Tired of the typically thin, under-ripe offerings from traditional European wine growing areas, many European wine drinkers are turning instead to the reds and whites of a large and comparatively unpolluted southern hemisphere land which has whose winemaking traditions date back over two centuries. In recent years this country has moved quickly to redevelop its vineyards to the varieties in greatest demand today. Its wine industry is comparatively modern, well equipped and well funded and is confident that it can meet its ambitions growth targets. It happens to be based in the spectacularly picturesque winelands near Cape Town, South Africa. South Africa is seen by many of Australia’s major overseas market as a natural competitor of ours, so it’s important to keep an eye on its progress. Having just spent several days on a wine sortie around the Cape, during which I had the chance to taste many of the country’s most highly rated wines, I believe that while there is still enough breathing space for Australian makers not to stay up nights worrying about South African wine, there is absolutely no space for any complacency whatsoever. South African wine has a lot going for it right now, not the least of which is a rate of currency exchange that makes even the Australian dollar look robust. Like ours, its climate is relatively consistent and its labels are easy to follow, if perhaps not always as easy to pronounce. South Africa’s comparative proximity to Europe has encouraged a significant number of top French winemakers to either travel there regularly or stay there permanently. Indeed, the South African wine scene is significantly more Euro-centric than ours is in Australia, and amongst its top consumers boasts a greater level of interest and expertise on European wine than exists here. South Africa’s best wines are its cabernet sauvignon-based reds, the finest of which present bright flavours and elegant, supple textures bound with tight, powdery tannins. Recent improvements have enhanced richness and ripeness of fruit, without the aggressive tannins that often accompany it. Its leading makers presently include Morgenhof, Thelema, Le Riche, Vergelegen, Neil Ellis and Cordoba. A name to keep an eye out for is Morgenster, a dramatic project focused towards a single estate red, the first of which will be assembled from the 2000 vintage. Owned by Giulio Bertrand, an Italian trader in textiles whose friends include leading Italian winemaker Angelo Gaja, Morgenster has access to the blending skills of Pierre Lurton, cellarmaster to the exceptional St-Emilion estate of Cheval Blanc. Unashamedly modelled on the wines of St-Emilion, Morgenster should become an international standard-bearer for South African wine. As we are ourselves finding with merlot, this variety is also proving troublesome for the majority of Cape winemakers. Veering either to the green and weedy or to the tough and extracted, most South African merlot amply misses the mark, although Thelema and Havana Hills have however made some very fine New World expressions of the grape. Just as the Americans are attempting to hope aboard the shiraz bandwagon, South African vigernons have planted the grape like a weed. It’s everywhere, and to this time is all over the place. Makers are too keen either to ape a wine unashamedly French or Australian in style, resulting in a raft of wines that parody both. As soon as they listen closely to what their vineyards are telling them – and some of the sites would appear to be very suited to shiraz – Australia might have a rival. Well do I remember the Stellenzicht Shiraz from 1994, a wine that an entire team of visiting Australians claimed to a person was not only Australian, but a top example of our shiraz. It wasn’t. Other leading makers today include Neil Ellis, Spice Route and Delheim. As for the other red Rhone varieties of grenache and mourvedre, there’s a lot happing around the Cape. Some pretty serious wines are being put together, of which one of the most convincing is from Fairview and is actually labelled ‘Goats do Roam’, a wonderfully tongue in cheek send up of ‘Cotes-du-Rhone’ and a huge hit in the UK. South Africa’s indigenous red grape, pinotage (a cross between pinot noir and carignan), appears to occupy an unusual place in the mindset of its winemakers. The grape has a well-known tendency to produce banana-like and nail-polish-like aromas if unchecked, but South Africa has an untapped wealth of old bush vine plantings of this grape capable of wonderfully distinctive, briary and robust red wines. An alarming number of its makers appear to be trying too hard to hide its nature beneath an impenetrable cloak of tannin and extract, but recent wines from Fairview, Grangehurst, Kaapzicht Steyler, Spice Route and Kanonkop have more elegance and approachability. With only a relatively small number of sites presently producing relatively cool-climate fruit, South Africa has only two very serious makers of pinot noir – Hamilton Russell and its neighbour at Hermanus, Bouchard Finlayson – whose wines would stand up anywhere. Of all the South African chardonnays I recently tasted, only Bouchard Finlayson’s showed poise and elegance. Most are simply over-ripe and marmalade-like, cribbed together wine over-done oak and malolactive influences. The country’s sparkling wines, the best of which are known as Methode Cap Classique, line up pretty well with mid-range Australian wines. The best I tasted was from Pongracz, a fine, tight and minerally non-vintage that would give our best a run for their money. Given that South African sauvignon blanc is surprisingly fresh and varietal – unlike most of its competitors from Australia – I am astonished by the South African pre-occupation with its ubiquitous workhorse white variety of chenin blanc. While the small number of premium chenins are bracingly taut and racy, the vast bulk simply devalue the country’s wine currency. Australian winemakers, no doubt, are hoping for no sudden change in attitude or outcome. Similarly forgettable are the plethora of clumsily over-ripe and over-oaked South African semillons, which simply prove that the Barossa was right to move on from this outdated style. I’d encourage as many readers as possible to develop an interest in South African wines. They’re not easy to find, but they’re very good value against what we make here, especially with top-end cabernet. Jeremy Oliver’s Ten Best South African Wines Axe Hill Cape Vintage (Port) Bouchard Finlayson Missionvale Chardonnay Bouchard Finlayson Tete du Cuvee Pinot Noir Grangehurst Pinotage Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir Le Riche Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Plaisir de Merle Cabernet Sauvignon Thelema Reserve Merlot Vergelegen Estate Red Vergelegen Schaarpenberg Sauvignon Blanc
