The room was so packed that the speakers had to give up their seats at the front to accommodate more of those who came to hear them.
This is what happened at "South Africa Redefined," a master class in South African wines held at République. Sitting on the sidelines, the five winemakers who were going to speak were tired, a few yawns escaped, voices were strained.
And justifiably so. Los Angeles was their last stop on an exhausting one-week promotional tour. The crowding in the tight venue (above) was a good thing. It showed how much interest there is today in South African wines.
The country has moved on from the boycott of its products during apartheid to a resurgence of wine-making. At one stage, winemakers copied the big, juicy, extracted wines produced elsewhere. Now, they're making wines that represent South Africa's own terroir and style.
The five winemakers on the tour brought 11 wines to show what is happening today.
The first up was the 2017 Ramnasgras Cinsault, presented by Adi Badenhorst of A.A. Badenhorst Family Wines (above).The grapes came from a vineyard planted in 1963 in Swartland. "I fell in love with this grape long before I knew what it was," he said, noting that "Cinsault ages fantastically."
Badenhorst's experimental drive has led him beyond wine to produce a South African mezcal, made according to the traditional Oaxacan process. It's not legally mezcal, so it has to go by another name, "The 4th Rabbit."
Sebastian Beaumont of Beaumont Family Wines (above) is known as the "king of Chenin" and brought the Beaumont Hope Marguerite Chenin Blanc 2018. The wine was named for his grandmother and made in an elegant style to reflect her character, he said.
Abrie Beeslaar of Beeslaar & Kanonkop Estate showed the Beeslaar PInotage 2018. In the '90s, Pinotage really took off, and "a lot of bad bottles turned up," he said, adding "you can't make Pinotage with a recipe, but if you get it right it's one of the most rewarding [grapes] to work with."
Graham Weerts of Capensis (above) brought the Capensis 2015 Chardonnay. Born in Cape Town, Weerts moved to California and has dual citizenship. He returned to South Africa to see what he could do with Chardonnay there, seeking land at high elevation for a vineyard.
How did it turn out? "What an amazing expression of the grape this is," was the answer from the audience. Weerts makes just 700 to 1,000 cases of Chardonnay a year.
Eben Sadie of The Sadie Family Wines provided the 2017 Soldaat Grenache Noir. After encountering bad Grenache Noir while working in Spain, Sadie finally found good examples from high altitude vineyards. This inspired him to make the wine himself at a high elevation in South Africa.
His Grenache Noir has done so well that it's "highly allocated," he said, meaning it's hard to get. He made only 4,000 bottles of the 2018, which is less than 400 cases.
The most expensive wine poured was The Sadie Family Wines Palladius 2016, a blend of 11 white varieties from 17 vineyards, priced at $150. In a "very good vintage," Sadie makes less than 1,000 cases of this wine, which can age 10 to 15 years, he said.
Referring to such quality, Sadie (above) said, "When it comes to white wine in the New World, we're happy to take on anybody."
The other wines presented were the Storm Vrede 2016 Pinot Noir, from an area that produces only Pinot Noir and Chardonnay; the Kanonkop Estate Paul Sauer 2015 Bordeaux blend, the Boekenhoutskloof 2015 Syrah, and the Vergelegen Flagship G.V.B. White 2016, which is a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.
The final wine was the Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2015, a rich, honeyed wine made from vine-dried Muscat de Frontignan grapes. Constantia wine has long been admired and referred to by such luminaries as Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.
Today, South Africa has 750 wine producers. The wines are "world class" and attracting foreign investment, said Abrie Beeslaar (above). However, vineyard area has shrunk because growers are not making enough money, he added.
Small production and limited distribution can make the wines hard to find in the United States. The seminar program even stated that the Vergelegen Flagship G.V.B. White is "not available in US."
But Graham Weerts looks on the bright side. There may be minimal distribution, he acknowledged, "but it's telling the correct story," and that story is the focus on vineyard sites, varietals and quality backed up by skilled technology.
Recent Comments