Fiery times

Friday, February 4th, 2011

Wine magazine’s Chenin Blanc Challenge lunch was held at Overture restaurant at Hidden Valley last week. From its rather spectacular perch on the slopes of the Helderberg all the guests were afforded fantastic vistas over Stellenbosch and as far as Table Mountain and even to Paarl mountain’s distinctive granite dome in the distance.

It was rather ominous, therefore, to note how many rising plumes of smoke there were… One fire appeared to flare up rather quickly in the vicinity of the Bottelary Hills and Fort Simon winemaker Stander Maas was ready to forfeit his lunch if needed to go and fight fires. Luckily it was extinguished pretty quickly so he got to enjoy a damn fine lunch and a few moments in the spotlight since “his” wine (Fort Simon Chenin Blanc 2009) was effectively second overall to Perdeberg’s Rex Equus 2008.

But the lunch also afforded the opportunity of chatting to a few winemakers about the 2011 harvest. Most were pretty antsy and ready for things to kick into high gear while the one or two who make bubbly already had one or two loads of grapes in the cellar.

The general consensus is that 2011 is going to be a bit of curate’s egg – good in parts… Winter rainfall was about 25% to 40% down on average so groundwater levels are not as good as they should be. Climatic indicators were good initially with a slow steady start in September or October. But then came November and December with high winds. Some figures presented at a VinPro information day indicated that Stellenbosch hasn’t had such harsh winds since 1968! There have been odd patches of rain at the wrong time which has lead to some fungus and disease pressure for the vines. Berry set – particularly for producers on the Helderberg – was not great and consequently bunches are large and loosely formed with quite small berries. One winemaker said 2011 is going to be a year in which the men are separated from the boys. “If people make wine according to a formula or a recipe book they’re going to come short! They’ll end up with a tannic mess because the berries are small and the pip and skin to pulp ratio is higher than normal.”

You have been warned…

One other rather interesting snippet of information came from Kanu winemaker Johann Grimbeek. Mulderbosch and Kanu used to both be under the Hydro Holdings banner until Mulderbosch was sold to American Charles Banks. Turns out there’s been the proverbial lock, stock and barrel move for Kanu since the two wineries have switched physical locations!

Kanu winery is now where Mulderbosch cellar was and vice versa. Grimbeek is happy with the switch since the cellar is smaller and will be easier to keep hygienic. One thing he won’t miss is the pigeons!