Look, I’m really sorry I ran over that meerkat outside Keimoes. I saw the critter in the road, and he must have seen me for he did that cute meerkat thing of standing on its hind legs, checking out to see what this white, four-wheeled thing was heading in its direction. Upon registering that said object was a motor car travelling at 120km/h one would have thought the little bliksem would get back on all fours and head for safety.

But he did not – this must have been kamikaze meerkat, influenced by all the Oriental culture emanating from the Kakamas Sushi Bar. There he stood, not getting out of the way. I wanted to stop, honest. But couldn’t.

He died a sudden, surprised death.

Suffice to say that this put a bit of a damper on my visit to Upington, the Northern Cape’s wine-producing town where I sometimes go for business as well as to cleanse the dusty, guilt-ridden palate with refreshing wine.

Orange River Wine Cellars is the largest wine producer in the Southern Hemisphere, harvesting around 150 000 tonnes of grapes per annum. With yields running well into the 50 tonnes per hectare, the practise of flood irrigation and the fact that not one winemaker has a double barrel surname, Orange River Cellars is seldom taken seriously as a quality wine producer.

During the recent visit I made an effort of checking up on the 2010 vintages and can report, however, that the quality has taken tremendous strides over the past few years. Hell, if the meerkat had taken strides like these he’d still be alive.

In any event, Orange River Cellars’ two stalwart varieties are Colombard and Chenin Blanc. With six full-time viticulturalists, yields are managed to provide the wineries with top fruit, and it really is showing in the wine.

The 2010 Colombard has a crisp, mineral and maritime aura. On the nose it is oyster shell and herbs, while the sip is fresh and bracing with beautiful acid balance and a fruity, aromatic length. Ice cold, bone-dry it is gorgeous wine – the purity and cleanliness hits you like spray from the Augrabies Waterfall.

The 2010 Chenin has a bit more fruit to it. Also dry and crisp, hints of grapefruit and melon give it a fuller mouth-feel and surprising complexity. Delicious with seafood or some of that springbok carpaccio that goes down so well in Upington.

Now available throughout the country in trendy new packaging, Orange River Cellars is making a serious play for the wine market. And when it comes to over-delivering, these guys really know how.

 Even a teetotalling – and living – meerkat can see that.

-          Emile Joubert

Vineyards in the Orange River region.

Vino Madiba, Vino!

THE launch of a South African wine carrying one of the world’s most valuable and iconic trademarks happened with a whimper and no bang in sight. But then again, this was one event where even the blondest bunch of rent-a-crowd wine industry PR luvvies could have seen clouds of discontent brewing.

After years of failed BEE wines with ridiculous names and logo’s that would have a chameleon reaching for his Raybans, we now have the name Mandela on a wine label. That’s right: that name that has been so jealously protected by hundreds of thousands of toi-toi loving previously disadvantaged South Africans is now featured on three bottles of wine.

The House of Mandela has arrived.

This bit of vinous opportunism is the result of a brainwave hitting Makaziwe Mandela and her daughter, Tukwini, apparent wine lovers and students of note who got the ball rolling and decided to cement their passion by using dad and grand-dad’s name on the label. So there we are – House of Mandela Chardonnay, anyone? A steal at R190. Or how about the House of Mandela Cabernet or House of Mandela Shiraz, at R350 a bit pricier, but for a worthy cause it’s worth it.

Really?

No, this is not some charitable venture with proceeds going to the Children’s Fund or plethora of noble causes Madiba supports. This is a purely commercial venture, apparently with lofty aims of contributing to the SA wine culture.

In Anthony Rose’s gushing blog, Makaziwe gets all lyrical. “Although she knew little about wine at the start of the project, Makaziwe always had at the back of her mind something her father had told her: ‘if you don’t drink wine, the world won’t accept you’,” Rose writes. “She was also reminded that her father, while a man of principle, was not inflexible. She came round to the idea of the project as a way of embodying the spirit and accessibility of the Mandela family. “

Of course, one would beg the question that if then President Mandela was so passionate about wine, why did his government never show an iota of interest in supporting and promoting the South African wine industry.

Rose continues: “At the same time, she (Makaziwe) saw the opportunity of establishing a black brand capable of setting new standards of quality and sophistication in the new South Africa. ‘Traditionally South Africans are more into hard liquor than wine but I think if we help to demystify it, more and more black people will come to appreciate what is after all a wonderful drink’.”

The smart money, including CNN who broke the story, says that the real aim is to hit ‘dem Mandela crazy folk in the US of A – who would probably buy a dead Meerkat if it had the name Mandela on it – and make a packet.

Of course, if anyone else had attempted to flog wine for profit with the Mandela name on it, they would be accused of treason, baby-bashing and the potato famine. But as long as you are inside the clan, anything apparently goes. Ask my mates Willem Steenkamp and Neil du Bois who were almost deported to Siberia in the early nineties for daring to use the name Robben Island on stuffed seals donning striped prison uniforms.

Hell, let’s start a whole range of political wines: “Zille’s Zin” or “Malema Blanc”. I mean, even the Aussies have a wine honouring a South African president. “Jacob’s Crack”, anyone?  

-   Darian Morgan

Plans to legalise the addition of water to the winemaking process in South Africa are going ahead unabated, although those attempting to push this legislation through must have been pretty unnerved by what a few top winemakers had to say in Tuesday’s edition of Die Burger newspaper. De Wet Viljoen from Neethlingshof and Nitida’s Bernard Veller were but two of the dissenting voices. And you can bet your bottom peso that most winemakers worth their weight in yeast think that allowing water to be added to wine will be a shot in the foot for the reputation of South African wines. “Cheap and cheerful” is the image the industry is attempting to rid itself of, and one doubts whether the tag of watered-down wines is going to help this valiant effort.

Hell, even Wines of South Africa (Wosa) added its voice to the anti-water lobby, despite the fact that those big-production chaps supporting the move to hydrate are predominantly responsible for the Wosa budget and the paying of the organisation’s lunch bills and production of barbecue cookery books.

Through all this I have been alerted to an interesting aside. The University of Stellenbosch recently did a study on water quality in the Stellenbosch area, and there was a particularly alarming statistic. Tap water in Stellenbosch has a TCA content of 4 nanogram per litre. Taking into account that 1 nanogram of TCA is generally detectable in wine, one wonders what the effect would be of adding this water to the process – legally.

This scientific research throws cold water into the face of the one-eyed cork Fatwa who hysterically blame cork for any trace of TCA. With tanks being washed and a lot of water splashing about the cellar in any event, one has to wonder how much TCA is blamed on cork when water is actually the culprit?

How apt that Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery bumper-sticker from the 1980s is today: Conserve Water, Drink Wine.

- Emile Joubert

La Motte kicked off its ambitions to become the country’s premier wine destination with an international Shiraz showcase, and I was there. Like most of the collected group of wine makers, marketers, hacks and VIP’s must have felt, it was a massive privilege to be part of this blue chip event, but I must admit, sitting down to 12 Shiraz wines at 09:00 made me feel like a farm boy in Latin class. Or a www.grape.co.za staff member at an unsighted co-operative Pinotage tasting.

The La Motte venue is absolutely spectacular. A huge statue of a woman dripping water as you enter. Emerald lawns. Sprawling al fresco dining area – dig the little stands where budding young Pierneefs can go paint while the folks take it easy. The artwork is pretty and colourful. Buildings whitewashed, thatched and more yellow-wood than in a Dalene Matthee Knysna novel.

Back to the wines. We were asked to taste 12 Shiraz numbers. South Africa. France. Australian. American. And for some or other reason an Italian also pitched in the line-up.

The tasting was blind, but a clear pattern emerged.

After the second Shiraz smelling of Deep Heat, I put my famous method of elimination into practice and deducted that these were Australian. The Brett pongs placed these in the French category. And wines showing oak were South African.

Hell knows where the Italians and the Americans fitted in, but fortunately the last time I looked guessing was not illegal.

When the results were announced, I was happy and relieved to discover I had not been far off.

The French wines – Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage La Chapelle 2006, M Chapoutier Hermitage L’Ermite 2006, Alain Voge Cornas Les Vieilles Fontaines 2006 and E Guigal Cote Rotie La Mouline 2004 were mostly doughy and bretty, although the Chapoutier showed less than the rest. The cloying doughiness on the back palate is a sign of youth in Rhône wines, and if the selection panel had really wanted to even things out, a couple of wines from the 1990’s would have had the French kicking butt.

But this was not to be, and they did not show well.

The Bramasole Anintoni 2006 was truly ghastly and had more corrupt flavours than an exiled Mafia Don in Franschhoek. To all the Italians out there: I promise not to embrace female underarm hair if you promise to stay clear of Shiraz.

This left South Africa and Oz delivering the best wines of the day.

Call me easily impressed, but the Penfolds Grange 2004 was a stunner and one of my top three wines. Still tight and austere in its youth, it had a brooding bloodiness about it that spelt trouble of the exciting, dangerous kind. The Geoff Merrill Henley Shiraz 2004, voted as Wine of the Day, had a tuning-fork clarity and freshness about it that was startling. It was also devoid of the Deep Heat and stained jock-strap character the other Oz wines had.

The best two wines in the line-up were South Africa. The La Motte Shiraz/Viognier 2007 was all perfume and muscle, with enough length to lasso a Mustang with. The Eagle’s Nest 2007 had a deceptively cheapish Mocha nose, but it was mouth-filling and sensual. Graceful and truly delicious.

The Boekenhoutskloof 2005 had not aged well and seemed tired, listless and out of it. And how about Alban Vineyards Syrah 2006? All of 42 months in oak, oxidised, jammy and all of 98 Parker points? It was like licking a raspberry jam jar a dog had pissed in.

Conclusion? South Africa is making some killer Shiraz. French wines should be not be opened young. And if they come to the party, the Oz wines are still to be reckoned with.

Full line-up:

1 Eagle’s Nest 2007

2 Hill of Grace 2004

3 Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage La Chapelle 2006

4 Bramasole Anintoni 2006

5 Penfolds Grange 2004

6 M Chapoutier Hermitage L’Ermite 2006

7 La Motte Pierneef Shiraz/Viognier 2007

8 Geoff Merrill Henley Shiraz 2004

9 Alain Voge Cornas Les Vieilles Fontaines 2006

10 Boekenhoutskloof Syrah 2005

11 E Guigal Cote Rotie La Mouline 2004

12 Alban Vineyards Syrah 2006

The actress Ms Barkin posing as a bottle of Rust en Vrede Estate.

The Mount Nelson Hotel, and I am there. Couple of Black Jack draughts in the Planet Bar to cleanse the palate before heading to the restaurant for Wine and Dine with Rust en Vrede, one of my top three South African wine estates.

A civilised evening on all counts. The only thing more civilised would be having Uma Thurman read one the collected short stories of Somerset Maugham whilst reclining next to a Van Gogh original.

Thank goodness for colonization that brought South Africa wine and a culture of gastronomy, as well as the Mount Nelson. Sitting on haunches around a fire eating raw buck liver washed down with rainwater simply does not cut it.

The Nellie menu had been compiled by chef Rudi Liebenberg to match the elegance of the wines. Being from Rust-en-Vrede, these were all red. So the players in the culinary line-up: Smoked Springbok and Poached Pear Salad, Greens and Balsamic Glazed Cocktail Onions. Wine: Rust en Vrede Cabernet 2007. Next up, grazing is to be done on Jerusalem Artichoke and Asparagus Risotto with Kalahari Truffle. Vino: Rust en Vrede Estate 2006. Main course: Roasted Lamb Loin with Braised Cabbage, Celeriac Purée and Lamb Neck Ravioli. The wine was a hummer: Rust en Vrede 1694 Classification 2007. For a cheesy ending, Gorgonzola Bavarois Served with a Twice Baked Red Pepper and Brie Soufflé with Rust en Vrede Merlot 2009. And the happy ending was Naartjie Tart with Bitter Chocolate Sorbet with the Shiraz 2007.

Look, I know there is an exciting new place with a superstar chef opening in Cape Town every week. But you can’t wrong at the Mount Nelson. This is the second time in a month I’ve had the honour of chowing-down at this great colonial institution, and the food has been superb. Conceived with imagination. Skilfully executed and delivering on expectation, it promises the perfect combination of sophistication and spot-hitting satisfaction. Every time.

I’ll throttle orphaned babies for the perfectly roasted lamb loin, the finest piece of meat I’ve had since my second year university house dance.

And look, if one red wine estate could do justice to this menu, it has to be Rust en Vrede.

The Cabernet Sauvignon was a beautiful homage to Stellenbosch’s Helderberg region which is internationally renowned for the power, depth and supple juiciness found in its Cabernets. I first tasted the Rust en Vrede 2007 last year when it won Coenie Snyman the Diner’s Club Winemaker of the Year Award. Already a beguiling, huge wine, it was still a tad upfront in the fruit department, with the oak a bit edgy.

This week it was a different wine. It’s beginning to lose the puppy fat, showing clear, brisk fruit with silky tannins and immense muscularity. Real “iron fist, velvet glove” stuff. Thankfully I have put away a case, as this wine is going to be an artwork in five years’ time.

The Estate 2006 is sensual and seductive, thanks to the Shiraz component in this iconic Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend. More black lace and suspenders than velvet and satin. More Ellen Barkin than Juliette Binoche, the Estate is complex yet more-ishly accessible and so opulent you feel rich just drinking it.

This is the wine that makes Rust en Vrede owner Jean Engelbrecht’s words of “red blends are the future of the South African wine industry” ring true. And also proves his statement that “South Africa does not have to look for an identity for its wines, they are here in red blends”.

Of course, the collective Nellie turn-out was waiting for the star of the show, namely the Rust en Vrede 1694 Classification 2007, South Africa’s priciest wine at around R1 200 a bottle.

The 1694 pays homage to the founding date of Rust en Vrede. Or as Coenie puts it: “Just to remind the world that when the Dutch were busy draining the swamps of Bordeaux, we had already been making wine in South Africa for a hundred years.”

The 1694 is a 56-44 blend of Shiraz and Cabernet respectively, obviously from specially selected vineyards on the Estate, matured in new oak. 75% French and 25%.

It is a beautiful monster. Earthy claws from the Cabernet Sauvignon. A smooth, wild expanse of fur delivered by the Shiraz. Still a bit of chewy tannin about, but as can be expected this wine has all the potential for greatness. No spice, floral notes or whimsical components. All flesh and opulence.

I asked Coenie whether the blending is done after maturation and the blend then put back into barrel for further ageing and integration.

“No, we believe in the Toyota business model, which is getting it right the first time,” was his answer.

I believe the Merlot and Shiraz were excellent, but the duty of my profession require me to admit that I was wasted – albeit it elegantly so – by the time I got around to these two numbers. The attention demanded by three glasses each of Cabernet, Estate and 1694 had left me incapable of acutely analysing the Merlot and Shiraz, which I promise to do so dutifully in the near future.

- Faizel van der Vyver

Jaco Kirsten in the Pub.

THE phone goes off on a blustery Saturday morning, and seeing the caller identification reads “Jaco”, I answer. Nursing a hang-over post the Intervarsity Wine Competition, I am in no mood to talk to in-laws, kids or boring friends who want to discuss the coming rugby test between the Boks and All Blacks in Soweto. But Jaco, my irreverent friend, for him I’ve always got time for.

I answer with the customary and endearing “howzit, Dick Face?”

The voice on the other end is not Jaco’s. Christ, it is not even male. It’s his wife.

She tells me: “Jaco’s had a heart-attack. I thought I should let you know.”

I go cold. Having already lost two friends in the week – a friend’s beloved mother and my mate Fiona Coyne – I was just thinking that three dead people could well be a crowd.

Fortunately, Annelize tells me, Jaco is OK. Lying in Panorama Medi-Clinic attached to a bunch of tubes and monitors, but OK.

Appears the guy – only 41 – was tiling his garage floor. Huge pain in the chest, shoulder and jaw.

Rushed to hospital. Supreme artery blockage. Thus he had some pipe shoved into an artery in his groin. All the way up to the engine room. Stent fitted to keep the pipe open. Currently, Jaco is in the Cardiology Ward, recovering.

Visiting him this morning we discuss life, the dearth of spunky nurses and the possibilities of a low-cholesterol menu for Dias Tavern, one of Jaco and my favourite haunts.

We are also both delighted to hear that the Panorama Medi-Clinic’s Cardiology Unit is a firm subscriber to the French Paradox. Remember: the French’s low level of cardiac disease is a result of their love of wine, particularly red.

Would you believe, Jaco tells me. Last night before dinner, lying here tied up to all these machines, I was asked by hospital staff whether I’d like white or red with dinner.

Kid you not, and this is true. He was, however, not up to vino after having a stens fitted inside his heart. But on Sunday, day after the heart-attack, the staff at Panorama served him a dinky of Chateau Libertas with dinner.

I like it. If you can save a guy’s life and offer him wine on the same day, you guys are my kind of hospital.

And endorse those of us who believe that wine is not only the elixir of life, but gives good life.

Cheers. And in vito veritas.

- Emile Joubert

SA Wine's new best friend.

CRAFTIER than a seasoned contingent of parliamentarians, the South African wine industry authorities are trying to sneak through a recommendation allowing the addition of water to pre-fermented wine. Reasons include the usual: “But they do it in America!” as well as a bit of Wine for Dummies 101 by stating, ag Jeez man, but we are hot climates and therefore have these bloody high alcohol and the world don’t want high alcohols, so to make our wines more accessible, let’s water it up.

By 15%, I hear.

Two problems, the first being the responsible bodies’ inability to communicate their intentions proactively. Paranoia and suspicion characterise these industry bodies’ attitudes to the media. For them, the media always seem to have ulterior motives. So no proactive, transparent strategy has been followed to inform society at large as to why this diluting of wine has now suddenly become necessary. Nor have fears that this development could negatively affect the reputation of South African wine been addressed. The result? Rumours, incorrect reporting, general confusion.

Secondly, lofty statements that the move to add water is necessary to protect the integrity of South African wine by lowering alcohol levels and therefore delivering better wines are total bull-shit.

Check out the alcohol levels of your favourite Simonsberg Cabernet Sauvignon from the early 1990’s. 13%, max. In any event, we already have machinery to remove alcohol.

No guys, do not try to pass this one off on folk of reasonable intelligence. The reason for allowing the addition of 15% water is to pump up volumes for big producers. This year’s low-yield harvest have led to a shortage of wine and a loss of revenue. So, if you are harvesting 60 000 tons and allowed to add 15% water to the juice you can pump-up your wine supply and make a couple of extra million in the process.

This is the heart of the matter.

What’s the use of having an Integrated Production of Wine system in place, when adulteration is sanctioned by the self-same industry?

The results of poor and lazy winemaking are not going to eradicated by water. Poor, substandard wines will now only become poor, substandard and watery wines.

-          Darian Morgan