The false modesty of winemakers is the probable reason for a common misapprehension about wine production that runs like this: wines from vineyards that are properly sited and well managed “make themselves”.
I have attended countless presentations where the cellarmaster shrugs his/her shoulders disarmingly and explains that winemaking is a kind of midwife role. By the time the grapes get to the cellar it’s simply about transforming the fruit into the wine that had been waiting in the wings (my apologies for introducing a second metaphor: this has been done to avoid anything more awkward resulting from my sticking to the original one).
This charming fairytale doesn’t survive a moment’s scrutiny: even the simplest, least sophisticated approach to fine wine is the end result of detailed planning, nuanced thinking and seat-of-the-pants decision-making. Consider Jessica Saurwein’s latest (2020) releases: her Hemel-en-Aarde Pinot Noir (Om) is markedly different from her Elandskloof Pinot Noir (Nom). Unlike the latter, which is quite austere, it has weight and fruit sweetness without straying into tutti-frutti territory.
So far you might say that this is the terroir speaking: Elandskloof vs Hemel-en-Aarde. You would be correct insofar as the fruit is concerned, but here is where it becomes more interesting. Saurwein buys her “Om” pinot grapes from a vineyard at La Vierge, in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge appellation. The La Vierge Pinot comes from the same vineyard, as does Peter-Allan Finlayson’s Crystallum Cuvée Cinema. Each wine is completely different. A smart taster might be able to say that all three have the fingerprint of Hemel-en-Aarde but anyone astute enough to identify that would also notice the differences.
The same thought crossed my mind tasting a couple of different ranges: one was the latest releases from Izele van Blerk, who makes KWV’s The Mentor’s wines; the other was Dirk van Zyl’s creations from Saxenburg. Van Zyl has been at Saxenburg since the end of 2019, so he has been responsible for finishing off and bottling the 2019s and for making the 2020s and 2021s.
Looking at his current release of white wines, there is clearly a particular stylistic that reflects the hand of the winemaker — because it is present in all of his white wines, irrespective of cultivar, and wasn’t discernible (at least to me) in the vintages produced by his predecessors. The 2020 Sauvignon Blanc has a flinty leanness to it, without being severe: in fact, there’s an almost creamy note to the mid-palate, not rich enough to call opulent, but sufficient to dismiss any thought of meanness. The same tension is evident in the 2020 Chardonnay, the 2020 Sauvignon Blanc-Sémillon and the 2021 Guinea Fowl Chenin Blanc. Clearly this is the result of his imposing his aesthetic vision on his creations.
Wines like these are never the product of pure chance.
Van Blerk has been responsible for The Mentor’s wines for several years, with freedom to choose her fruit sources and therefore to determine the style that arises from terroir, as well as from craft. The breadth of her grape buying is a reflection of the statement she wishes to make: a fabulous Chenin Blanc from Paarl — plush yet restrained, with honeysuckle marzipan notes filling out the mid-palate, held in check by lime-like freshness on the finish.
The fruit for Grenache Blanc is purchased from several sites, as the portmanteau origin of “Coastal Region” makes clear. The 2018 is silky and delicate, with stone-fruit aromas and savoury wet-slate notes. Harmonious and evocative, it combines early accessibility with the promise of long and well-justified ageing. The Noble Late Harvest, made from Walker Bay fruit, has the telltale honeyed whiffs of botrytised grapes and nutty, leathery notes. Its real appeal lies in the Seville orange marmalade freshness on the mid-palate.
Wines like these are never the product of pure chance. They are aesthetic objects, conceived in the winemaker’s mind, planned in the vineyards, and achieved through countless nudges and tweaks, while the liquid is still pliable in the cellar, ahead of when it sets to its final form in the bottle.
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