The Cape is embarking on an era of great viticultural
exploration. Following decades of sanctions, stifling regulations and
export demand largely based on the so-called international varieties in
more recent years, Cape growers and nurseries are starting to behave
like the proverbial kid in the candy store – and there is much to choose
from and contemplate considering the Cape’s diverse terroirs and the
number of varieties either currently or imminently available.
Vititec’s contract with French nursery Entav-Inra, Distell’s sale
earlier this year of in-house plant improvement facility Ernita to
private nursery Bosman Adama (Pty) Ltd, and the likes of leading
winemaker Eben Sadie and viticulturist Rosa Kruger, ensure that Cape
viticulture is entering a very exciting age.
“We have suffered from Bordeaux envy for too long,” says Kruger, one
of the main instigators of cataloguing the Cape’s old (35+ years)
vineyards and the importing of new varietal material from Europe. “We
need varieties better equipped to withstand our drought and heat while
retaining acids until they reach ripeness,” says Kruger.
Sadie is at the “embryonic stage” of what appears to be a life’s work
– and commitment – of trial and error plantings of new and exotic
varieties. “I started eight years ago and it’s been a complex task of
soil mapping and terroir assessment, plus the frustration of dealing
with vested interests, politics and bureaucracy.”
Following their contract with France’s Entav-Entra, private plant
improvement business Vititec are importing 10 new varieties and/or
clones every year. New varieties available from 2013 include
Macabeau/Viura, Marsanne, Roussane, Petit Manseng, Piquepoul Blanc,
Terret Noir and Vermentino; from 2014, Counoise and Marselan; from 2016,
Cinsaut Blanc, Grenache Gris and LLedoner Pelut; from 2017,
Agiorgitiko, Arriloba, Asyrtiko, Caladoc, Ekigaina and Sauvignon Gris.
From 2016 Sadie will be planting exotic varieties, new selections and
new clones every year for five years up until 2020, with the new
varieties – many of them Mediterranean – being tested in up to three
different sites. “Once they are planted we will quickly be able to make
viticultural notes but notes from experimental wines will take a little
longer,” says Sadie.
Kruger has had similar battles in her mammoth project of cataloguing
old vineyards but early next year she will launch a website detailing
all of the Cape’s old vineyards. Besides locating the vineyards, of
course, she was, for example, required by the authorities to contact
every single grower to get their permission to publish the details.
Sadie has produced critically acclaimed wines from some of these
vineyards known as Die Ouwingerdreeks (The Old Vineyard Series), which
sell out on release each year, but is more famous internationally for
his red and white blends Columella and Palladius.
Last month Michela and Attilio Dalpiaz, the Italian owners of Ayama
Wines of Voor Paardeberg, after working with Italian viticulturist
Augusto Fabbro and Johan Wiese of Voor Groenberg Nurseries, planted
South Africa’s first commercial block of Vermentino. They believe it to
be a good match with Sardinia’s terroir, which includes its tolerance of
wind and warm summers, and compatibility with decomposed granite soils.
Voor Paardeberg also recently saw the planting of over four hectares of
Marsanne. Three years ago Albariño/Alvarinho was established by the
Newton Johnson family in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley outside coastal
town Hermanus.
Varieties available from Lelienfontein (Bosman Adama) include Nero d’Avola, Irsai Oliver, Marsanne, Folle Blanche, Prosecco (varieties) and
Aubun. There are other varieties that are either planted or in
quarantine that are subject to confidentially clauses between the grower
and nursery until they are released commercially.
Regardless of the outcome, there is no question that Sadie and Kruger
are doing pioneering work, not least because nobody else is doing
anything like their scale of experimentation. “Given the Loire’s
climate, who would have thought Chenin Blanc would be so suited to the
Cape? We have never been in a better position to experiment and we can
find varieties that are far better suited to our terroirs than what we
currently have. I will be very happy in 20 years time even if only 10%
of the plantings prove a success. Too many of our varieties are out of
spec. We need varieties that better retain their fruit and acids.’ says
Sadie.
– Jonathan Snashall
