Sadie’s Swartland Old Vines Series

"Make wine like tea, not like coffee"; ‘Putting wine in barrel is putting barrel inside wine’". These sayings sum up the winemaking philosophy of Eben Sadie, one of the most passionate South African winemakers I have been lucky enough to meet. He said he used to make big, pitch dark, oaky wines but now prefers to see finesse and elegance in a wine, without too much extraction (hence making wine like tea, not coffee). Of course he uses oak, but only old big, old barrels.

Eben has actually spent a fair amount of time outside South Africa, including ten years in Priorat, Spain. Maybe this explains why he appreciates old vines and makes Grenache and Cinsault. He is one of the pioneers in the Swartland region, with its Mediterranean climate and, even better, lots of neglected old vine parcels. He keeps looking out for such plots and, once he finds one he likes, he nurtures it back to health using natural composts, never man-made chemicals. His goal is to make wine that reflects the history and terroir of the plot, so he doesn’t blend wines. A couple of plots may be planted with different varieties and he will just ferment them together—a technique known as field blending.

The dry weather in Swartland means mildew is not an issue in the vineyard, but sunburnt grapes are. In the winery the grapes are sorted meticulously to make sure all sunburnt grapes are discarded as Eben doesn’t like the overripe, caramel taste they impart. He uses no chemicals, no filtration and no fining except for the 60ppm of sulphur dioxide that is necessary to ensure stability during a voyage over the equator.

Eben’s new range of wine, Ouwingerdreeks (meaning 'Old Vines Series' in Afrikaans), is made from some of those forgotten old vine parcels. He was in Hong Kong recently to present the 2012 vintage. All the wines have a purity of fruit, an elegant structure and not-overpowering aromas that make them perfect for food pairing.
 
The Ouwingerdreeks Range has a simple classic label design that conveys the down-to-earth character of the wines. But we noticed that each wine has a different colour wax seal, and it turns out there is a story behind that:

Pofadder: 100% Cinsault from 50 year old vines. Eben reckons Cinsault can only be made into good quality red wine when the vines are old. Young Cinsault should only be used for rosé. The wine has a black seal because the name means puff adder, a venomous black snake found in Africa.

Soldaat: 100% Grenache from 48 year old vines at 700m altitude. It is the altitude that gives the wine its freshness. Soldaat means soldier and the highest military honour is purple colour hence the purple wax seal.

Treinspoor: 100% Tinta Barocca (Tinta Barroca) of Portuguese origin. Eben describes the wine as a blend of Cote Rotie and Piedmont—the spicy, blue berries of Syrah combined with the tannin of Nebbiolo. The silver wax seal is derived from the name Treinspoor, meaning railway.

Skerpioen: A field blend of Chenin Blanc and Palomino from 66 year old vines. Eben swears that the saline taste (from the Palomino perhaps?) is heaven when paired with oyster cooked with lime peel and almond, one of his home-made dishes. The white wax seal recalls the chalk soil where the grapes are grown.

Skurfberg: 100% Chenin Blanc from an 88 year old vineyard 300 km from the winery. This one has 14% alcohol but is well balanced and supported by a fresh acidity and elegant fruit and perfume. It has a red wax seal because the plot is on red soil.

T Voetpad: A field blend of Semillon, Semillon Gris, Palomino, Chenin Blanc and Muscat d’Alexandria grown in one of the oldest vineyards in South Africa: the plot was planted between 1887 and 1928! A wine full of concentration that can certainly age gracefully. The yellow wax seal reflects the vineyard’s yellow footpath (Voetpad in Afrikaans).

Mrs Kirsten: 100% Chenin Blanc from the oldest vineyard in Stellenbosch, planted in 1905. According to Eben the pleasant oxidative character is a characteristic of the vineyard. Only 480 bottles are made each year. Why the orange wax seal? Simply because the owner of the plot, Mrs Kirsten, likes orange.

All these wines, of which only a few hundred cases are made per wine, retail here at just HK$200-240 per bottle, with the exception of the Mrs Kirsten ($740/bottle). These are some of the very best value wines I have ever had and, for once, I found myself begging a producer to increase his prices to be in line with consumer expectations (I suggested $280-$350/bottle)! Eben responded that wine is a living thing and he sees his work as agriculture—not agri-business. He just wants to make wine that brings pleasure to consumers. He would much prefer us to drink two bottles per night at a lower price than just one at a higher price ... but then Eben, you don’t make enough wine to satisfy the market!

Anyway, I’m stocking up now. If you want to do the same, Eben’s Ouwingerdreeks Range from The Sadie Family is available from Berry Bros & Rudd.

It’s a Revolution!

Swartland Independent? Most would assume it must be a bunch of arty people, radicals, rebels against big corporations. It turns out to be so much more.

Swartland Independent is a bunch of wine producers from the Swartland in South Africa, just over one hour’s drive north of Cape Town, but not just any old bunch. It is a group of like-minded winegrowers who believe in the true expression of the region’s terroir and in wines having their own identities.

The Swartland, like Stellenbosch, is a wine district in South Africa. Any wine made with grapes grown there can be labelled ‘Wine of Origin Swartland’. But to use the ‘Swartland Independent’ logo, producers must adhere to a set of viticultural guidelines with priority given to the conservation of old vines. The wine must be produced with minimal manipulation, with no use of commercial yeasts or enzymes, no added tannin or acid, and must not be chemically fined. Moreover, Swartland Independent believes that heavy oaking ‘masks’ the essence of grapes, so no more than 25% of a wine may be aged in new wood, and the wood must be of European origin. There are also guidelines on grape varieties. For whites, 90% must be Chenin Blanc, Marsanne, Roussane, Viognier, and specified others, while for reds, 90% must be Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Cinsault, and more. Commercially popular varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are not permitted. The producers believe planting grapes on unsuitable terroir only results in wine with inherent limitations.

The result? Rhone blend wines from this Mediterranean climate in the Southern hemisphere. The wine is all about natural balance, freshness and purity.

The Swartland has some of the oldest bush vines in South Africa but viticulture was long in the back seat as this is traditionally a grain-producing area. Wines were robust and mostly fortified until a new generation of winemakers who believe in making wine that is a true expression of its origin went there to hunt for parcels of old vines.

Eben Sadie, one of the leaders of the movement, firmly believes in the diverse soils that the Swartland offers: decomposed granite in the Paardeberg Mountain, clay soils with iron similar to those in the Barossa, slate and schist, calcareous soils, sandstones from Table Mountain and alluvial soils like those found in Graves. It is a canvas upon which grapes can express their true sense of place. Eben praises bush vines with their 360º orientation towards the sun that helps avoid the excessive sun or shading of bunches that can occur on trained vines. And he expends the same effort in the winery. For years, he experimented with fermentation in amphorae underground, a Georgian winemaking tradition, with varying degrees of disaster until he finally mastered the skill. He is now extending the winery to accommodate a few amphorae. I am looking forward to trying those wines in a few years.

Swartland Independent has just over 20 members, all family businesses. Some of them, like Adi Badenhorst, ex-winemaker at Rustenberg, gave up their jobs in prestige wineries, while others, like Donovan Rall, still work for established producers but also make some wines of their own. Mullineux is an international team led by Chris Mullineux from South Africa and his wife Andrea from San Francisco. All of them, hands on in both vineyard and winery, gather in the Swartland to live their dreams of making passionate wine. Naturally, none of them has a big production. David Sadie (no relation to Eben) has just one barrel of 400 bottles for his Grenache Noir.

To attract the attention of wine lovers and to revive the image of the region, Swartland Independent organises an annual weekend event called The Swartland Revolution, comprised of tutored tastings, an auction and a braai (South African barbecue) evening that ends with a street-party open tasting. Tickets for last November's event sold out in 52 hours.

I am excited by the development of the Swartland and the enthusiasm of these producers. In the wine world, there are mass produced standardised wines that are clean and consistent but lack soul, and there are the premium wines with matching price tags that can only be a treat once in a while for many. To me, wines like those made by the Swartland Independent producers are wines for the true wine lover. We appreciate the fact that grapes are products of nature, and we embrace the different styles, even the not-so-mainstream funky ones. Above all, we respect winemakers who have the commitment, the passion and conviction to make wine that truly reflects the place.

Luckily, there is no shortage of like-minded producers in South Africa, and in fact in all wine producing countries. We should be bold enough to step out of our comfort zone and try wines from different regions and producers, including smaller and lesser known ones like these. Only then can we truly enjoy this wonderful drink that mother nature makes possible.

The Sadie Family wines is available from Berry Bros & Rudd.
Mullineux is available from Berry Bros & Rudd and Vincisive Wines.

Wine from a philosopher

I had another chance recently to meet Serge and Marc Hochar, the father and son team that runs Chateau Musar high up in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, this time tasting their whites.

Anyone who has spoken with Serge would agree that he is a charismatic gentleman. He has been making Chateau Musar since 1959, and although his son recently took over day-to-day operations, Serge still retains responsibility for overall direction in winemaking and continues to present the wines around the world, a role that he clearly enjoys.

Serge is a competent winemaker, but forget about asking him any technical details—I tried and failed. He prefers to talk about philosophy, and likens wine with the brain: we all have different ways of thinking and sensing, and so does wine. Every wine evolves differently. His 180ha vineyard is organic and the wine is made with minimal human interference and sulphur. Serge believes wines make themselves.

We tasted his white, the 1999 and the 1989. It is a blend of Chardonnay and Viognier, pale brown in colour. The 1999 had an intense marmite savouriness with a round mouthfeel and lingering length, while the ten years older 1989 was, surprisingly, much fresher on the palate with still a hint of the floral. Why? I asked. Was it because of the vintage, the winemaking, the ageing? He shrugged and said this is just how it developed. Just like himself: he felt he was younger now than yesterday — 27 years old, apparently. Well, I suppose we can’t be too technical all the time. After all, wine is for the enjoyment, especially with company.

Chateau Musar is not everyone’s glass of wine. ‘It is faulty, oxidised, bretty....’, said some, but then it has its loyal followers. Life wouldn’t be fun if every winemaker made the same "McDonald’s" wine.

Having said that, his new range, Musar Jeune, first produced in 2007, is unoaked, vibrant and approachable. With its modern label, it appeals to the young consumer who prefers an easy drinking style. It is apparently a big seller in Europe. The white is a blend of Viognier, Vermentino and Chardonnay. It is refreshing yet has a good concentration of fruit. Musar Jeune Red is a blend of Cinsault, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon with ripe tannins and a fruity palate. Despite his philosophical approach, Serge is still a businessman, sensing that a new style of wine is needed for today’s consumers.

When I left, I was still pondering some of Serge’s words: "My doctor is wine", "My whites are my reds"... Well, let’s have a glass of wine.

Chateau Musar is available from Fico International