Can SA make great Cabernet Sauvignon?

Cabernet bashing is fashionable in South Africa at the moment and not entirely without reason.  The South African growing season is just so much shorter than it is in Bordeaux and as a result, the ripening process is more abrupt making it difficult to achieve the same subtlety and complexity in the end-wine. A combination of leaf-roll virus and stress in the vineyard further exacerbates the problem.

Fashion also plays a role. Serious Cab is meant to last but we live in an age when most wine gets drunk young. The debate about what constitutes South Africa’s best wine is being driven in large part by a bunch of hip youngsters operating out of the Swartland who aren’t inclined to go near the supposedly fuddy-duddy variety and so again its reputation suffers.

Even so, Cab is South Africa’s second most widely planted variety making up 11.8% of the 100 093ha under vineyard and it will necessarily remain an important part of our offering for a while yet. Can we compete at the top end?

Recently a benchmark tasting at Haskell Vineyards in Stellenbosch, the line-up including the 2007, 2008 and 2009 vintages of the  Bordeaux-style red Haskell IV plus six other wines of some reputation selected by Haskell CEO Grant Dodd, four from Australia (specifically Balnaves of Coonawarr The Tally Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Pierro Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2009, Wantirra Estate Amelia Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2009 and Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon 2010) and two from Bordeaux (Haut Batailley 2009 and Reserve de la Comtesse 2009).

The tasting was conducted blind and the Haskell IV 2007 performed extraordinarily well being the top wine or close to top for many present. What conclusions to draw? There was a general consensus that while an overt “green” character on Cab or Cab-driven wines is not acceptable, a certain herbal quality or “leafiness” is not only acceptable but desirable. Interestingly, the Australian wines tended to show a degree of mintiness which would have many South African winemakers committing harakiri were it to manifest itself on their particular wines but is clearly tolerated over there.

In addition, there was also discussion about how much new oak was appropriate when it came to barrel maturation. The Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 from Margaret River, another much liked wine on the day, featured relatively modest oaking (matured for 14 months, 40% new). This was in contrast to the Haskell wines which were all exposed to more new oak (18 months, approximately 70% new). “I don’t like too much oak character on a wine but the more oak I use, the better the wine seems to keep,” said Haskell winemaker Rianie Strydom.

– Christian Eedes