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Geoffrey Dean: memories of working a vintage in Stellenbosch

Published:  01 March, 2012

Pewter wine labels are classy, right? Well, Roman Abramovich certainly decided they were when he visited Stellenbosch winery Camberley last year, liked what he saw (and tasted) - and got owner John Nel to
design new labels, also made of the silver-coloured metal, on his
reserve merlot with the Russian billionaire's crest on them (not the
Chelsea one I should add). The affable Nel, as sociable and
hospitable as they come in the Western Cape, has been dining out on
the story ever since.

Pewter wine labels are classy, right? Well, Roman Abramovich certainly decided they were when he visited Stellenbosch winery Camberley last year, liked what he saw (and tasted) - and got owner John Nel to
design new labels, also made of the silver-coloured metal, on his
reserve merlot with the Russian billionaire's crest on them (not the
Chelsea one I should add). The affable Nel, as sociable and
hospitable as they come in the Western Cape, has been dining out on
the story ever since.

You hear all sorts of amusing anecdotes - as well as a few
viticultural secrets - working a harvest in South Africa, a country
with legions of characters in its wine industry. Having done my first
vintage in the Western Cape a year ago, a second one was a natural
sequitur after acceptance onto the MW programme and the consequent
need to embrace viticultural anorak tendencies.

In the sunny Swartland where I was getting my hands dirty, the harvest
started as early as the last week of January. North of Cape Town, it
is several degrees hotter than Stellenbosch, grapes ripening two to four  weeks
more quickly and prompting the likes of Adi Badenhorst, Eben Sadie and
Chris Mullineux to pick before sugar levels become too high.

This brilliant trio of youngish winemakers have led the so-called Swartland
Revolution, arguing a strong case with their wines that the best syrah
and chenin blanc in South Africa comes from this hot and achingly
beautiful district.

Sadie has been making world-class wines outside South Africa too, but
his success with his reds in Priorat was too much for certain Spanish
locals. Last May, much of his wine from the 2009 and 2010 vintages was
ruined after being sabotaged. Intruders mixed washing powder into the
wine, which was being matured in storage vessels without having been
bottled. No charges whatsoever have been brought by police.

Happily, no such skulduggery would be tolerated in South Africa, many
of whose wine figures have sporting backgrounds and a sense of fair
play. Nel was a former Western Province opening batsman, while three
former Springbok rugby legends - Schalk Burger senior, Hempies du Toit
and Jan Boland Coetzee - are all producing quality wine.

The former's best Syrah grapes from his vineyard just north of Wellington are
bought by Boekenhoutskloof for their acclaimed single varietal
flagship while du Toit's Merlot was served at the royal wedding in
Monaco last year.

When it comes to wine royalty in Stellenbosch, look no further than
Norma Ratcliffe, South Africa's first lady winemaker. Although
retired, she still reigns, matriarch-like, at her family's Warwick
estate and passionately pushes the South African wine industry's
cause. "We're in much better shape than the Aussies - we're not
overproducing and can sell all of our wines," she says proudly.

Watch out for her talented young winemaker at Warwick, Nico van Aarde.
He'd just bottled the 2011 unoaked chardonnay on the morning I called
by to see Norma. I was amazed how fresh its tropical stonefruit
tasted, with no hint of bottle shock.

When I asked him how he'd achieved that, he replied: "I just gave it
some ascorbic acid - 50 parts per million. It brings out the fruit.
That took the total acidity up to 122. If you go over 130, you start
to get reduction."

Oops...sorry if this is getting nerdishly technical. But that's the modern winemaker's lot.

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