News
November 10, 2006
Perdeberg’s Premium Blends are SA Wine Industry’s Trailblazers
The rugged terroir of the Perdeberg in the Swartland region is steadily gaining a reputation as the home ground of some of South Africa’s top blended wines, says Alex Dale, founder of The Winery, which has just released the second vintage of its successful Black Rock red and white blends.
“In an over-traded wine market South Africa’s premium blends are rising above the clamour to be noticed as exceptional wines – and revealingly many of these come from the Perdeberg.”
He cites The Sadie Family’s Columella and Palladius and The Observatory’s shiraz/carignan blends as examples of other blended wines from the region that have attracted considerable attention.
“The beauty of the Perdeberg wines is that they are often made from grapes grown on old bush vines – many of them at least 40 years old. These vines can withstand the dry heat of the area and draw their moisture and nutrients from deep down in the granitic subsoils via root systems over 10 metres deep.”
These tough conditions do not intimidate The Winery’s winemaking team which is led by partner and Dale’s winemaking mentor Edouard Labeye who has extensive experience working with the same varietals in similar climatic conditions in the Rhone and Languedoc.
“His input with the Black Rock blends has been tremendous and has given us the confidence to be very non-interventionist.”
Dale says that the 2005 vintage was exceptionally hot on the Perdeberg, with temperatures often close to 50 degrees.
In other areas of the Cape such conditions would have caused vines to shut down and to go into survival mode, but these un-irrigated old bushvines in the Perdeberg are so accustomed to these conditions they not only survive, but still produce excellent fruit.
The mineral environment from which the deep root system obtains its nutrients and water means that the surrounding minerality permeates into the fruit. This helps to produce wines with lower ph and better natural balance, while retaining exceptional minerality and fruit while also reflecting the fynbos flavours of the terroir.
Dale says the winemaker’s stylistic thumbprint is absent in these Black Rock blends as the site dominates completely. “This is perhaps a welcome change to so many plastic- surgery wines we see in the market today.”
The conditions in 2005 meant less fruit for the Black Rock red blend – 1 850 cases were produced, as against 2 100 cases of the 2004 vintage. There are 1 500 cases of the white blend, with yields of only 18hl /ha versus 1700 cases in 2004. The largest allocation of 20% of these wines has been kept for the South African market, with the balance being shared among 20 foreign countries.
Dale says that a large proportion of these wines will be consumed in restaurants because their flavours have attracted much interest from many leading sommeliers and chefs in South Africa and internationally.
Both blends are under screwcap and retail for about R90.
Dale adds: “We have intentionally kept pricing at a reasonable level, as we want these wines to be drunk and enjoyed and not collected. Many SA premium blends in SA are expensive which could be why sales of some wines in this category are faltering. It would be in everyone’s interest for consumers to drink these blends more regularly. We want to reward our consumers not punish them.”
Dale stresses that the entire wine-making process for these wines acknowledged from the outset that they would be sealed under screwcaps. “Due to some of the varieties in the Black Rock blends being so reductive we allow for lower sulphur and reduced CO2 in the bottled product, making the wine even more spontaneous and natural.
“To successfully use screwcaps it is essential to adapt the wine-making and maturation process so the wine doesn’t react adversely with the closure. Changing from cork to screwcap cannot be done at the last minute as these closures are not fully interchangeable without amending your approach slightly – most often to the distinct benefit of the wine.”
The Black Rock white blend 2005 comprises Chenin Blanc (69%), Chardonnay(26%) and Viognier (5%) in what Dale believes is one of the few Cape Chenin premium blends produced.
In the 2005 Black Rock red blend the vintage encouraged four percent each of Mourvedre and Viognier being blended and co-fermented respectively into the main components of Shiraz (60%), Carignan (23%) and Grenache (9%). In 2004, the Mourvedre, for example, didn’t attain the same depth and detracted from the harmony of the blend, leading to its exclusion.
The recent acquisition of a shareholding in The Winery by premium Australian producer Yalumba (Australia’s oldest and largest family owned winery) was in-part brought-about by the latter’s keen interest in the success of the Black Rock wines.
Owner and CEO of Yalumba Robert Hill-Smith remarked: “We were taken aback by the uniqueness in character and flavours of these blends. They looked like nothing we’d seen before in the market from South Africa. Many Australian wine producers don’t consider South Africa much of a threat but, with wines such as these up against them, there will genuinely be cause for reflection. These are exciting wines.”
Ends
Note to Editors:
The Winery produces four distinct ranges reflecting entirely separate styles and vineyard sites. The heart of the wine-making team has created wines together in South Africa since 1998. Founder Alex Dale is British-born and French-raised, Ben Radford is Australian, Edouard Labeye is French and Heather Whitman is South African. New shareholder Robert Hill-Smith of Yalumba is also Australian.
The wines:
Radford Dale Wines are made in limited quantities to exacting standards in Stellenbosch, South Africa and Eden Valley, Australia. The range comprises Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, Shiraz, Shiraz/Viognier and the flagship Gravity (a Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Merlot blend). All Stellenbosch wines of origin are from vineyards on the slopes of the Helderberg. The wines retail from R85 to R200.
Black Rock, launched onto the market in April 2005, made in the Swartland from grapes grown in predominantly dryland, bushvines all on the slopes of the Perdeberg. A red blend of Shiraz, Carignan, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Viognier, and a white blend of Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay & Viognier make up this very focused and individual range. Retailing at R90.
Vinum combines quality and individualism to produce excellent value varietal wines from Stellenbosch – focusing on Cabernet Sauvignon and old bush vine Chenin Blanc. The wines retail from R50 to R60.
The Winery of Good Hope is an unpretentious, yet stylish and quality-driven range. The wines express vitality and drinkability and are from grapes grown in areas from Stellenbosch to Elgin through to the Breede River. The range comprises Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot and Pinot Noir. The wines generally retail from R29 to R39
Issued on behalf of:
The Winery of Good Hope, Stellenbosch
Alex Dale | 021-855-5528 | 083-453-0053 |
Issued by:
Web Words, Cape Town
Marian Shinn | 021-788-5011 | 082-831-2429 |