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South Africa’s leading winemakers
Four of South Africa’s leading winemakers talk about the art of producing iconic wines that stand out on the global shelf – in an intensely competitive era of global wine brands, iconic wines, signature varieties, biodiversity, regional wine identity and innovative winemaking.
Frans Smit, Spier
Frans Smit, the cellar master at Spier Wines, has developed into one of South Africa’s leading winemakers over the last two decades, winning accolades in the world’s most prestigious wine competitions at home and abroad.
There has been no looking back for the talented Smit, who joined Spier in 1996 upon graduating from Elsenburg, Stellenbosch – a nursery for generations of Cape viticulturists and winemakers.
Few winemakers have his staying power. In an industry where many winemakers play musical chairs, changing cellars every few vintages, he has staked his reputation on the growing fortunes of a single wine company.
This talented winemaker has overseen every vintage at Spier since the mid-1990s, playing a key role in the renaissance of this heritage farm. He has shared a personal journey with an enterprise that is a leader in fair trade, biodiversity and organic viticulture; and a gateway for Cape wine tourism with world-class arts, hotel, golf, dining and wine attractions.
Today, Smit is in charge of a team of viticulturists, winemakers and grape growers who produce over one million cases of wine for Spier’s own wine labels, as well as a range of export wines under the Savanha and
Naledi brands.
Smit and Spier have come of age together, winning the Fairbairn Capital Trophy for the most successful producer at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2011, and five gold medals as the most successful South African producer at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2011.
Many critics would agree that Smit is at the apex of his craft – as a winemaker among winemakers.
Over a tasting of his eponymous Spier Frans K. Smit blend, 21 Gables and Creative Block series, the self-effacing winemaker talks about the art of making super blends.
A perfectionist with a fine eye for detail, he is refreshingly modest, and draws on an incredible memory bank of the world’s great wines he has tasted and which inspire him in his quest to show the world that South Africa can produce “super wines”.
Can South Africa make world-class wines to beat the best?
We’re winemakers, not magicians. Sustainable viticulture is the key -- and the guys in the vineyards.
South Africa needs to build iconic brands that will last 50 years, and challenge the icons of Australia and California. We need to get the chemistry right between viticulture, vineyards and winemakers. We must guard our old wines, identify super pockets of terroir and plant super-material for the next generation.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. South Africa will win cult status for its wines one day.
So your holy grail is a super blend?
Super wines are sold all over the world today, such as California’s Opus One, or Australia’s Penfolds Grange Bin 95. We need to make an iconic blend that will stand out in a blind tasting of the world’s best wines. Kanonkop Paul Sauer and Eben Sadie’s Columella (two benchmark Cape reds) are good examples of super blends.
Does Spier have its own super blend?
I believe we’re on track at Spier with our own flagship blend. Rated five stars by Platter’s South African Wines 2012, Frans K. Smit sells for R700.
I earmark grapes from seven special blocs that produce great fruit year after year, and select the finest barrels for the final seamless blend. We mature this wine in oak for 30 months, then hold it back five years until it reaches its optimum.
My motto is “selections within selections”. As a winemaker, you get only one chance every year to make a truly great wine.
Peter Finlayson, Bouchard Finlayson
Peter Finlayson, cellar master and viticulturist at Bouchard Finlayson in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, is one of the senior statesmen of the South African wine fraternity. He comes from a renowned family of winemakers who have been leaders in the local wine industry over three generations, and made his own mark at leading estates such as Bouchard Finlayson and Hamilton Russell Vineyards (where he made the first 10 vintages).
Finlayson celebrated his 21st vintage at Bouchard Finlayson in 2011 by winning the Wine Cellar of the Year trophy on the SA Wine Index Awards for the second consecutive year – adding to earlier awards such as Diners Club Winemaker of the Year.
The passionate winemaker has made it his lifelong quest to make world-class Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the Cape, ever since his first visit to Burgundy while studying oenology in Europe. A classicist, Finlayson creates benchmarks that reflect his practice of traditional French
principles of structure, balance and terroir.
He talks about the competitive nature of winemaking in his lair at Bouchard Finlayson among the vineyards where he has found the right location for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, and where he has made his five-star Hannibal Red Blend.
Owned by the Tollman family, the winery is in a global portfolio of hospitality interests including The Oyster Box, The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa, and Bushmanskloof Wilderness Reserve & Wellness Retreat – all part of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection.
You once compared winemaking to a competitive test match.
Making wine is a very competitive business: you only get one shot at it, and there is no time for a dress rehearsal. You create the end product, then you sell the movie – the product has to be good. You need the right location, people and charm. Word soon gets around about a good or bad wine.
Buying a wine is the most expensive purchase at a restaurant. The secret is to work closely with restaurants that serve our wines, by bringing staff out to the cellar for tastings.
And wine releases have to be ready to drink these days. No one wants to run in a car, or age wine.
Does South African wine have a clear brand identity on the global stage?
Many wine producers are building their reputations on wine show results. But I believe we need to look at developing a formula that will give us a calling card like the French i.e. each region should look at what its strengths are. Where are the best sites for Chenin Blanc or Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay or Pinot Noir? Wine in the new world seems to flounder in terms of developing a specific regional identity.
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Does Pinot Noir give the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley a regional identity?
I have maintained that Pinot Noir is like opera: when it is great, it is pure seduction – almost hedonistic. There is no middle road.
Did you know that Pinot Noir is overtaking Cabernet Sauvignon on wine lists in the United States?
It is said that Pinot Noir has no individual character of its own, but is rather characterised by the soil on which it grows. And Pinot Noir needs wood. It is the most terroir-specific varietal of all. Bouchard Finlayson Pinot Noir is clearly driven by the impact of our shale soils that impart firm structure and robust flavour statements to each vintage.
If you want to taste Pinot Noir, the best way is at a braai over a few lamb chops, or on safari in the bush. I believe there is a synergy between great times and good wines.
Is a winemaker only as good as his or her last vintage?
Each new wine is like a new child displaying uniqueness, offering promise, evoking a range of emotions – without any guarantees. I get to be involved in the initial development, giving my all; but once bottled and released into the world, I have to stand back and let go, quietly watching it develop and make its mark – or accept criticism in the face of its exposure.
We have had great vintages of Pinot Noir in cycles of every four years: in 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2009 – as well as our iconic 2007. The great vintage for whites was 2000, and for reds 2005. Our Bouchard Finlayson Tête de Cuvée Galpin Peak 2005 was rated Wine of the Year by Platter’s South African Wines 2008.
Razvan Macici, Nederburg
Razvan Macici recently celebrated his 11th year as cellar master at Nederburg. Under his leadership, the jewel in Distell’s crown has won more awards at home and abroad than any other Cape cellar. Marking his 10th year in style, Nederburg won a quartet of five-star wines and Winery of the Year in 2011 from Platter’s South African Wines 2011 as well as more double gold (five) and gold (nine) medals than any other cellar in history at Veritas 2011. Nederburg is one of the three top-performing wineries in the 2012 Platter’s guide, with three five-star wines. Earlier, it was judged South Africa’s most successful producer at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show 2011 and the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) in London.
The dynamic winemaker has come a long way from his roots in the wine industry of Romania behind the Iron Curtain to the heights of the Nederburg Auction – one of the world’s premier wine auctions, which raised a record R6 million in September 2011.
Growing up in a wine family, Macici’s father and mother were senior academics at the Romanian Research Institute for Viticulture and Oenology. He graduated with an MSc in Viticulture and Oenology in Romania in 1992, before taking up winemaking in South Africa in 1997.
Macici has overseen a renaissance at Nederburg, leading up to the launch of his flagship Ingenuity wine blends (with the white being having been rated five stars in Platter’s South African Wines 2012), and the Manor House varietal label.
A winemaker of great charm, confidence and innovation, he has introduced new plantings of Mediterranean varieties suited to climate change, and introduced wood maturation in oak from his native eastern Europe.
Macici has performed a juggling act at this Paarl cellar, increasing volumes for growing export and domestic markets while making a flagship range of limited edition wines that have consolidated Nederburg as an iconic South African brand.
How do you go about making a great wine?
I aim to produce wines of world-class quality that will maintain and strengthen Nederburg’s leading position internationally.
As a winemaker, I always try to respect the fruit and to make the most of it, maintaining the varietal character and terroir. I like to experiment, blending wines with various characters that complement one another, like the eight varieties that go into my white Ingenuity blend, and my Italian-inspired Ingenuity red blend.
I try to produce wines of excellence by staying close to consumers, listening and learning from the advice of people who love wine as much as I do.
How important are competition results in brand-building?
Earning the title of Platter’s Winery of the Year in 2011 was the most fantastic way of marking my first decade on the farm. It is a true tribute to the collective efforts of the wine-growing and winemaking team. We have made expression of terroir a priority. We have tried to produce consistently delicious, well-balanced wines.
I cannot even begin to describe to you what this achievement represents to us: our viticulturists, our farm management and those of us in the cellar. The Platter’s guide enjoys enormous respect locally and internationally, in identifying noteworthy wines.
Which are South Africa’s best grape varietals?
We want to raise the profile of varietals such as Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz. Nederburg achieved the highest score in the 2009 Syrah du Monde in France for its Private Bin R121 Shiraz 2006. The Shiraz also won Nederburg the 2007 Rosemount trophy for the world’s best Shiraz at the IWSC. We have won recognition for our Cabernet Sauvignon -- a varietal that is still king in South Africa.
We believe Chenin Blanc is a great wine that expresses South Africa’s diversity. The most successful Chenin Blanc seduces with a brush of oak.
Nederburg Eminence 2009 was judged the best wine in the southern hemisphere at the Five Nations Wine Challenge 2011 in Sydney; while Edelkeur 2010 (the Cape’s first noble late harvest wine) and Eminence 2010 were both rated five stars in Platter’s South African Wines 2012.
Are dessert wines global icons for Nederburg?
When Romanians hear the name Macici, they immediately think of my late father. He was synonymous with noble late harvest wines. Botrytis wines were the first I learnt to understand and which I aspired to make, but I always knew they would be the wines by which I would be measured.
Then, coming to Nederburg, they loomed large on the horizon once again, with Nederburg’s legendary winemaker Günter Brözel having built an inestimable reputation for Edelkeur, then Eminence and other noble late harvest wines. I suppose you could say they have been the leitmotif of my career.
Johan Joubert, Kleine Zalze
The meteoric rise of Kleine Zalze to the front ranks of Cape wine cellars in 15 short years is one of the success stories of the South African wine scene. Cellar master Johan Joubert, one of the stalwarts of the industry, has been at the forefront of the modern makeover of one of the country’s oldest wine cellars (1695) in Stellenbosch, which began when Kobus Basson and partners acquired the old Gilbeys property in 1996, and developed it into a stunning gateway for wine tourism with a state-of-the-art cellar, the country’s top-10 Terroir restaurant, five-star lodge, and golf and residential estate.
After handling 20 vintages as winemaker at Muratie, Boland Cellars and now Kleine Zalze, Joubert has come of age. Under this gentle giant, the winery has gone from strength to strength, winning an array of awards. Kleine Zalze Sauvignon Blanc Family Reserve 2010 was rated the best Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa at the 2011 Decanter World Wine Awards; and won five stars in Platter’s South African Wines 2012. Kleine Zalze also won WINE magazine’s Chenin Blanc Challenge in 2010, and its Shiraz Challenge.
But Joubert says the highlight of his red winemaking career is winning five stars for the Kleine Zalze Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 in Platter’s South African Wines 2011 and winning the Tri Nations Wine Challenge trophy for best Cabernet Sauvignon.
The synergy of good food and wine has been a formula for success at Kleine Zalze, a winery at the centre of the gourmet hub of the Cape Winelands, alongside a trio of South Africa’s top-10 restaurants: Terroir, Rust-en-Vrede in Durbanville, and Overture at the Hidden Valley wine farm.
What is the secret to Kleine Zalze’s phenomenal success?
Kobus Basson, managing director and co-owner, comments: “We have been lucky enough to taste success at different price points (the premium family reserve, vineyard and cellar selection ranges), with different varietals, and in a number of different countries.
“Producing commercially successful wines that can also compete with the best in both the South African and foreign markets has been a hallmark of Johan Joubert’s leadership of the winemaking team.”
Kleine Zalze won WINE’s Chenin Challenge overall and Best Value Chenin in 2009; the Chenin Trophy at the IWSC in 2009; and the IWSC Chenin Trophy in London in 2007. Is Chenin Blanc South Africa’s great white hope?
Says Basson, “In order to make Chenin Blanc successful, it must be accessible to as many consumers as possible, and that means delivering value for money. Both our Chenin Blanc wines over-deliver, and they have proved hugely popular with consumers, restaurateurs and hoteliers locally and abroad.
“Success undoubtedly begins in the vineyards; but to be able to create a commercially successful wine that wins such prestigious awards is immensely satisfying.”
Is Chenin the focus varietal at Kleine Zalze?
Joubert says, “We have had an amazing run of success with our Chenin Blanc over the last 10 years. Chenin is the most widely planted variety in South Africa. It is the only cultivar worldwide of which South Africans are the acknowledged leading exponents.
“The work the winemaking teams, viticulturists and producers are doing here to push the boundaries of Chenin Blanc makes me very proud to be a small part in this cultivar’s success. We make it in barrel-fermented and unwooded bush vine versions, in a modern style that consumers really like.
“Chenin is a great food wine with an amazing freshness of fruit, and can last for 10 years,” he adds.
Joubert concludes, “I always think of Ronnie Melck (the South African wine legend at Muratie) telling me, ‘Don’t interfere with the grapes!’”
Graham Howe
Howe is wine and food editor of “Habitat” and a well-known wine columnist for “Business Day Home Front” and wine.co.za.
I wholeheartedly disagree with this statement by Peter, the rewards of cellaring is catching on more and more world wide, and is one of the most asked questions in many tasting rooms.
'But I believe we need to look at developing a formula that will give us a calling card like the French'
When is South Africa going to stop trying to emulate the French in everything vinous. SA it is time to stand up and let your own voice be heard (without a French comparison in there somewhere)!