Melvyn Minnaar
In the past those who fancied themselves in the frontline of the vintage would have been sipping brandnew “nouveau” wines with their autumn braais right now.
Bubbling with fresh fruit and nifty modern winemaking methods ?this fad of getting new wine out under the new vintage label has mercifully?faded around here.
In a few weeks we will see wines of 2001 on the shelves, but they will?be able to stand on their own as examples of good winemaking and a?splendid harvest that was.
After three years of struggling with adverse weather, 2001 is looking?promising in many cases more than promising in cellars around the?country. Overall the quality is substantially up on previous years, although?it is close to a washout for chardonnay.
When the last grapes from noble late harvest wine were brought in a week or?so ago, the first vintage of the millennium concluded with the smallest intake in 14 years, despite increased plantings.
The weather has challenged winemakers the past few years with dry, warm?winters taking its toll. This year cool conditions in November and December?caused smaller berries that decreased yields considerably, but have?delivered grapes with good intensity of colour and flavour over the slower?ripening period. Later ripening varietals were brought in quickly when a?heatwave struck in late February.
However, the dry, moderate winter have shortcircuited chardonnay, with?reports of up to 40% less delivered in many cellars across the?country, including the best regions. Grapes were particularly healthy and were crushed at optimum ripeness. From the smaller berries more colour could?be extracted.
Gyles Webb of Thelema in Stellenbosch says he has 40% less?chardonnay with uneven quality. The warm winter resulted in budding?problems. David Finlayson of Glen Carlou in the Paarl region also has?substantially less chardonnay, but slightly earlier ripening in that?district kept his quality intact.
Watch out for some superb sauvignon blanc wines coming in from the cooler?areas. Abrie Bruwer, who makes a splendid one, says it is the best he’s had?in his tanks.
The South African Wine Industry and Information Systems agency reports that the?total 2001 harvest should be about 1?002?500 tons, the smallest since 1987.?At an average delivery of 765 litre a ton, production would be 766,9million litres, 83,1million less than previous calculated. This is 8,7%?less than the 2000 vintage. White varietals have decreased by 13,5%, although red delivery has improved by 18%.
Meanwhile, plenty of those earlyrelease wines are on their way to Europeans,?who simply just love them.
At Van Loveren in Robertson, for example, the winemaking four Retief cousins and fathers were on the move to get four of their wines, including the?popular Muscadel Blanc de Noir, on their way across the Atlantic.