Vino Con Brio Sold

Vino Con Brio winery in Lodi is closing on 5 June and the property has been sold on the retirement of the owners, Mike and Renae Matson.

Vino Con Brio has the largest Pinotage plantings in America. They make their own Pinotage, which I have tasted and its a good clean fruit forward modern wine, and they sell grapes to a number of other wineries who want to make Pinotage.

This follows the sudden sale in March of New Zealand’s Muddy Water winery to neighbouring Waipara producer, Greystone. Muddy Water made one of my favourite NZ Pinotages, a powerful ‘no prisoners’ taken statement wine. Winemaker Belinda Gould, Muddy Hill’s winemaker of eleven years lost her job.

New Zealand journalist Sue Courtney called the Muddy Water 2009 Pinotage “voluptuous” and that it was a wine that “totally seduces the senses in every way - a wine that lovers of full-bodied reds will find hard to resist.” Sue is doubtful that Greystone will continue with making Pinotage.

Sad news when two top non-South African Pinotage wineries close in few months of each other.

Muddy Water and Rijks in Cork

That's correct. There's a cork in Rijk's Pinotage but Rijks and Muddy Water are also in Cork: the fine city of Cork, Ireland, at Curious Wines.

Curious Wines were so impressed with one of New Zealand's best Pinotages, the magnificent 2006 Muddy Water, that they have gone to the trouble of importing it themselves.

They say that the Rijk's and Muddy Water 2006 are the very best Pinotages they have ever tasted, and that Rijk's is "proof that South Africa is capable of truly world class wines."

With wines like these, "Pinotage may some day be as popular as Merlot."

Visit http://www.curiouswines.ie/ to order.

Muddy Water's Pinotage Escapes Frost's Worst

This is Muddy Waters vineyard at the start of their summer. Muddy Water make some cracking good Pinotage near Canterbury on New Zealand's North Island.

Viticulturist Miranda Brown says that "the 07/08 season was definitely a mixed bag. The Muddy Water vineyard is sited in a sheltered position at the base of hills. This means we are warmer than other vineyards in the valley and so usually the first to start growing. This also means that we are more vulnerable to frost as our vines are often more advanced and therefore more susceptible. The Friday before Labour weekend saw frosts up and down the whole of New Zealand and Waipara was no exception.

Our frost alarm went off at about 8pm on the Thursday night and there was still frost on the ground the following morning at around 9am. Our hill blocks and later varieties such as the Syrah, Riesling and Pinotage were largely unaffected, but the lower blocks were quite badly frost affected. At the time it was heart breaking to see all the new seasons growth damaged, but fortunately for us that was the only frost for our site that season and as it occurred relatively early in the growing season, the vines had time to recover. The rest of the summer was warm and dry up until about February. Perfect weather over flowering made for excellent fruit set and so by Christmas time it was hard to believe we had been frosted, as crop levels were near normal, in fact many blocks had more fruit than we had had in previous years."

She adds that the farm has made a commitment to go fully organic and they are "dabbling in a bit of biodynamics. Planting our cover crops according to the moon, using valerian preps to help with frost resistance and applying 501 to encourage soil activity. It is early days, but I personally have been trialing it at home in my vege garden and so far I can certainly see the benefits."

Pinotage is a great match with lamb and I wonder if that has a bearing on this piece of news; "We are also now the proud owners of six organic Wiltshire ewes. It is a small flock at the moment but we are hoping to breed and build numbers sufficient to keep down the grass and weeds in and around the vineyard, reducing our need to run the tractor."

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A Historic Evening with Beyers Truter

Being invited to plunder Beyers Truter’s private cellar was dream come true. There is capacity for 30,000 bottles; many of the wines were made by Beyers and alongside Kanonkop and Beyerskloof are own label wines from UK supermarkets he’s made wine for. And there’s also an eclectic collection of many different South African wines and a good number of wines from other countries.

Beyers had invited me to his seaside house to join him and Francois Naude,(previously winemaker at L'Avenir Estate, now independent consultant) and Corius Visser (winemaker with Beyers at Croydon Vineyard Estate), for an evening tasting from his collection. It was a chance for the three winemakers to get a night away from the stress of vintage time. (pictured right from top: Corius, Beyers and Francois hunting elusive bottles)

Francois, Corius and I went hunting for interesting wines; Beyers had suggested we choose eight bottles but he soon joined in pulling out wines and we quickly had 11 wines. My picks were a 1982 Zonnebloem, 1996 CWG L’Avenir and a 1999 Kanonkop.

Upstairs the wines were opened. Beyers explained the format of these evenings “We pour a glass of each in turn and drink and discuss them.” There was no spittoon, we would take time to relish the wines.

The wines were

1978 Groot Contantia Superior (Constantia)
1982 Zonnebloem (Coastal)
1985 Cederberg (Cederberg)
1987 Oude Necktar
1989 Clos Malverne
1989 Simonsig CWG Reserve
1996 Paradyskloof
1996 L’Avenir CWG
1999 Kanonkop
1999 Kumkani
2006 Binyamina Teva (Israel)
2006 Muddy Water (New Zealand)

Wine of Origin Stellenbosch except where indicated

1978 Groot Constantia Superior (Constantia)
“They were one of the first Estates to make Pinotage”, Beyers remarked.
PM – “The cork is crumbly and ullage was low. Deep red colour, brown on rim, beautiful colour for a 30 year old wine. Aged sweet bouquet but no oxidation, a sweet toffee light body with touch of acid on finish”
FN = “If I tasted this blind I’d think it was an old sweet white wine, not a red. Fairly high acid which helps it to keep.”
BT – “Very typical of the area, pine needle and honey with high acid.”

1982 Zonnebloem (Coastal)
BT - “The fruit for this came from Kanonkop and Bellevue”
PM – “Dark clear colour, nose of forest floor, lively bright exciting red berry flavours, sweet, lots of life. A beautiful elegant lady of a wine”
BT – “Like water running over a burnt forest floor.”


1985 Cederberg (Cederberg)
PM – “Deep red colour, smells sweet, old and oxidised with a hint of pine toilet cleaner. Sherry taste, sweet like a dessert wine, acids developing in glass.”
BT –“ Not completely gone, over extracted, like syrup.”
FN – “Heavy wine from a light vintage, quite black, too concentrated. I wouldn’t expect this wine from this vintage and area.”
There was some discussion about concentrating this wine to use as a marinade or for drizzling over Christmas cake.

1987 Oude Necktar
BT – “The fruit came from the same block used by Neil Ellis for ‘Swan Song’”
PM –“Sweet and short, light boded and short finish.”
CV –“Fynbos-like nose.”
FN: Blue gum, mint, herbaceousness. Spicy nose offers more than taste does.”
BT –“Acids are too high for the fruit”
FN – “ I think the grapes were picked unripe which explains the high acids.”

1989 Clos Malverne
PM –“Pale light red, luminous, not much nose. Ripe sweet fig flavours, light bodied”
FN – “Beautiful nose, just too acidic”
BT – “ Too high acid. All this wines plus points can’t overcome the acids”
CV – “Too high acid”


1989 Simonsig CWG Reserve
BT – “Very good colour. This is the first one showing more oak and blackberry. Very well balanced, classic blackberry and oak. Was made for CWG, had more oak and will
last 30-40 years.”
FN – “Excellent colour, herby herbaceous flavours, fruity acid, nice tannins makes it nice and firm.”
PM –“Delightful; sweet blackberry and spices.”

1996 Paradyskloof
PM – “Smells old, light bodied, thin red currant short finish”
BT – “ Bit of burnt coal and smoke”
FN – “Lesser vintage, little green. The wine is still too young and the tannins still green. Give it some age and let tannins soften. This is a 2nd label wine; not bad but too young.”

1996 L’Avenir CWG
BT – “Excellent colour, farmyard nose, wood and mushroom. Interesting: it tastes the same. Very complex”
PM – “Isn’t ‘farmyard’ an indication of brett?”
BT –“Lots of people say farmyard equals brett, but that is just Simonsberg. It’s a Simonsberg characteristic.”
FN – “Very forest floor nose. Always had a farm-yardy characteristic – which is what I like and often find in Bordeaux. Nice and full.”
PM – “Beautiful: complex and ripe. Lots going on.



1999 Kanonkop
PM – “Incredible rich black red colour – superb balance. Concentrated dense fruit, great complexity and it is just so drinkable.” I selected this wine because I’d been so impressed with it when I tasted it last year at a tasting at Kanonkop; I wanted to taste it again and I wasn’t disappointed.
FN – “Bit of farmyard, black cherry, tobacco, red cherry.”
BT – “Blackberry – cherry flavoured cigar.”

1999 Kumkani
FN – “Lacks complexity of previous; after nose it under delivers on the palate.”
BT – “Bit of farmyard but not enough depth to carry it.”
PM – “Light bright, not very interesting.

2006 Binyamina Teva (Israel)
I was surprised to see this in Beyer’s cellar but I’d introduced him to the MD of winery last year at the London trade fair and Beyers is keen to visit them in Israel.
BT – “Yes – raspberry and tea. There’s not enough oak in this. Medicinal flavour will be removed with oak. With a bit of oak it would make a fantastic wine.
FN – Dense raspberry. There’s a bit of oak on this; it tastes like crushed raspberries. Ideal to do malo in barrel (or use staves) to tone it down. Very nice acidity.

2006 Muddy Water (New Zealand)
This was the twelfth wine which I had brought from New Zealand. It was winner of our blind tasting of NZ Pinotages and I was keen to hear what the South Africans thought of it.
FN: - Quite a light colour, good nose, good varietal character. Nice fruit; I like this
BT: - Very Pinot Noir, I’d love to taste this older.
FN: I’d never have guessed the alcohol level was 15%, colour is very light, concentration of wine should be more to handle wood, but it matches. If I was consulting there I’d work the wine harder in fermentation to get more extraction. It’s a bit light; needs more density in flavour profile and more colour. Very nice fruit, I’d just like more intensity”

By now it was quite late; Beyers got braai going and cooked meats which we ate with more glasses of the opened wines, and so to bed. The amount left in the bottles next morning indicated our favourite three were Kanonkop, Simonsig and L'Avenir.

That morning was magical. Sitting on the balcony with a coffee in the sun we watched two groups of whales to our left while a huge rainbow over the ocean on our right indicated a storm on the other side of the Hottentot Holland Mountains. Then the car was packed, the winemakers switched on their mobile phones and we headed back to Stellenbosch.

Many thanks to Beyers Truter

New Zealand Pinotage Tasting

New Zealand has been making Pinotage for forty years. The variety is not now as fashionable there is it once was, but there are some first rate Pinotages being made. Unfortunately, few are available outside New Zealand and it seems to me that they are not that widely marketed inside the country.

I was able to taste many of New Zealand’s Pinotage when I visited there last month. My trip was thanks to being able to fill the place of someone who dropped out at the last minute of a wine-writer’s tour of New Zealand, but my welcome to New Zealand and the tasting was thanks to Sue Courtney.

Sue Courtney is a wine-writer and wine-judge based near Auckland in New Zealand. She and I both started our websites in the early days of the public world-wide-web and over the past decade we have been in regular contact via email, and for more than a year I wrote a column on her site at www.wineoftheweek.com.

As soon as I knew I was flying to Auckland with a couple of days to spare before the formal tour started I emailed Sue and suggested we meet. Little did I expect that Sue would cancel all plans for two days and give me a royal tour of the area, finishing with a mammoth Pinotage tasting.

Unfortunately, although I travel a lot, I am increasingly finding jet-lag a problem. After a journey from London, via Singapore to Auckland of more than 24 hours door-to-door it seemed to me that while my body was in Auckland my brain was still in transit. So Sue had a Peter May who was unusually subdued and who kept dozing off like the Dormouse at the Mad-Hatters tea-party.

It was a shame that the Pinotage tasting was in the evening as I was struggling to stay awake.

Sue had assembled, thanks to many wineries that had sent samples, a veritable wall of Pinotage bottles. These were opened and presented blind in flights by Sue’s hubby Neil who uncomplainingly did all the donkey work of documentation.

The first flight included four still rosés and two sparklers, one pink and one red. While pink wines have their place, I can’t say that place is close to my heart. The still roses were competent but they didn’t light my fire, the best being Matua Valley Northland Rose (Almost fluorescent pink, with a sweet front palate, tangy finish and nicely balanced.) The sparkling red from Soljans (Soljans Sienna Methode Traditionelle Rouge) had been bottle matured by Sue for four years. It was first released in 2002 and the base wines were from the 1998 vintage. As is the problem with sparkling red wines, it is difficult to see the bubbles rising and they were not prominent in the mouth. It was tangy with some tannins and a pleasing sweet finish. I thought it would have been better as a still wine because the bubbles distracted from what could have been a serious wine.

I was fading fast and feared I wouldn’t be able to remain awake, so I cheered for the ‘real’ – meaning the still red Pinotages - when they appeared, forgetting that my every comment was likely to be documented by the reporter sitting opposite. Sue blogged that I said "I don't know why they bother," in reference to all the pinks. OK, I put my hands up. But I’d like it to be taken into consideration that I have spent much money on Simonsig’s sparkling pink Pinotage and drank and praised Delheim’s still pink stunner.

We then were presented with two flights each of eleven red Pinotages. There was one ‘ringer’ among the New Zealanders; it was a South African wine from Beyers Truter that I’d brought with me. I was certain that it would stick out and thus I was sure that I would identify it. We scored the wines, and chose our favourites.

In the first flight I rated the last wine highest. It had blue-red colour, a coffee nose and soft mouthfill, with juicy blueberry flavours, gentle acids, medium body and a good finish. This turned out to be the sole South African wine, a Beyers Truter Pinotage 2005 bottling for Tesco’s supermarket. This just pipped by half a point Lincoln Heritage Gisborne Pinotage 2004 (Spicy nose, light and tart with red currant fruits; really nice moreish sweet finish makes you want to drink another glass) and Marsden Estate Bay of Islands Pinotage 2004 (Coffee nose, well balanced, berry fruits, some mocha and refreshing acids on finish).

In the second flight my favourite wine was Ascension 'The Parable' Matakana Pinotage 2006 (Spicy nose, full bodied with black pepper and cherries and medium long finish), followed by Okahu Northland Pinotage 2006 (Deep colour, mulberry flavours over tannins with a spicy mid-palate) equal with Soljans Gisborne Pinotage 2007 (Attractive warm spicy nose which follows through on the palate, bramble berries, balanced tannins and fruit acids)

Neil now brought back the ten top scoring wines from the three of us to re-taste and decide a winner.

The ten were

From Flight one:
Lincoln Gisborne Pinotage 2004 ($18)
Hihi Gisborne Pinotage 2004 ($19)
Marsden Estate Bay of Islands Pinotage 2004 ($24)
Beyers Truter Stellenbosch Pinotage 2005 (Sth Africa £7.99 =$24NZD)

From Flight two:
Muddy Water Waipara Pinotage 2006 ($32)
Okahu Northland Pinotage 2006 ($28)
Te Awa Hawkes Bay Pinotage 2006 ($30)
Kerr Farm P06 Kumeu Pinotage 2006 ($20)
Ascension 'The Parable' Matakana Pinotage 2006 ($25)
Soljans Gisborne Pinotage 2007 ($18)

Sue, Neil and I re-tasted the wines and again scored them. Whilst the Beyers Truter South African wine had been my top scoring wine from the first flight, in the final showdown my highest scores went to Ascension 'The Parable' Matakana Pinotage 2006, with Soljans Gisborne Pinotage 2007 and Muddy Water 2006 a close, and equal, second.

I am fascinated by the co-incidence that I had visited Ascension and enjoyed their 2006 the previous day, and had a (rather dismal) lunch at Soljans earlier the same day.

Time was getting late. Sue proposed a final taste-off, but the only thing by now that I really wanted my lips to touch was a pillow back at my hotel. Muddy Water 2006 was the only wine that all three of us had included in our top three in the taste-off; it was Sue’s top wine and my second choice and so by mutual agreement we nominated Muddy Water 2006 as the winner.

My overall view of the tasting was that there were a lot of very good wines, but also that that the reason that many did not get called back was because of high acidity. I like some acidity in wines - it makes them food friendly - but it has to be appropriate and balanced. Too many were not balanced. But it is not just Pinotage; in the following weeks in New Zealand I leveled the same criticism of excess acidity at too many Pinot Noirs.

I also wondered whether Muddy Water’s success in the blind tasting was aided by its high alcohol level – the label says 15%. I know that high alcohol wines tend to show well in tastings where each wine has less than a minute to make a statement. But it did not make my top three in the first time round, so maybe it opened up with time. I was lucky enough to taste the same wine later in my trip. It was a lone Pinotage amongst a sea of Pinot Noirs and – wow – it tasted just magnificent. But that’s another post.

Congratulations to Muddy Water.

Thanks again to Sue & Neil Courtney. Read Sue’s report of my visit here

What They're Saying

"The difference between Kiwi and South African Pinotage is climatic. The South African climate ripens it quicker making it more steely, but it makes ours more fruity and pinot-like. While it can be a bit too in your face, alcoholic and obviously fruity, ultimately it could be to New Zealand what Zinfandel is to California." Brenda Gould, winemaker at New Zealand's Muddy Water winery. ("WINE Gourmet Traveller" Australia Jan 04)

"The Cape vineyards also produce a variety of internationally acclaimed wines like Burgundy and Cabernet Sauvignon. Of the numerous exported varieties, the most popular is the Pinotage." (Mumbai NewsOnline 27/4/04)

"Who'd have thought it? South Africa's Pinotage grape is starting to produce some stylish red wines," says Joanna Simon, and she cites 2002 Flagstone Writers Block Pinotage "Everything Pinotage should be: sweet berry fruit, chocolate richness." (The Sunday Times,UK 2 May 04)

"Delheim Pinotage Rosé 2003 brimming with red berries and finishing with an invigorating kick of acidity. (Beppi Crosariol, 15 May 04, Globe & Mail Toronto)

"Funny how it took the South Africans to develop this intriguing grape variety. Imagine Pinot Noir, now blend it with Beaujolais and add just a bit of pepper. Now take two plump steaks, toss them on the charcoal and season them with herbes de Provence." (Handwritten sign next to Backsberg 1997 Pinotage in LiquorWorld wine superstore in Franklin, Massachussetts. This was the only Pinotage in less than half a dozen SA wines stocked at this large store)