"The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Kayetan Meissner — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 22:33:01 GMT

Wow! Thank you fellow Sommelier's for such positive comments. As a Somm based in the Cape Winelands of South Africa, the article and comments above bring a huge smile to my face. I think that Wines of South Africa have done a terrific job in promoting our wines in the face of extreme competition from other parts of the world. It is only through wonderful Somm's like yourselves that South Africa can be 'upgraded' from that category of cheap and cheerful to serious contender on the world stage. Most of the producers mentioned in this article are leading the way, but there are also many other quality focused producers too small to budget for a trade show like this.

I think the massive change we have seen in the past decade has been brought about by (mostly) young, well travelled and willing to experiment winemakers. They also have had a good eye to spot old vineyards, rehabilitate them and produce concentrated, rich and most importantly balanced wines. The older generation of winemakers find themselves at a crossroads, they are jealous of the attention given to these winemakers and rightly so, the same recipe of winemaking that they learnt in the 80's and early 90's is decaying and producing stale, uninteresting and boring wines. Just look at the perception of Pinotage, at least now there is hope that Professor Perold's legacy of a grape can become something than just burnt rubber and nail polish remover. One prodcuer whom I recommend for Pinotage is Scali, a very small prodcuer located in the Voor Paardeberg (translated as before the Horse Mountains - there are no more Zebra here anymore) ward of the district Paarl. Unfortunately at total production of 2000 cases annually US representation will be scarce.

I also noted how positive everyone was towards Pinot Noir from Hemel-en-Aarde Valley/Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley/Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge (Hemel-en-Aarde means Heaven on Earth - it is THAT beautiful) wards within the Walker Bay District, particularly Crystallum's. It's great that Somm's are partial to new world style Pinot Noir, many of my colleagues locally here in the Somm fraternity are not to sanguine on Pinot Noir in South Africa as they feel it is too hot here to plant such a varietal, once again proven wrong by the many outstanding comments.

Lastly the Swartland (translated as Black Earth - origin is still a mystery). These are the producers at the forefront of a revolution in South African winemaking. For me, the Swartland Independents Movement (including the likes of Adi Badenhorst, Eben Sadie, Chris & Andrea Mullineux, Callie Louw of Porseleinberg and of course Craig Hawkins of Lammershoek) and the wines emanating therefrom are the most exciting event to have occured in South African winemaking since Jan van Riebeeck first pressed grapes here in 1659. The hard work and the risks that these individuals took have paid massive dividends. These are the first true to terroir wines that South Africa has produced and if you see any of their wines in the US/Europe, grab and taste and you will know what I mean. Craig from Lammershoek in particular is producing superlative juice and experimenting in genius ways.

The future looks great indeed for South Africa wine from here, so enough writing and let's get drinking. Vinous regards,

Kayetan

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Michael Mighetto Hoefling — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 05:02:53 GMT

Great write-up! I did a South African tasting last year, which was my first introduction to Pinotage and "goat-rotie". I did not find the selection of wine that I had favorable. Although, last night I tasted through 15+ South African wines, all from Stellenbosch, some Walker Bay. I must say, I found these wines to all be of high quality. I was very surprised. Blind tasted Chenin Blanc that I would of swore was Chardonnay with new barrel influences. The wines were nuanced and showed complexity. Kanonkop Pinotage was delightful. Producers represented at my tasting were Ken Forester, Fairview, DeMorgenzon, Neil Ellis, Southern Right, Hamilton Russell. I'm so glad to see the quality improving in South Africa. As a somm, I would highly recommend using these in blind tastings.

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Ronald Plunkett — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 19:10:32 GMT

I was very impressed by the how well the South African Sauvignon Blancs were showing. If I had to pick a favorite it would be the 2012 Waterkloof Peacock Ridge Sauvignon Blanc. The wine had notes of green apple skin, gooseberry and grapefruit with flinty mineral note and a long finish. One of the many highlights of the trip was meeting somms from all over the country it was great getting to know them. I made many new friends on the trip.

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Ronald Plunkett — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 18:43:16 GMT

Awesome Trip! First of I would like to thank the Guild and the WOSA for sponsoring the trip. I found the seminars to be highly educational ,especially The Ageing Gracefully Seminar presented by Ronan Sayburn MS.

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Marissa Payne — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 18:30:37 GMT

Beautiful South was a really wonderful opportunity to see the full spectrum of South African wines. I was delighted with some of the findings on this trip, especially with a country that its share of wines imported into the US last year was 1.2 percent. This was a rare opportunity to be heavily exposed to wines that I had not crossed paths with!

For myself, the winners of the South African portion of the tasting were the aromatic whites, I found Rieslings and Gewürztraminers to be very expressive. Paul Cluver Riesling ‘Close Encounter’ (which is named from its vineyard’s too-close-for-comfort proximity to train tracks) was a stand out with a “Clare Valley-esque” nose, crisp and slightly tart palate – green apple, green apple skin, honey suckle, sweet lime and lemon. I found Jordan to also make a very promising Riesling, and as I spoke to their rep about the growing number of South African wineries making Rieslings I was surprised that only two had brought them to be represented at the Beautiful South. The lack of representation after seeing the quality was a little disheartening but it is something I will keep a look out for in the states.

Outside of the show, what I did notice at majority of the restaurants in London was the clear representation of not only South African wines on the wine list, but also Chilean and Argentinian – not just by the bottle but also by the glass. UK, being the lead importer of South African wines, it was an interesting comparison to US wine lists. However, make sure to remember your USD to GBP conversion that glass of wine might set you back $20... :)

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 05:26:50 GMT

Wow, where to start? "The Beautiful South" trip was a trip that I will never forget. I am thankful to the Guild and to WOSA for such an incredible educational experience.

Working in a steakhouse, there is definitely no concentration on South African wines, and it is very easy to get lost in the rest of the list and more familiar regions. I myself knew going on this trip would better help me familiarize myself with the latest and greatest that South Africa has to offer.

I too attended Master Ronan Sayburn’s seminar on old vintages and their aging potential. In this seminar we tasted two wines from South America, Argentina, and Chile.

I was pleasantly surprised when tasting Chile’s Coyam 2001 Valle Central. (Biodynamic Vineyards, close to the Indian foothills, and very holistic) The wine tasted of licorice, cassis, black currant, and chocolate with well-rounded tannins. The wine is aging well and still has a few years.

From South Africa, we tasted:

Bouchard Finlayson Galpin Peak PN 1995. This winery is in Walker Bay, about 60 miles from Cape town. 13%alc…..this was a tricky one…as it does not come off as a PN from the nose.

Meerlust Rubicon 1998 Stellenbosch – definitely a food wine…tasted of cedar, tobacco, and dark stewed fruit. The wine was holding up decently well, but it was most definitely time to drink it.

Some of the “wow” wines and producers for me were Graham Beck (Amazing sparkling wines), Crystallum (small family owned winery in Walker Bay), Shannon, and Springfield Estates 2006 Methode Ancienne. Just phenomenal juice.

London itself was a beautiful city, that I will most definitely revisit in my future travels. Thank you again to the Guild and WOSA.

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Emily Harrington — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 01:31:38 GMT

The key to getting more quality SA wine into the US may be through the promotion of Sauvignon Blanc and other white varieties. With NZ on fire, and SB in general on the rise, quality white wines may be the key to changing perceptions of US importers/distributors.

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Jim Fink — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 19:58:43 GMT

Thank you for the opportunity. It was such a great experience. The overall event itself was quite impressive, but some of the highlights for me were the seminars. The aging gracefully seminar really showed the quality of production and aging potential of these wines coming out of the Southern Hemisphere.

Another highlight were some of the wines at the "old vines" table. Boekenhoutskloof Chenin Blanc is coming from 67 year old vines! Amazing stuff.

Some of my favorite producers out of South Africa are:

Mullineux, Ataraxia, Crystallum, Shannon Vineyards, Jordan & De Wetsof.

My concern or pain point is the availability of some of these particular producers in the US. I spoke with several of my distributors that do direct import & none of them are interested. Their opinion is that SA is a dying breed and they don't want them in their portfolio's. While this is a small minded view, it has major implications for these wineries or the SA market in general. How do we get importers to change their minds on bringing in the "average at best" wines and focusing more on the wineries that are making quality wine? This is where we will all struggle in the US, if we can't get the really good wines then we will never get anyone to realize that South Africa is more than Pinotage!

Again Matt thank you to the Guild for this great opportunity. I am going to continue to push for better access to these wines. I look forward to hopefully being lucky enough to be picked for other enrichment trips to further my education and to prepare me for the Advanced & Masters exam.

Forever Grateful to the Guild.

Jim Fink

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Pascaline Lepeltier — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 05:27:18 GMT

thanks guys for these great comments, perspectives and thoughts

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Chris Birnie-Visscher — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 03:40:57 GMT

The 'Beautiful South' trip was absolutely fantastic and extremely educational. On our first evening together, we had the pleasure of dining with winemakers from PIWOSA. The PIWOSA stands for Premium Independent Wineries of South Africa. This group formed in January 2013, represents15 wineries who is leading in quality wines. (Ken Forrester, Mulderbosch, Paul Cluver to name a few). As a group, we were able to learn in person where the South African wine industry is heading. The South African wine industry has a great future ahead of it, thanks to the PIWOSA. The website is http://www.piwosa.com/.

Day 1:

I spent the entire first day visiting only South African wineries. Being in Miami, I have an much easier access to taste Chilean & Argentine wines. I wanted to focus my attention on wines that are not as easily accessible. My first visits included all wineries from the PIWOSA. All the wines were delicious & eye-opening. There were a few that REALLY stood out:

1. Mullineux Family Wines: As Master Bates stated above, Mullineux is putting Swartland on the radar (if it wasn't already). Andrea & Chris Mullineux are making fantastic Chenin Blanc at a surreal value. They also make two Syrah's named 'Granite' & 'Schist', both beautifully perfected wines. The best part is these wines are extremely valuable and cost effective! (Straw wine is $12.50 per 375 mL)

- Mullineux White Blend - One of my favorites of the entire trip. Neutral oak with notes of honey and lively acidity! 76% CB, 16% Clairette, 8% Viognier

2. Ataraxia Suavignon Blanc 2013: Initially, I felt this was a wine from Pouilly-Fume. Smoky, Flinty, mineral driven, leesy, with subtle pyrazeenes. (Unfortunate, his wines are not imported into USA)

3. Winery of Good Hope - Making wines throughout South Africa, this panel opened my eyes.

- Radford Dale 'Renaissance Chenin Blanc' - Barrel fermented, 20% New FO, 500 L, Notes of Honey, white peach, great minerality and lively acidity.

- Radford Dale 'Black Rock' - 94% Syrah, 5% Cinsault, 1% Carignan: Juicy, spicy, black pepper, game..reminds me of well made Northern Rhone Syrah! This wine is from Swartland, again show the attention given to this area.

4. Paul Cluver Wines

- 2012 Gewurztraminer, Elgin - This wine received awards & press from Decanter in August and was very eager to try, 12% ABV, M+ Acid, touch of R/S. Another top performer from South African. Lychees, Mangos, guava, rose petals with lively acidity and medium alcohol. Extremely balanced and a long finish! This wine is through Stacole and is $13.00 a bottle in US.

Other notables:

Vinimark: The largest independent, wine Wholesale Company in SA.

Boekenhoutskloof Syrah 2011: SV, 100% Syrah - Another Syrah resembling NR qualities.

Springfield Estate 'Methode Ancienne' Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Before I arrived to London, my beliefs were that South Africa was making quality wine. After Day 1, my thoughts were confirmed 10 fold. The wines, from sparkling to dessert, are stunning and a great value. The most disappointing note I found was the representation in the USA. Many of the wineries do not have representation in the US, due to previous conflicts with importers. Hopefully in near future, importers will see the value and diversity in SA wines and start importing more.

On a final note, London is a beautiful historic city to explore. The weather can be dreadful, but the attractions are worth visiting, regardless of the weather. The subway system is the best I have ever seen. We never waited more then a minute for our connecting train. The British Museum is worth the visit alone!

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Liz Dowty — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 00:44:33 GMT

Jill Z, I love you for the Mean Girls reference (and countless others...)

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Greg Rivera — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 15:46:43 GMT

This was quite an educational experience in many levels! The London trip gave our group the best opportunity for a comprehensive tasting of South African, Argentine, and Chilean wines short of going to the countries themselves. In this post, I will focus my comments to the South African tasting experience and my thoughts on the winemaking future of WOSA members. Yet, if this was a truly Southern Hemisphere tasting, what happened to Australia and New Zealand?

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the wines coming from South Africa. The talent in winemaking and the focus on enhancing the quality and typicity of the wines was evident across the board. In the two days that I spent tasting, I stopped by 40 South African producers (tables) and can honestly say that I enjoyed the wines of 36 of them. To echo Chris Tanghe MS comments, South Africa's cool climate Chenin Blancs and Sauvignon Blancs are absolutely delicious. They exhibited freshness and targeted fruit flavours with structure and balance that will appeal to all readers of this forum. I particularly enjoyed samples from Mullineaux (a Chenin Blanc and Clairette blend with some oak treatment) as well as Ken Forrester's and AA Bradenhorst "Secatur's" Chenin Blancs. Regionally speaking, of particular interest were the Pinot Noirs and white wine offerings coming from the Hemel-en-Aarde ward; good things are happening in that narrow appellation north of Walker Bay. As mentioned previously by others, Crystallum's "Cuvee Cinema" Pinot Noir was also one of my Pinots from South Africa.

The most surprising to me was the much-improved taste (or state) of the Pinotage wines that I tasted. I can tell you that when I tasted Radford Dale's "Frankestein" 2012 and Ken Forrester's Pinotage 2012, my opinion of that varietal was changed. The wines were vibrant, flavorful, and structurally sound, without the off-putting notes and aromas typically associated with Pinotage (burnt rubber, gaminess, etc.). I asked the winemakers if there was a concerned effort/reason for this positive turn and they mentioned that use of older vines, lower yields, cooler climate sourcing and meticulous (read cleaner) winemaking were some of the reasons for the improvements in Pinotage production. Yet, will this affect the "typicity" that we associate to Pinotage? Perhaps; but in this instance, it is much welcomed! I also tasted several Pinotage-based roses that were absolutely delicious and will include the names of the wineries in question on a separate post.

I also enjoyed a number of sparkling wines (Cap Classique) coming from regions such as Walker Bay (Graham Beck), Robertson (De Westhof), and Constantia (of Vin de Constance fame). The quality-to-price ration of these sparklers was excellent across the board. I also enjoyed the Bordeaux blend offerings from several wineries, but deemed Cederberg's Cabernet Sauvignon (high altitude vineyards) one of my favorites (tasted it during one of our dinners and found it the perfect pairing for the braised lamb). Last but not the least, dessert (sweet) wines...Mulderbosch "Noble" LH Sauvignon Blanc 2009 was awesome! It exhibited intense aromas of ripe peach, orange marmalade, apricot and bees wax, with sound structure and balanced acidity. Klein Constantia's "Vin de Constance" 2007 was equally delicious with ripe tropical flavours, citrus, ginger, and slight nutty notes. Truly amazing!

Finally, let's talk about London...historical, cosmopolitan, clean, wet, culturally diverse, and extremely expensive. The weather was terrible that week (rainy and cold), but again, it was London. The 'Underground" system is the way to get around. I have never been to a city with a cleaner, easier-to-navigate, and timely commute rail system! At 7 pounds per day, it was the deal of the week! Be advised, London is a very expensive city to visit, so do not take a cab unless you have money to burn. I made it a point to travel to London a couple of days early to catch the "must-see" attractions; Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, British Museum, Picadilly Circus, Abbey Road, etc. We used the Underground to get to all of them. Most historical stops such as Churchill's Underground Bunker or Westminster's Abbey will set you back $25 to $30 per person; ouch!!! The British Museum is free, but the special exhibits are not. My fellow South Florida Somm buddy Christopher Visser and I visited several wine shops in the city and found the wines pricey. We agreed that we could get almost all the wines that we saw cheaper or about the same price here in the USA. Most surprising was the fact that we could buy Scotch cheaper here in Florida that in London!

Nevertheless, the trip was great and the opportunity to learn and meet new friends priceless. I truly recommend it to all. Next post...Argentina and Chile.

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Emily Harrington — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 04:17:29 GMT

Fantastic summaries, everybody! Incredibly informative and thorough. Wish that there were more highlights like these for some of the other Guild trips.

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Kelly Wooldridge — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 22:43:06 GMT

After a couple of days to meander about the UK, including a whiskey tasting at Berry Brothers & Rudd and a stroll of Windsor's long-walk (complete with soaking rain and Cuban cigar) I was ready to do some serious tasting. First stop, Cap Classique from Graham Beck Winery. In addition to their significant philanthropic endeavors, they make some damn fine bubbly, some aged en tirage in excess of 22 months and all composed of Chardonnay and Pinot noir. A lovely, dry rosé of Touriga Franca from The Drift Estate came next. From there I stumbled across the great Crystallum wines mentioned earlier and then I endeavored to find some serviceable Riesling. After searching through what felt like thousands of wines I came to Jordan (marketed in the US as Jardin) and they offered a delightful, buoyant Riesling. All peaches and lime zest with zippy acidity and a perceptible and well-managed level of residual sugar. Also delicious was Paul Cluver's Elgin Riesling. Like the Jordan, it was bouncy and wonderfully balanced. And while lingering over the exceptionally-dense wines of Springfield Estate I had the exceptional pleasure of chatting (ever so briefly) with Jancis Robinson. This was a wonderful and singular experience, allowing a great opportunity to taste wines I had never heard of or seen. What I was left with over the course of our days in London was that South Africa (and to a certain extent, Chile) is grappling for a way to express its true identity, and to find the balance between honoring what they perceive as their winemaking traditions and the need for a successful international presence. As previously noted, a number of producers seem to be eschewing a sense of place and cohesive terroir in favor of ripeness and palate impression. Either way, this was an eye-opening trip and I can't help but be excited about seeing where the wines from these regions go.

RE: "The Beautiful South" London 2013 Trade Tasting: Overall Impressions / Top South African Producers

Josiah Baldivino — Sat, 21 Sep 2013 21:55:09 GMT

This was an eye opening experience across the board. Here is why...

"Hot Damn!" I said as I looked at my flight information from San Francisco to London. 12 hours of travel time, in a middle seat and the in-flight movie was the Great Gatsby (which I thought was a musical and I like those about as much as one would like Spicy Sashimi with Cabernet). "Whatever" I thought "Stop being a diva Josiah" after all this was a paid trip and I was about to go to London and taste some South American/African wines. I did not have a lot of time for the trip as I had to get back to work so I knew I had to be crafty with my time. So as soon as I landed I took a cab to the hotel. We hit traffic and the cab driver smelled like Cab Franc and farts. I wish I had taken the train at that point but it was too late and now I was trapped in an expensive hotbox. I started thinking about the tasting. I have had a ton of South American/African and few had really impressed me. This was a journey that I predicted to be full of pre conceived validations rather than surprises. 75 pounds ($125.14) later I arrived at my hotel and needed to get to the tasting ASAP. I checked in and rushed to room to get fresh for the tasting. Upon getting ready I realized that I forgot toothpaste. “Uh-Oh. Looks like someone is gonna have stank breath” I thought. With no time to get toothpaste I knew that some huge fruit bombs were waiting for me and tasting those would be enough to cover up my nastiness. “All I have to do is check in, beeline for the first table I see and swish some juice in my mouth.” I arrived at the tasting, checked in while talking at a downward angle kinda like Rainman to hide my breath and rushed to the first table I saw. It was the “Up and coming producers” table. I quickly filled my glass with a wine I had never seen before; Crystallum Pinot Noir from South Africa. Just as I did that I saw Steven Spurrier on the other side of the table. He said “Hello” and because of the absence of Colgate in my life I simply nodded. “Nice work Josiah. Way to network” I thought. I then tasted the wine in my glass and that was when the universe started to change for the better. “SH!T” I said out loud. This wine is freaking delicious and it was not the fruit bomb I expected. I poured a taste of the next bottle. This one was the 2009 Meerlust Merlot. “DAMN” this one was really good too. Not too much ABV, a seamless balance of fruit/acid and you could actually taste some nuance. I was kinda pissed because my breath was not being covered up by the wines I expected but this was a beautiful moment. I spent the rest of the tasting being surprised by some real gems. For me South Africa represented to the fullest. The rest of the trip was absolutely phenomenal and the city of London is not too shabby either. This ended up being one of the best wine trips I had ever been on especially after I bought some toothpaste and brushed my teeth.