September 2003
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Footloose in Europe With J-C still away earning his keep in Cote Rotie, Saansie was still in command at TMV and doing a fine job. August and September is winter in the Southern hemisphere, the months of least vine activity. The vines should be completely dormant, saving their energy and waiting for the first signs of Spring. Dormancy is when pruning takes place, when there is very little metabolic activity and Saansie and the team had been hard at work on this. We had decided to lower the cordon wire on the 2001 Syrah down to 70cm and while the vines were dormant this was completed. Last season the Mourvedre was quite difficult to train onto the wires so we decided to experiment by removing the posts and wire from several rows and training the vines as bushes. Bush vines are trained with a short stumpy trunk and shoots emerging 360 degrees from the trunk in a goblet fashion. This method of training is used extensively in Southern France on low vigour vines. The idea is to allow the shoots to find their own natural direction without support from the trellis. Mourvedre shoots are strong but more inflexible than the Syrah and can easily break when being trained onto a wire. The only drawback is that if the vine is too vigourous the shoots will be unable to support them selves and fall to the ground. The other problem may be shade. If the shoots are too vigourous you must top and tip them keep them short, but this only encourages side shoots so you end up with a bush full of leaves. This causes too much shade which can be responsible for low levels of flavour compounds and a tendency to vegetal characteristics. We hope our Mourvedre will find a good natural balance. We are very hopeful of success with this variety as is showed so well in the small amount of grapes we harvested this year. At its best it should have great structure and intense fruit but the best Mourvedre exhibits a wonderful aroma which is what we are trying to capture for our blend. Saansie and the team were busy as well in the top Cabernet. This patch of our vineyard was the most uneven of all. This had been caused in part by the buck which were constantly nipping the growing tips of the vine trucks in certain areas. Also this soil is well weathered with some patches producing fast growth and some slow. This is not a major problem in itself because it will all even out in time without interference, but some vines had not been given a chance by the buck. We had noticed that after the vines were over 70 cm the buck did not touch them at all, so we ended up with some vines that were growing fine and some that would never grow. The answer was growth tubes. These are plastic tubes about 70cm long that you fit over the growing truck of the vine. They are used extensively in the forestry business where young trees are protected from buck until they are too high to be of any interest. Saansie and the team put them over all the weaker vines in this block. We hope they do the trick. Being the end of winter the weather was pretty fierce. The wind was blowing frantically for several days. It was really crazy but we were assured by some experienced locals that it was normal for the time of year. There was snow in all the surrounding mountains and one evening it snowed on the grass in front of the cellar, and in fact all over the farm. It was amazing. The dogs were covered with snow flakes and sprinted around like mad things.
During the month the two young people living in the farm cottage got married. The feeling in the air was of hope for the future, happiness and spring just around the corner. Meanwhile in the Northern Hemisphere J-C was tasting, testing, working and networking. He had dinner with one particularly dynamic winemaker who produces loads of great wines from Cote Rotie in the North to Banyuls in the South. He reported that (unsurprisingly) most French men consider themselves wine connoisseurs, and being a vigneron this gentleman was no exception. He warmed up the evening with many fine wines, and eventually brought three out just before dinner. Two of them were from one of his favourite regions, the Languedoc - Les Grange des Peres; and Le Roc de Anges. Two brilliant wines. They both, however, were put in the shade by a De Trafford Merlot that he prevailed upon J-C to talk about, knowing that he was from SA and had worked at de Trafford. In the end it was congratulations to David Trafford as the famous vigneron eventually chose his wine to have with dinner. As can be seen from that vignette the French aren't as stuck up as their reputation makes them out to be. They also have a lot of respect for South Africa. They just don't like us Poms that much! After the harvest J-C was given some free time to travel as the duties in the vineyards became more mundane. Like a sabbatical of a sabbatical (just how lucky is this guy!). He decided to travel with a mate of his to meet up with John Merriman in Spain where they would all call on an ex-pat South African winemaker who is getting his own venture off the ground. First stop was Avignon where they sampled the delights of the local tappas bar in preparation for Spain, a French "hot" night club, got a massive hangover and J-C a massive dose of food poisoning. He was pleasant company on the much interrupted drive to Calce near the Spanish border the next day. In Calce they tasted wine with a South African wine maker who has settled in the area and set up his own operation. Calce is a small village near Peripignan close to the Spanish border and in the Cotes de Roussillon-Villages area. Languedoc-Roussillon was well known in the past for producing vast quantities of un-exceptional wine and, even after pulling up big areas of vines to combat the EC wine lake, still has 300,000 hectares in production (3 times that of Australia). The vast majority of vines are Carignan, with Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre as well as Marsanne and Rousanne. Interestingly enough some of the best and most expensive Vin de Table in France comes from the area, produced outside the strict appellation system by wine makers who choose low yielding sites on high terraced vineyards in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Unfortunately J-C failed to register anything of this tasting experience as he spent most of the time talking to God on the big white telephone. Fortified by a cocktail of pills from the lady of the house they were packed on their way, next stop Barcelona for the Cava festival and to pick up Merriman at the airport. After a fortifying near raw steak at an Argentine restaurant, a blast round a few nightspots and a few hours sleep they all headed via the Cava festival to Priorat which was the main aim of the trip. If any wine area exemplifies the sense of the era we live in it is Priorat. Renaissance, rebirth, rediscovery, marriage of old and new. If you empathize with these sentiments then this is your wine. The area was well populated and heavily farmed over 100 years ago. As it was one of the last areas to get phylloxera the growers cut miles of terraces and had an advantage over other pest ridden areas. In the end the disease did arrive and the area declined with only a few vineyards and terraces being maintained. The local population declined in step, with the lure of jobs on the coast. The region is an extinct volcano and the interior of about 85km across has very little soil, is very hilly and sparsely covered in low scrub. In the late 1990's however, in keeping with the need to rediscover authenticity and inspiration, old vines and low yields were back in vogue. This area fitted the bill. New ideas on barrel maturation and blending French varieties such as Cabernet and Syrah with the traditional highly concentrated Grenache were introduced. New private investment came in and estates have sprung up alongside the old cooperatives. The wine offers everything to the super premium buyer. The high concentration and intensity of the wine, a feeling of exclusivity on the label, but most important the idea that this is a new wave of winemaking built on a solid tradition going back centuries. For those traditionalists unable to stomach a New World wine this is a reassuringly Old World area producing exciting first class "New World" style wine.
The best Grenache vineyards consist of old dwarf vines scattered in patches among olive and almond trees. They are tended as individual plants in a diverse culture of other plants which combined with the incredibly low yields means very expensive but in some cases awesome wine. For example ".....the Clos Erasmus is picked from four vineyard sites, with a total vineyard surface of 2 hectares. All are precipitously perched on terraces (sic) originally carved into the mountainside by Greeks(?), for their cultivation of vines, olives, and almonds. The grapes are handpicked and brought to the winery where they undergo a strict selection before destemming. Fermentation can last up to 45 days, depending on the vat, the varietal and the vintage. The best of the press is incorporated and the malolactic encouraged. During the winter, the temperature drops down and induces a natural precipitation. The wine is racked off into new oak barrels, stacked on their sides to reduce contact with air. The wines remain in barrels for 14-16 months. Barrels are made from Limousin, Alliers and American oak, with 30% new barrels. The wines remain in the cellar 6 to 8 months in bottle before release. Percentages might look something like this (depending on the year): 65% Grenache, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Syrah. The wine is usually bottled in the late spring of the second year after harvest without any fining or filtration. The idea is to submit the wine to as little manipulation as possible, and making nature responsible for a majority of the winemaking process......" says Douglas Polaner. "......Along with l'Hermita, (Clos Erasmus) is the most concentrated, powerful and age worthy of the promising wines of the Priorato. The spectacular 1998 flirts with perfection...dazzling aromas...powerful, super-extracted, rich, concentrated flavors...It is winemaking tour de force. 99 points." The Wine Advocate 9-28-00 So now you know. J-C, John M and the rest of the guys spent a few days helping with the harvest in this inspirational place. Early morning starts, peaceful work and vineyard picnics were the order of the day, followed by crazy nights in the hotel bar. However all too soon it came to an end. They parted company and headed home. J-C back to Cote Rotie to finish off his commitment there and then to return to Tulbagh and John M back to the day job. All in all a valuable learning experience, much of which will provide inspiration for our South African venture. Copyright © 2000 Tulbagh Solutions. All rights reserved. |
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