Similarities in different hemispheres
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
After a marathon judging stint overseas it’s good to be home – even if it’s hard getting used to wet and cold winter weather in the Cape. One of the things I did over the weekend was catch up on blogs and happenings in the local wine fraternity. It was fascinating reading the transcript of the Trophy Wine Show (TWS) on WINE magazine’s website (www.winemag.co.za) and noting the synchronicity between that competition’s findings and those of the Decanter World Wine Awards.
In broad strokes, both the TWS and Decanter panels were underwhelmed and disappointed by South African Merlot. Still way too green and leafy. Site selection, clones, crop levels and stress are all given as reasons for its poor performance. Also, Sauvignon Blanc from the lauded 2009 harvest has yet to make its mark – even in higher price brackets. White blends – especially those containing Semillon – showed particularly well. Especially the Cape Point Isliedh with a Trophy at the TWS and a Trophy at Decanter, 2006 and 2008 respectively.
I was a touch more ambivalent about the Shirazes than my fellow panellists. At the TWS they showed well with Eagle’s Nest and newcomer Dunstone from Wellington singled out for greater glory. Ditto for Shiraz at Decanter where the top performer was the 2006 Constitution Road from Robertson Winery. At the Decanter trophy round, the biggest single flight was of Rhône varietals over the 10 pound mark – eight wines in all. And I must admit that separating them required quite a bit of mathematical juggling!
Red blends were a pleasure to taste – straight Cabs less so. Quite a few were overworked – extracted, green, too tannic and overoaked. SA takes a lot of stick for Pinotage but the wines showed far more interest than expected. Good, ripe fruit and succulence. Well made overall but no golds at Decanter while there were three at Trophy – Lanzerac Pionier 2007, Stellenzicht Golden Triangle 2007 and Manley 2005 with Tokara’s 2007 taking the trophy. Interesting to note that all have a few years on them, bottle age possibly bringing the Pinot Noir heritage or pedigree to the fore.
The country’s reputation for sweet wines precedes it so it was a bit disappointing that the noble late harvests and dessert wines on display didn’t yield as rich a crop of rewards as I would have expected. Are local winemakers perhaps guilty of resting on their laurels? All I know is that the sweeties were not as concentrated or as focussed as previous vintages have been. That all important balance of sweetness and sugar with acidity was missing. The Paul Cluver Weisser Riesling still shone at Decanter, winning a regional trophy while a museum class Muscadel – 1988 from Nuy – was the only sweetie to be rewarded with silverware at the TWS.
Screwcaps are definitely more popular at various price points than cork or alternative closures – but the attendant problems of reduction and sulphidation are a consequence. The overall incidence of TCA spoilage was very low.
There was one Malbec which had two Masters of Wine in absolute raptures! And the TWS also found a fantastic Malbec… and it was Doolhof’s 2008 for the former and Vrede en Lust’s Mocholate 2009.