South Africa – some fine Chenins from the Chenin Blanc Association

 Ina Smith on message –
#drink chenin

As usual at the annual tasting of South African wines, there was a selection shown by The Chenin Blanc Association. There were ten wines – the Top 10 Winning Wines of the Standard Bank Chenin Blanc 2016 Challenge. All but one were from the 2015 vintage – described by Ina Smith, manager of the association – as a great year. 

From the ten wines (naturally all 100% Chenin) shown my favourites were: 

2015 Boschendal Sommelier Selection (Coastal Region)
Unwooded with good rich weight, concentration and length. 

2015 Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc (Stellenbosch) 
I'm often impressed with the Kleine Zalze's wines and this was no exception. Nicely balanced, richly textured mouthfilling fruit, powerful long finish but with some freshness at the end. 

I preferred the Vineyard Selection to Kleine Zalze's Family Reserve, which also made the Standard top ten. 

2015 Bellingham The Bernard Series Old Vine Chenin Blanc (Coastal Region)
Again a richly textured Chenin, long and powerful but also nicely restrained not blowsy. Its 14% alcohol is well balanced and doesn't show.  

2013 Rijk's Private Cellar Chenin Blanc (Tulbagh)Showing well with a little bit of bottle age giving extra complexity with the ripe richness that characterised all of these South African Chenins.    

Kleine Zalze (South Africa): change of winemaker

Johan Joubert 

After 12 years as winemaker Johan Joubert has left the Kleine Zalze estate, producer of some fine and very interesting Chenin Blanc as well as other wines. See post on their Chenin Blanc here. Alastair Rimmer has been appointed to replace Joubert. 

Press release (edited):Kleine Zalze Wines in Stellenbosch is delighted to have secured the services of internationally experienced cellarmaster, Alastair Rimmer who takes up the reins in September 2014.

Johan Joubert, cellarmaster for the past twelve years, is moving onto new pastures with the warm thanks of the team for his contribution to the Kleine Zalze journey so far. Owner and MD Kobus Basson says “We are very grateful for Johan’s hard work and dedication to Kleine Zalze over the years. He has done a wonderful job for us and he remains a welcome friend and will always be an integral part of the history of Kleine Zalze. We wish him all the success in the world with his future ventures.”

Kobus goes on to say “We are excited about the next chapter in Kleine Zalze’s history and after careful consideration we are pleased to announce the addition  of Alastair to the established Kleine Zalze team. Alastair has worked extensively in the international market and brings with him a wealth of experience having worked in both big commercial wineries as well as super premium boutique producers in South Africa and abroad.” New cellarmaster, Alastair, takes up his duties in September 2014 and is looking forward to bringing his international experience to complement the dynamic winemaking team, currently lead by RJ Botha.

Alastair’s wine journey began in Stellenbosch when he was inspired to change his studies from horticulture to viticulture by a chance meeting with the legendary Professor Eben Archer. Alastair describes chatting to an unknown stranger on the steps of the Neethling Building. “He spoke passionately about “growing” wine, a concept that really sparked an interest. It’s amazing to think that a random meeting on the steps outside the Viticulture and Oenology building was in fact the catalyst, not just for a career, but a passion for wine and the industry around it.”

Following his studies, Alastair worked at Overgaauw Wine Estate, Agusta Wines and Vergelegen Wines, before taking the decision in 2004 to expand his knowledge and experience by working overseas. He worked in Marlborough, New Zealand and then in Jumilla in Spain, where his time at Bodega Juan Gil gave him his first chance to develop and make wines specifically for the American markets, something which he achieved to much acclaim from critics such as Robert Parker. Following this success he was recruited as winemaker and vineyard manager for Diablo Grande Winery & Vineyards in the San Joaquin Valley, California where Alastair spent three years turning around this boutique operation and contributing substantially to their growth and improved brand recognition.

In 2008, Alastair met the man who was to become the second great influence on his career in wine. Chris Ringland from Belvidere Estate in South Australia is widely-regarded as one of the most dynamic figures and cutting-edge winemakers in the wine world today. Alastair was entrusted by Chris with management of all the US operations of The Grateful Palate, a high-end operation creating top-quality wines for exclusive local markets. He also worked alongside Chris on his Australian operations, producing much larger volumes of more accessible wines, enabling him to get a good understanding of both boutique and commercial ventures.

Further projects in Alicante, Spain ensued, allowing him to also work vintages at southern hemisphere estates such as Vergelegen alongside Andre van Rensburg, at the same time. Alastair finally returned to South Africa on a permanent basis when he was appointed head winemaker at Darling Cellars two years ago and now brings his wide knowledge and experience of small, medium-sized and large winemaking ventures to Kleine Zalze.

Alastair believes his time working in such varied conditions has helped him to focus on the ‘important’ elements, irrespective of the area or style of wines he was making. “In my opinion, balance is the single most important factor in winemaking. Popular wine styles in the modern wine world are for ever changing, but balance never goes out of fashion!!” He is also a big fan of diversity of terroir, and believes that it is crucial that winemakers take into account the conditions within which they are given to work.'

 

The Kleine Zalze Chenin Blanc Style Council

 

Johan Joubert, winemaker@Kleine Zalze

In mid-May I was lucky enough to be invited to an evening and dinner tasting the Kleine Zalze's Chenin Blancs made by Johan Joubert. The event was held at Orrery, at the top end of Marylebone High Street.   

We started the exclusively Chenin evening with the fresh and easy drinking 2013 Foot of Africa coming from mainly trellised vines. Then we moved onto a fascinating vertical of their Vineyard Selection running from 2008 through to 2003, which was the year that Joubert joined the company. This was the first time they had held such a vertical.    

Before we started Joubert outlined the current position with Chenin Blanc in South Africa: 18100 hectares and accounts for a third of all white grape plantings in South Africa. 10-15 years ago the total plantings of South African Chenin was a little over 30,000 hectares representing a third of all (red and white) of the vines planted. Unfortunately old South African bush Chenin continues to be ripped out because of their low yields – the bush vine bunches are considerably smaller than those on a trellised vine. 

Joubert: "In 2011, 80 hectares were pulled out and only eight hectares replanted. Last year 69 hectares were ripped out and 13ha replanted." 

If this continues South Africa will find all too quickly that it has thrown away a priceless heritage. Sadly this is has happened all too regularly in the wine world – all the old Carignan vines pulled out in the Languedoc in the name of progress is just one example.

Joubert's solution is to try to make holding onto old vines more financially viable by aiming for higher quality and giving Chenin Blanc a higher profile and a greater appreciation of its qualities with the objective of moving high quality South African Chenin up the price points. 

 

The vertical    

Vineyard Selection Vertical: 2008-2003

90% of the fruit from the same block of old bush vines. These wines have a proportion of botrytised grapes, naturally varying from vintage to vintage. The vertical demonstrated that dry South African Chenin Blanc ages well. One could confidently keep all of these wines, even the 2003, a good number of years more.

 

2008: mid gold, honey, touch of petrol, texture, hint salty, soft delicate finish with gentle acidity.

2007: light baked apricot texture, honeysuckle, weight, less expressive but good length. Hotter vintage

2006: light to mid gold, honey, touch of petrol, slightly baked, concentrated character, complexity, length.  

2005: mid gold, foncée, evolved aromas, texture, rich, power, botrytis influence

2004: mid gold, rich concentration, complexity.

2003: mid gold, texture rich and full. Peachy, apricot. Power and length. Good acidity. Lovely complex wine.

A change in direction

Joubert explained that recently the estate had decided to change direction with their Chenins aiming for a fresher, more citric style by picking earlier to lower the alcohol and to avoid botrytis.

To see the change in style we tried the 2012 Vineyard Selection and 2012 Family Reserve. The Family Reserve is the estate's top wine range and the 2012 is the first time Chenin Blanc has been included in the range. Of the two 2012s I found the Family Reserve to work much better than the Vineyard Selection.

2012 Family Reserve 

Some wood and quince, tight needs time. Length. Should come back to this in three years. Good concentration and balance. 

Put into Loire terms the earlier vintages of the Vineyard Selection have echoes of Anjou, while the new style is more reminiscent of Montlouis and Vouvray. Alternatively it also mirrors the radical change to his white wines that Thierry Germain (Domaine des Roches Neuves) made a few years ago. 

The main course@Orrery

2012 Vineyard Selection and 2012 Family Reserve

A couple of 2009 Chenins from Kleine Zalze

Having recently received these 2009 Chenins - Zalze and Kleine Zalze from the eponymous winery I decided to try them out last night as our globetrotting neighbour was popping up for a aperitif and something to eat.

2009 Chenin Blanc Zalze

We started on the screwcappped Zalze with its fresh passion fruit and pineapple flavours, pleasantly crisp in spite of its 14% alcohol. After a few sips the acidity becomes rather discordant – the fruit and the acidity don't quite marry. 60% of the grapes come from bush vines and are picked ripe with a little botrytis present with the rest of the fruit picked earlier to give freshness and acidity. Perhaps the wine needs a little more time in bottle for the two fruit styles to blend together. Equally I don't know whether the acidity was adjusted. I'll have to check but it's possible, although the purpose of picking a part of the fruit before it was fully ripe would have been to obviate the need to adjust the acidity. However, the Zalze did work well with a garlicky hummus. All in all reasonable, if not sensational, value at £5.99.

We paired the 2009 Chenin Blanc, Vineyard Selection, Kleine Zlaze with a seafood and wild mushroom risotto – a decidedly successful match. The Chenin comes from bush vines in the Helderberg region with fermentation starting in stainless steel tanks before being put into barrel – 30% new, 70% second-fill. On third goes through malo and the wine stays in barrel for three months. As one would expect and hope the Vineyard Selection has more concentration, complexity than the Zalze and much more harmonious blend of fruit and acidity. There is attractive tropical fruit and a touch of nicely judged oak.

Difficult to compare values as the Kleine Zalze is aimed at the on-trade and its price on a restaurant list is estimated at £35. Given customary restaurant mark-ups this suggests that the Kleine Zalze would probably retail around £9.99-£10.99.

2009 Chenin Blanc, Zalze, Western Cape. £5.99 Waitrose
2009 Chenin Blanc, Vineyard Selection, Kleine Zalze, £35 approx. on a restaurant list

Kleine Zalze – Chenins steal the show

(22nd October 2008)

Bertho van der Westhuizen: the winemaker

Off to L’Oranger at the bottom of St James’s Street for a press dinner to launch various lines from Kleine Zalze, a South African producer based in Stellenbosch and owned by ex-corporate lawyer Kobus Basson. Hosted by Bertho van der Westhuizen, the winemaker, Ross Sleet, the export director, and Stevens Garnier, their off-trade distributor.

I started with a glass of their entry level, attractively fruited and characterful Foot of Africa Chenin Blanc (£5.20). It has a hint of sweetness. Bertho told us that it has less than five grams of residual sugar but my guess is that this is closer to five than to zero. Charles Metcalfe pointed out that the South African conception of dry was closer to the sweeter American one than to the European.

Bertho van der Westhuizen: the winemaker

The Zalze Bush Vines Chenin Blanc 2008 (£5.99) with richly textured, tropical fruit and fresh finish is next step up and worth the extra 79p. As with the first Chenin the fruit is bought in mainly from the southern part of Stellenbosch from vines between 25-40 years old. “This is old in South African terms,” said Bertho. “We are now picking Chenin riper than we used to which gives us greater complexity.”

Then onto the fine and honeyed Zalze barrel-fermented Chenin Blanc 2008 (£7.99). Fruit for this cuvée is chosen from three blocks, fermentation starts in stainless steel tanks before being transferred to 400 litre French barrels – no new wood is used. Any botrytised grapes are included, which shows on the honeyed aromas and rich texture.

Over dinner we drank the 2007 Vineyard Selection Chenin Blanc with the scallops with leeks and truffles and Jurançon dressing. The 2007 had attractive honey and quince flavours but was a less good match with the dish than the more racy 2008 Family Reserve Sauvignon Blanc (£19.99). The scallops were less successful than the delicious and perfectly cooked main course of rump of lamb en croûte of autumn fruits, aubergine and confit tomatoes flavoured with citrus. This dish was full southern French flavours with more than a nod to North Africa.

Our last wine was the Vineyard Selection Chenin Blanc 2006 – not currently available in retail but expected to be £24-£26 on a restaurant list. This series comes from Kleine Zalze’s own vines. The 2006 was wheeled out as an example of how Chenin can age, which was slightly bizarre as some Loire Chenin’s at a little over two years old are barely out of their incubators. To be fair the new winemaking team at Klein Zalze has only be in place for four years or so. However, I suspect that the citric but rich, honeyed 2006 with its touch of oxidation will age well, although whether it will have the same longevity as its equivalent in the Loire remains to be seen.

In my unbiased opinion the Chenins were the stand out wines of the evening but among the other wines we tasted the Zalze Shiraz/Mourvèdre/Viognier 2007 (S:70%, M: 25%, V:5%) was the clear winner in terms of value. This deep flavoured wine has lovely ripe, vibrant red fruits and is a snip at £5.99 (screwcap). This is one of the very rare occasions when the horribly abused expression ‘over deliver at the price point’ could be justified. As is often the case the value of the Family Reserve wines priced at £19.99 is less clear, although they are well made.

Bertho checks his escape route with the manager in case the reptiles get troublesome

A spokesperson declined to comment on whether there are any plans to launch an early morning range called Alka-Zalze.

Kleine Zalze, Strand Road, Stellenbosch 7613, South Africa
Tel: 27 (0)21 880 0717
www.kleinezalze.com

L’Oranger, 5 St James’s Street, London SW1A 1EF
Tel: 020-7839 3774
Web: www.loranger.co.uk