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 Lazanou Vineyards - Wellington
Lazanou is an organically run "boutique wine farm," as they
describe themselves, located in the Wellington valley not far from Cape
Town. The name is a slips-off-the-tongue combo of the owners Josef Lazarus
and Candice Stephanou, who bought it in 2002 and added a few more
varieties to the small plot of Chenin Blanc already there. So, there's
now a huge 5½ hectares under vineyard out of total land covering 8½, which
must make them one of South Africa's smallest. The rest of the estate
is, well a proper farm really i.e. not just vines: cow pastures, olive
groves, fruit orchard, bird sanctuary and "most importantly a number of biodiversity zones."
The latter meaning areas where the natural habitat, flora and fauna, is
being preserved.
I enjoyed these three wines at Millésime Bio wine fair in Montpellier, January 2009
(full marks, by the way, for coming all the way over to, at that moment
in time, not
very warm southern France for this increasingly buzzing organic show. I wasn't
overly excited by their Chenin and Chardy / Chenin though, but hey c'est
la vie...
2007 Chardonnay ("lightly wooded,"
13.5%) - lightly exotic peachy v subtle toast and cream; has a bit of
weight and richness v elegant bite v slight kick; nice style combo.
85+
2007 Syrah (14%) - touches of
chocolate oak with overlaying spicy berry / cherry fruit and herbal
notes; a tad too toasty on the palate but it does have some elegant
fruit and fresh acid / suitable dry tannins too.
85
2008 Syrah /
Mourvèdre
(14%) - more aromatic and smokier too with pepper, 'tar' and black olive
notes; very peppery palate showing nice weight, black cherry fruit and
dry v rounded tannins; a bit of punch but still well-balanced finish.
88+
More info @
www.lazanou.co.za.
Waverley Hills & Dixon's Peak - Tulbagh
No, not the view over Edinburgh station but another organically farmed estate
winery lying in the shadow of the Witzenberg Mountains in the Tulbagh region. It's owned by the Du Toit family, who planted 21 ha
here in 2000 ("let's all meet up in the year 2000..." from a song by
which English 90s band, answers on an e-postcard please...) using the organic
touch from the start. They also
grow and make organic extra virgin olive oil and have a smart-looking restaurant at
the cellars. I tasted these three lively reds at Millésime Bio wine fair in
Montpellier, January 2009 (full marks, by the way, for coming over to
France for this increasingly buzzing organic show); as
well as their 2008 Semillon / Sauvignon (OK but not worth getting too
excited about, I'm afraid in MHO).
2008 Cabernet Sauvignon "No added
sulphites" (12.5%) - nice herbal minty nose moving on to 'sweet' cassis
and ripe plum fruit; soft and fruity palate, elegant style.
85
2007 Shiraz (14%) - rich and spicy,
lots of black pepper and blackberry with herbal edges; juicy v firm
mouth-feel with a bit more power, not surprisingly (+1.5%).
87
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon /
Merlot - minty v funky nose, quite
lush with smoky cassis fruit; dry v 'sweet' coating, subtle
concentration and depth of ripe cassis on the finish.
89+?
More @
www.waverleyhills.co.za.
Waterkloof Estate -
Stellenbosch
British importer/exporter/producer Boutinot (they also have offices in France
and the States) purchased the 122-hectare (300 acre) Waterkloof estate
in 2004. The plan, according to their website, is "to create a new flagship wine
for South Africa, and one of the world’s great Sauvignon Blancs." Sounds like
Paul Boutinot's words himself, not one to make modest claims or lacking
ambition! They have some good Merlot as well and planted quite a bit of
Mourvèdre,
which looks promising in
South Africa's best
coastal sites.
Waterkloof vineyard is located 3km from the sea in one of the country’s best
known 'cool climate' regions. It lies on Schaapenberg Mountain in Somerset West
and "benefits from the moderating effects of coastal breezes off the cool
Atlantic currents flowing through False Bay," apparently. Winemaking and viticulture is
headed up by Werner Engelbrecht "following natural winemaking methods," such as
wild yeast fermentation and extra lees contact (light yeast deposits, standard
practice for making quality white wines). The Waterkloof wines are sourced from
the upper slopes (up to 400m/1250 feet altitude) and Peacock Ridge from the main body of
the estate (200-290m/750 feet).
Tasted at their trade tasting in the Tower of London (mind your head) Feb 07,
posted Aug 07. To find stockists of these wines, and those above and below,
check out the
Boutinot website.
2005 Peacock Ridge Merlot - herb v plum
aromas lead to a quite lush palate with fresh firm finish. UK retail approx
£7.50 87-89
2006 Circumstance
Sauvignon Blanc - citrus
fruit with green pepper notes, intense mineral mouth-feel with zesty length. £10
87+
2006 Circumstance
Mourvèdre rosé
- zesty and elegant
Bandol rosé style, mineral v oily palate, long and fresh. £9
87
2005 Circumstance
Merlot
- spicier and rounder than the PR Merlot with more oak showing at the moment;
however, has good balance and classy length. £12 88-90
2005 Waterkloof Sauvignon Blanc - grassier
incisive style, fatter fruit palate v eye-watering acidity, steely elegant
length. £15 90+
 Golden Kaan
The Golden Kaan brand was created by German multinational drinks company Racke
in partnership with Cape winery KWV. Typically there are different tiers of
quality, wine style and packaging: varietal range, Reserve Selection and Winemaker's
Reserve. The basic spread isn't up to much apart from the two Pinotages - you
have to ask why they sent samples of 2004 vintage southern hemisphere whites? - but it
gets a bit better as you go up; although in some cases 'reserve' appears to mean
more oak. However, a couple of them are pretty good and show where their
strengths lie. Tasted September-November 2006:
2004 Pinotage, Western Cape - attractive smoky style showing rustic
lushness v tangy plum, red fruits and burnt spices; fair weight and rounded
tannins. Better with hearty food such as pork and garlic sausages, as it's a
little bitter on the finish on its own. 80-85
2005 Pinotage rosé - plenty of
vibrant red fruit notes, quite rich then tangy and spicy, juicy and ripe v crisp
and dry. 85-87
2004
Chardonnay - a bit flat and fading with hard acidity.
2004 Sauvignon Blanc - too old otherwise not bad.
2004 Merlot - a bit rough and thin; softer the next day but it's just the
alcohol holding it together.
2004 Shiraz - vanilla and smoked bacon
essence; fruitier the next day although a bit boring with clumsy oak chip character and 14% alcohol keeping it alive.
2004 Cabernet Sauvignon - OK, better than the Merlot or Shiraz with ripe
cassis v herbal red pepper style and soft-ish mouth-feel; still at basic vin de
pays level though.
2005 Sauvignon Blanc Reserve Selection (12%) - the first bottle was a bit
sulphide on the nose, but it goes with some air; develops a nicer mix of
tropical fruit v gooseberry zing, quite mineral and long actually.
87
2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Selection (13.5%) - mature minty berry fruit,
quite soft liquorice palate finishing with dry bite; nice enough but lacks a bit
of substance and depth of flavour. 83-85
2003 Shiraz Reserve Selection (14%) -
appealing mature rustic v herbal peppery & smoky bacon notes, combines with
liquorice and black cherry fruit, quite firm with punch of alcohol; not so
complex, again went well with fried liver but less attractive on its own.
85
2003 Chardonnay Winemaker's Reserve, Coastal
Region (14%) - pretty oaky start yet has plenty of rich tropical pineapple and
buttery yeast-lees complexity, developed fruit supported by quite powerful
alcohol v touch of fresh acidity and aniseed bite; try with guinea fowl,
mushroom & gruyere risotto or trout in a rich sauce?
87-89
2003 Cabernet Sauvignon
Winemaker's Reserve, Stellenbosch (13.5%) - better after one day open: at
first it's all vanilla coconut oak then develops gamey cassis and plum notes,
lusher palate v that coco oak (although remains pretty toasty); quite firm yet
fresh finish goes some way towards countering the coating of chocolate tannins.
87-89
Links:
South Africa Chenin
Blanc
 Heritage
- Lebanon
I was fortunate enough to visit
Heritage and other
Lebanese wineries in 2005 (well, I did pay for my flight at least): click on the former highlighted link to
read a brief profile of Heritage and notes on a few previous vintages, and the
latter takes you to the beginning of my full report. Owner and winemaker Dr. Dargham Elias Touma (not a medical doctor but PhD in food and beverage science)
is the latest in the family line, since its creation in 1888 to run the Heritage
vineyards, winery and distillery. Talking about 'combining tradition and technology' in the same
sentence has become a bit of a cliché in wine-speak. However, their wines
do seem to express an appealing mix of 'modern' and 'traditional' in style, with plenty
of rich fruit (ripe grapes shouldn't be too difficult in the Bekaa Valley with its
hot dry summers balanced by high altitude vineyards) while the reds retain some
kind of old-fashioned charm and complexity. It's also a bit unusual, and a
pleasure, to be able to taste and find on sale almost mature vintages of an estate's top
red wines, as you'll see below. Tried and tested March 2008:
2007 Blanc de Blancs (Sauvignon Blanc Chardonnay Ugni
Blanc 13%) - attractive combo of zesty and aromatic, lightly exotic peachy
fruit and oily aniseed notes; quite full yet very crisp with a tangy finish.
85
2005 Le Fleuron (40%
Cinsault 10%
Mourvèdre 10% Carignan 10%
Tempranillo 10% Syrah 10%
Cabernet Sauvignon 10%
Grenache 13.5%) - colourful cocktail of grape varieties gives this nice
ripe prune v peppery black cherry/olive fruit with tobacco and savoury maturing
edges; fair weight with 'sweet' liquorice fruit v lightly dry bite and rustic
finish. 85-87
2000 Grand Vin Bourgeois (40%
Syrah 30%
Cabernet Sauvignon 30% Mourvèdre) -
smoky cassis and black cherry with pepper and resin/raisin liquorice notes;
enticing rich dark fruit palate v savoury maturing fruit v quite firm yet
sweet-textured tannins, good balance of power (14% alcohol) and still fresh
acidity; lingering tasty savoury v sweet flavours v bitter twist makes it a nice
match for 'boudin noir aux oignons' (black pudding with onion).
89+
2000 Heritage Chateau (Syrah Cabernet Sauvignon
14.5%) - complex smoky v herbal black cherry and cassis, developing meaty
notes with liquorice edges; concentrated and lush showing tasty ripe raisin and
tangy plum fruit v savoury leather, firm bite and power yet well-balanced with
lovely depth and length. 92+
More info at
www.vinheritage.com.
Latest!
Wines of Lebanon in London (goes to blog).
 Weingut
Pfaffl - Weinviertel, Austria
Pfaffl (Pe-faff-el) is yet another groovy-looking (those Austrians are rather
good at designing wine-making and selling 'spaces') family-run estate, located about 15km
north of Vienna; so within easy striking distance of Austria's fine capital city.
Their wines - see snapshot below with my tasting notes and comments - are available from Astrum Wine Cellars in London SW18 (020
8870 5252), but don't appear to have US distribution at the moment (wrong! see
update below), although
certain
lucky Canadians can find them in the
Liquor
Control Board of Ontario shops. More info @
www.pfaffl.at. These three gems were tasted in May 2007:
2006 Hundsleiten Grüner Veltliner
(13.5%) - spicy pear with tangy yeast edges and powerful aromatic floral baked
apple notes; full rounded mouth-feel v juicy peppery fruit, cider and creamy
roast nut flavours v zingy and fresh; powerful finish v zesty mineral bite.
88-90
2005 Riesling
am Berg (13.5%) - powerfully
aromatic linseed oil, honey, citrus and mineral notes with almost a touch of
botrytis? (noble rot character), intense and complex; powerful (again the
alcohol certainly adds weight) with rich concentrated peach fruit and some
sweetness v very fresh, mineral length v oily texture; lingering maturing
Riesling fruit v medium dry finish although clean thanks to that acidity.
90-92
2004 'Excellent' (Blauer
Zweigelt Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
14.5%) - this modestly named red shows fragrant Black Forest gateau fruit - plum
cherry and choc with light vanilla tones, commanding palate with fresh bite and
nice depth of minty fruit; the oak is quite well integrated (often a fault with
Austrian reds) set against bitter/sweet fruit and dry finish. Would perhaps rate
it higher but the alcohol's a bit heavy, although with food it's fine. 88
Update December 2009
Apart from a name-tweak perhaps, to Weingut R&A Pfaffl (maybe always
was and I didn't note the full title, as in husband & wife Roman, and
son R junior too, and Adelheid?), they appear to be winning a lot of
awards at the moment. Something which doesn't normally interest me (why
should I be interested in rehashing someone else's ratings without
trying the wines myself, especially some big commercial competition?),
but I reacted to their press release prompting a sample to wing its way
to deepest southern France. The tasty GV below in fact.
Distribution news: now available from Tanners as well as Astrum in the
UK, and Palm Bay International, NY, in the States. And Hong Kong,
Iceland, you name it really (they've been busy obviously): visit their
site as in first paragraph above.
2008 Grüner Veltliner "Goldjoch"
Niederösterreich (13%) - very aromatic and gummy with quince, white
peach and gooseberry/kiwi fruit plus spicy & yeast-lees undertones;
juicy and lively vs rounded/oily with fair depth and milky lees edges,
finishing with refreshing acidity and peppery notes adding nice crisp
length, coupled with zesty vs "sweet" fruit.
87-89
Austrian links:
Grüner Veltliner galore
(more to follow)
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Quick A to Z
Golden Kaan
Heritage
Lazanou
Pfaffl
Waterkloof
Waverley
Winery snaps 1:
Burgundy
Winery snaps 2:
SW France
Winery snaps 4:
Spain
Winery snaps 5:
S & N America
Winery snaps 6:
Oz & New Zealand
Winery snaps 7:
Rhône & Provence
Winery snaps 8:
Sicily
Winery snaps 9:
Portugal
Winery snapshots: Roussillon
(4 pages)
Winery
snapshots:
Languedoc
(6 pages)
Wines of the
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