s a wine lover to do? Wading your way through the plethora of ratings may be arduous, but in the end you may find out what you already knew: it’s the reputables that deliver the goods.
There is an impressive consistency in the great wines that come from estates such as De Wetshof, Hamilton Russell, Kanonkop, Klein Constantia, Le Bonheur, Meerlust, Rustenberg, Saxenburg, Simonsig, Stellenzicht, Thelema, Veenwouden and Vergelegen. A premium list of cellar masters will also include Charles Back, Phillip Costandius, Neil Ellis, David Finlayson, Jeff Grier, Danie Steyler and Jeremy Walker.
So for the final fling of the century, let’s do a highly personal desirable wine list. The recent Preteaux Bourgeois Classic competition for wines that stand the test of time in international company awarded Klein Constantia with a special prize for their Blanc de Blanc 1987. And the estate’s famous 1986 Sauvignon Blanc is also still going strong. For younger vintage versions of Sauvignon Blanc, Villiera Bush Vine, Neil Ellis and especially the Durbanville Hills 1999 must get a special vote. Chardonnay at this top-end table will be served under the labels of Glen Carlo, Thelema, Jordan Neil Ellis and Avontuur.
Red wines for high flyers should include five-stars such as Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir 1999, Saxenburg Select Shiraz 1998, Boekenhoutskloof Syrah 1998, Spice Route Flagship Syrah 1999, Morgenhof Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 1998 and Le Riche Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 1999.
Patriotism dictates a few bottles of pinotage, so we’ll settle on Hidden Valley 1998, Kanonkop 1999 and L’Avenir 1999.
For the classicist the ultimate joy is the thrill of seamless, complex red blends. Rust en Vrede’s estate wine is one such a star. (The 1996 has made it to United States glossy Wine Spectator’s top 100 list the only South African wine on it.) Also in a class of their own are consummate creations such as Beyers Truter’s Kanonkop Paul Sauer 1997, Marcel van der Walt’s Veenwouden Classic 1998, and Andr van Rensburg’s Vergelegen 1998.
These world-class bottles bring real glamour to South African wine. At the close of the millennium or whatever no serious wine lover will be unhappy pulling those corks.