Interesting news last week was a lot of writing about natural wines and cases in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa where wines have had problems getting through export panels (here in South Africa called the Wine and Spirits Board). Read Jamie Goode’s perspective on his blog here.
These wine were usually made in new innovative ways, and or more traditional ways resulting in wines that were “different”.
At Bosman Family Vineyards we have had the same experience with one of our wines. Called Liquid Gold by our Wine Club members, it went through a round of rejection before we could start selling it. The wine was ready for bottling when our Swiss importers came for their yearly visit. They demanded a shipment on the spot, and we were happy to comply. The following week the wine was rejected.
Said wine (a mere 2600 x 750ml) is made from one of the most awesome wine regions in South Africa – the Upper-Hemel-en-Aarde ward, near Hermanus. It is a 2010 blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. With a lovely golden hue and secondary flavours from being fermented and matured in oak – it definitely looked different than a Rose. It was obviously also not a Blanc de Noir.
After a kind letter of explaining what the thinking was behind the wine and with good, clean analysis the wine was passed in the end.
Another wine which also has a ranging track record in regards to approval is the “Coffee Pinotage” style. As a student getting involved with this wine style in 2003 at Diemersfontein and then subsequently in other cellars it has happened time and again that this style is not always looked upon favourably by the individual tasters in these panels. This while, as a wine style, it has clearly been accepted by a greater group of consumers.
Interesting how these “different” wines usually are the ones with a following. As a winemaker I have however always felt that the Wine and Spirits Board has given the wine the benefit of the doubt, in the end. Long live progressive thinking in regards to wine and wine styles.
Cheers!
*Disclamer: Writer is married to winemaker Bertus “Starbucks” Fourie to whom the “Coffee Style Pinotage” is attributed.
Writing takes up way too much time, so here is this morning in some pictures, and a clip.
Early morning pressing is just the most vibrant process of the day. I get to taste the juice, get my head around what I want to do with it. You really do get a feel for it! Here pictured our press and sorting conveyor.
Press ready to roll
Conveyor cleaned and ready
Buckle up – here is the action
The little YouTube clip shows how the grapes (from the cold storage room) in offloaded onto the conveyor. All things other than lovely bunches are removed here. Then it goes through the de-stemmer. This is collected in the bin. So the product you are seeing is just the clean stalks which will be taken away. The grapes are then off to the press.
Will keep you updated, but in the meanwhile raise a glass on Harvest 2012!
Looking back in my notes for 2011, by today – last year, we had taken in our Chardonnay vineyards and the first bit of Chenin blanc for our Adama White blend. This year I have only taken in one barrel worth of old bushvine Chenin without irrigation, which in the heat wave two weeks ago, wouldn’t have made it. And then also the Chenin blanc for our base wine.
This is the view from my office this morning: Cloudy and overcast, but a bit humid.
So we’ve been to the vineyards and what an exciting morning! The Chenin Blanc looks lovely (sun kissed, freckled, sweet but with a lovely level of tartness). See the picture below. I can only imagine what it’s going to look like in the press.
And then for the highlight of the morning – Pinotage testing! The vineyard in question is the same one used by Wellington Wines for their La Cave Pinotage – a wine that has earned them a spot in the inaugural Top 20 Pinotage Classification. It is also the vineyard from where the grapes came for our Top100SAWines lauded Pinotage 2009 and the Cape blend “Erfenis” 2010.
I learnt something new about our viticulturist today. Except for his acute fine eye for detail – he does not like snakes. He spotted the skin of an enormous snake between the rows in our Pinotage vineyard. Luckily at that point we had made up our minds about the grapes. Here is a picture of a part of its tail that fell off when I picked it up. Nice to know our vineyards are bustling with the sounds and the signs of nature.
Today was a great breather from the warmer weather we have been experiencing the last few days. We were very interested to see what the heat`s influence was on our grape`s analysis so this morning we started sampling and testing!
In the photo below, we are testing our Chenin Blanc from a vineyard called Driehoek (or Triangle vineyard). Some of the plantings in this vineyard date back to 1963 and 1979, which makes it quite humbling (note the winemaker and viticulturist not even being a twinkle in our parent’s eyes in those years).
As said in the previous post we had experienced some cloudy weather during flowering, so to make sure that we get samples that paints the best possible clear picture – we are using bunch samples this year.
Results on this vineyard show that we did not have a significantly higher rise in sugar in the last few days, but we did lose a small bit of valuable acidity. Still have a few days before these grapes do come in. In the meanwhile, we will be dreaming of the lovely granny smith and honeysuckle notes released from these little berries. Bliss…
A harvest is made not only in the weeks before picking but starts in the preceding winter. We had a very good winter season, except for the below average rain precipitation. Good, even bud break followed and flowering this year was in cool, sometimes cloudy conditions. We were fortunate that there were no storms and wind damage in flowering which sometimes can be quite severe. The cool weather we experienced in November and December was ideal. January onwards has brought some interesting conditions with temperatures rising above 35oC. This will definitely speed up the ripening process that we have thought, before the heat, will put harvest back some two weeks.
All in all we are still very impressed by good growth and bunches with small berries. The adaptability of the noble vine gives us hope that this harvest will still be of good quality. Its success will depend, in part also, on the decisions we make in regards to water management and the timing of harvesting.
Viticulturist Heinie Nel, Assistant Charlene Ferreira, Hospitality Manager Tina Steenkamp and Operations boffin Martin November raise a glass on Harvest 2012
We were privileged to have Peter May come visit us on his recent trip to the Cape winelands. For those of you who do not know Peter, he is the founder of The Pinotage Club, an international cyber-based fan club for wines made from the Pinotage variety. Peter was awarded Honorary Membership of the producers Pinotage Association in 2004 and was a judge at the annual Pinotage Top 10 Competition in 2004 and 2005. Peter is a wine writer, educator and author. His book PINOTAGE: Behind the Legends of South Africa’s Own Wine has just been published.
A lot has happened since his first visit in 2007 when we were busy with our maiden vintage. Since then we have caught up in London and now again at our Lelienfontein cellar.
Read his post in his popular blog -The Pinotage club, here.
The Pinotage 2009 will only be released at our annual Release weekend in September later this year, but as in the past, we have a reservation list.
Thank you Peter for your comments and that you are spreading the word about a truly amazing grape variety.
Christian Eedes, South Africa’s well known wine critic, recommend our Adama White Blend 2010 in this months blind tasting in Wine magazine. Chairman’s score 18/20 for this exceptional blend of Chenin Blanc (60%), Chardonnay (20%), Pinot Gris (10%), Viognier (6%) and Semillon (4%). Juicy flavours of pineapple, passion fruit and quince is notable. Notes of spice carrying through to an exciting palate with a mineral finish.
The Adama wine started in 2007 with a beautiful Shiraz blend consisting of Shiraz (85%), Mourvèdre (10%), Primitivo (3%) and Viognier (2%). After creating a lot of excitement especially in the international market, and winning many awards, we have decided to find a suitable partner for the legendary Adama Red blend. It took us two years going back and forth with the blending and tasting of the White blends and after much pondering the Adama White Blend 2010 emerged in September this year.
The story behind the Adama Name
Adam Apollis, nicknamed Adama, was the legendary farm worker and forefather of the many descendants that today still live and work on the estate. Adama stands for generations of employer and employee working together with the same enthusiasm, respect and understanding for the vineyards and natures will. Thoroughly enjoyed by all and thus representing equal ground regardless of differences. The wine celebrates the co-ownership made possible through BEE (Black Economic Empowerment), the result of the Bosman Family and farm workers working together for generations.
Today is a cool but lovely winters day here in Wellington. In the vine nursery our team is grafting new vines and although everything looks very dormant in the vineyards there is a sense that, through the grafting, the circle of life for these vines too is still busy-it never stops!
In the cellar we have been putting together our Adama White blend 2010 and the Adama 2009. Its taken months of tasting and retasting, but we`re there. Now just for the last bit of settling and marrying in the tank before we bottle.
We harvested our Pinotage grapes early yesterday. It had a cool night in our cold storage room and we are gearing up to let it be sorted by 16 dedicated hands-all looking for that last green stalk that shouldn`t come anywhere near Tank 18. Just to give you a sneak preview of our Pinotage, I added a video clip which was made at the WOSA Mega Tasting in October last year. Peter May asked me about our Pinotage 2008-and this is what I had to say. (Actually trying out all the interesting applications on Word Press!) Bosman Family Vineyards Pinotage 2008
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