A Touch of the South
Ξ December 10th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ A Day at a Time, International Terroirs |
So, I have a 5 day business trip in South Africa and I like wine – so far so good! True, I’m in Johannesburg, so nowhere near any of the traditional wine areas, but as the largest city in a tremendous wine making country then this is no great loss. Also, as it’s late November (Summer), by all accounts Cape Town and the vineyards are a nightmare to visit seeing as they’re all full of foreign tourists and holidaying South Africans, which pushes the prices up. Johannesburg, on the other hand, becomes a quiet and more enjoyable home for the remaining residents come Christmas. I am reliably informed that Cape Town is a much better destination in March/April (avoid Easter) or September/October, where the weather may not be perfect but it’s before the hordes descend and the prices ascend.
My local contact and guide is Caroline, a true bon-viveur and is the perfect hostess, making sure I am sufficiently fed and watered during my stay. On my last trip here we visited the opulent bush restaurant, Casalinga for a sedate Sunday lunch of fine food and wine, only mildly interrupted by a helicopter landing during the main course offloading new customers! Most memorable from that afternoon was the Diemersfontein “Summer’s Lease” 2003 Shiraz, Pinotage, Mourverdre.
This trip round the wining and dining is more local. My hotel’s in Montecasino, a slightly kitschy, replica Tuscan town, shopping and entertainment complex in Fourways, just north of Jo’burg.
Here the slightly formal, but ever so good Verdicchios Italian Restaurant is the starting point, with a delicious Oxtail dinner washed down, and complemented, by a spicy La Motte 2004 Shiraz. However the star of the evening was dessert, in my case a glass of South African Port, a 2002 Allesverloren (all is lost). This was a mere baby, still with noticeable tannins behind the sweet raisins, but showing exciting promise. The wine had hints of Madeira dryness and is a blend of Tinta Barocca, Souzao, Pontac, Malvasia Rey, Tinta Röritz, Tinta Francisca and Touriga Naçional varieties.
Caroline explained that although Port style wines have been made here for hundreds of years the improvement in quality and age worthiness of the ones over the last decade are becoming noticed at home and, hopefully soon, internationally. Allesverloren is from Swartland, in the Robertson region, but it is Calitzdorp, in the Klein Karoo that has a terroir matching the Douro region of Portugal, so it is logical that Port style wines should be produced here.
While the name Port is still used domestically there is an agreement with the European Union to phase out the use of the word by 2007 for the export market and by 2014 at home. The South African Port Producers association SAPPA has an excellent website explaining a bit more of the history of this wine .
With this in mind I was on the lookout for a South African Port when we stopped by the local Bottle-shop, the excellent Bootleggers Liquor Merchants at Fourways crossing Retail Centre, to choose what I was bringing home with me this trip. Whilst they are short on international wines the selection of local producers is wonderful and more than makes up for the fact I’m nowhere near a winery! I picked up a Boplass Cape Tawny Port, Calitzdorp. 
This is 100% Tinta Barocca matured for 12 years in Portuguese oak barrels, 19% abv. and as the winner of several internal S.A. wine awards it promises to be a steal at £4.50 ($9).
As I wandered the store another label caught my eye, the distinctive yellow Capriciousness of Goats do Roam 2006, Paarl, Wine of Origin Coastal Region. 14.5% abv. 
The GDR winery is (in)famous for its wordplay on French equivalents, with the range including Goat Roti (Shiraz/Viognier), Goats do Roam in Villages (Viognier, Grenache Blanc, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc) and Goat Door (Chardonnay). However in 2003 the French did not find this so funny and the Institut National des Appellations de Origine (INAO) decided to file a lawsuit to prevent the registration of the name in the US. Apart from getting great free publicity the lawsuit fizzled out and winemaker Charles Back continues to make enjoyable, light-hearted wines out of the Paarl (Coastal) Region.
Innovative winemaker Back also has the Fairview and Spice Route ranges and is at the forefront of creating South African Icon wines, with his Spice Route Malabar (Rhone blend with Pinotage) taking an International trophy at this year’s Decanter Awards. Having heard so much about Goats do Roam, and needing something to sip on in the hotel that night, I bought one. The dominant variety is Shiraz, blended with Pinotage and Mourvèdre and it was a vibrant purple colour with an earthy, slightly spicy & mint aspect, really smooth in the mouth with a nice tannic mid-palate and a good finish of cherry wood. Apparently this is the biggest selling S.A. wine label in the US and here for less than £3 ($6) this was a lovely drink and typical of the quality of wines you get locally for good prices.
The final choices were easy. After the meal the previous night I instantly noticed the La Motte Shiraz 2005. 14% abv. Wine of Origin Western Cape, Franschoek Valley. A Gold medal winner at the 2007 Concours Mondial in Bruxelles this set me back £7 ($14). Lastly a colleague at work had asked me to look out for a good quality Merlot, and the attendant at the bottle-shop suggested the Durbanville Hills 2005 Rhinofields Reserve Merlot. 14% abv. Wine of Origin Durbanville. The winery overlooks Table Mountain and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent his time in prison during the Apartheid years. This came in at £6 ($12) and the buying was done for the week.
The Italian dining theme continued the next night at Tony’s Spaghetti Grill , also in Fourways. A dry Boschendal 2007 Blanc de Noir Rose (32 % Merlot, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon,21.5% Shiraz, 16.5% Ruby Cabernet, and 7% Pinot noir) complemented good, hearty Italian fare.
A late lunch towards the end of the week was at Kyoto Japanese Restaurant (part of the Tokyo Sky club at Cedar Square Shopping Centre, Fourways View). To complement a selection of fantastic sushi we had a superb Graham Beck Cap Classique, the South African Method Traditionelle sparkling wine. This was their non-vintage Brut, a very drinkable Pinot Noir Chardonnay blend coming in at £9 ($18) – that’s the restaurant price. The less than extortionate mark-up in South African restaurants, about double the retail price, is another reason to enjoy more and better wine with your meals here, especially as that retail price is significantly less than equivalent European and US prices.
South Africa is definitely the place to try and buy good wine whether you’re here on business or pleasure, and you soon realised that the selection we see on the shelves back home is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what this country has to offer. With nearly 450 years of winemaking history the locals know how good their wines are, the rest of the world is still finding out.
Greybeard
