Stormhoek 2007

‘Made in Heaven’ it says the foot of this label. The Stormhoek brand now has two incarnations: rights to use the name in South Africa remain with Graham Knox who was one of its founders while abroad the brand name is owned by Origin Wines.

This is Knox’s Stormhoek. Jammy fruit is upfront, it is soft fat bodied with a tannic core. Ideal with a steak and for quaffing not pontificating about.

Stormhoek 2007
WO Western Cape
48 R (£5)

Lease a Stormhoek Block

If owning a Stormhoek vine isn't enough, now you can lease a block of 200 of Stormhoek's vines and have all the wine they produce delivered to you in personally labelled and numbered bottles.

Stormhoek have teamed up with Barrington's International Vine Leasing Ltd to offer the benefits of owning (part of) a vineyard without having to do all the hard work such as pruning, weeding and spraying. Not to mention staying up all night during vintage time to press down the cap.

With Christmas coming fast, its a present idea for the Pinotage lover who has everything.





Stormhoek's Guava Block vineyard

Own a Stormhoek Vine -- Save a Job

Stormhoek, the brand that made its name through blogging, now has two blogs. The original at www.stormhoek.com is probably the one on your favourites list, but it hasn’t been updated for a month now – I reckon it belonged to the now demised Orbital . So switch to www.stormhoek.co.za which is being maintained by the winery in South Africa.

They’re concerned about their local suppliers being hit by non-payment in the wake of Orbitals collapse and are asking supporters to invest in owning a vine. And, of course, you can choose a Pinotage from their Guava block, pictured below.

“When the crunch came in December 2007, R6 million ($800 000) was owed to South African suppliers. The list of unpaids includes the Stormhoek vineyard, the Stormhoek home cellar and in particular, the whole out-sourcing network (label printers, transporters, too many to mention).

One thing about bankruptcies. The money is lost.

South Africa's wine industry is not rich. Household income, averaged out across every employee: boss, labourer, supervisor, receptionist, driver, manager, foreman, all of them, is less than R2500 per month.

None of these businesses can afford to lose R500 000.

As a result, all of the dozen or so businesses will have to decide about cutbacks: if, what, when and who.”

Stormhoek are asking for supporters to adopt a vine of their choice by investing R2000 (=$270/£130).

“You will get a certificate with a photograph of your vine and your name, plus a bottle of wine made from the crop of the vineyard block containing your vine. All of the money raised will go to repaying the Orbital debts to South African grape-growing, winemaking and support services.

From March 1, we at Stormhoek will contribute 5% of the production cost to a loan repayment fund, to repay your loan with interest. When the fund has reached the target, all loans will be repaid.”

Full details are on a PDF document here, and on the blog at www.stormhoek.co.za/own-a-vine-save-a-job/

“Own a vine, save a job” campaign logo courtesy of Robert the Bruce, at iscatterlings.com.

The Guava Block

On the Stormhoek Trail

I went looking for Stormhoek’s Winery, and it wasn’t what I expected. The South African winery that is one of the most talked about on the web, whose Pinotage won the International Wine & Spirit Competition Trophy, whose wines grace the shelves of all the major UK supermarkets and wine shops, are distributed in the USA and Europe and on the business class wine lists of international airlines and restaurants around the world, doesn’t really exist. Well, not in the way I expected. I visualised a modern shiny winery building with smartly dressed receptionists, surrounded by vineyards, accessed by a wide road for the constant flow of trucks bringing in grapes and shipping out pallets of wine destined for the four corners of the world.


My directions led me through the town of Wellington, down into a valley along a dead-end narrow road which turned into a mud track. The track got bumpier and narrower. “I can’t see a fleet of trucks loaded with cases of wine navigating this,” I thought and turned around till I got a cell-phone signal and checked with Stormhoek’s Shane Walton who provided my directions. He sent me back down that track with instructions to keep going till I saw a Stormhoek sign. So down it I went until in an oak forest a small sign pointed up an almost vertical track up a wooded hill. The track was riven with deep grooves gouged by rain and the car jerked and grinded till finally it came to an end at a low old building. Sitting on its veranda was Graham Knox, the driving force behind Stormhoek. He immediately gave me new directions back to Wellington where newly picked Pinotage were being delivered.

The directions led to what looked like an abandoned warehouse behind a rusty chainlink fence next to the railway line. No sign of life, except for a small red car. Another phone call and I found that the padlocked gate could be opened, and once through the fence I found an open door into the warehouse.

Inside were barrels and Stormhoek’s winemaker, Koos Bosman (pictured above). Within moments a beat-up old pick-up truck towing a trailer loaded with plastic boxes full of purple pinotage grapes backed into the warehouse. Koos discarded bunches with unripe grapes and the rest were tipped into a destemmer. “I am working the entire winery off two electric sockets,” Koos told me. They had just moved to these premises and the power supply didn’t match what they expected.

These grapes came from a block next to Graham Knox’s hillside house. They and the other grapes grown in Graham’s vineyards would be made in this winery and bottled as Stormhoek’s premium range. They are small quantity wines made very much in a garageist manner, with low technology, and long barrel aging.

Back up that dirt track, Graham Knox opened the current 2004 vintage of the wine I had seen being made. It is called ‘The Guava’ Pinotage because the vineyard had been previously planted with guavas, some of which still remain in a corner.

Graham’s vineyards, planted on red clay and shale, get progressively steeper and the higher vine rows are planted on terraces.

The Guava Block

Guava Pinotage 2004

Really intense deep red/black colour, chewy figs on
front palate leading to a creamy middle. Tremendous fruit with sweet berries and a lick of coffee. The wine had spent 2 years in new oak, 70% French and 30% American. (Koos had told me at the winery that he thought American oak suited Pinotage). I thought this wine was superb, and drank far more of it than perhaps wise.

Prior to the Guava Graham poured the standard Stormhoek 2006 and 2005 Pinotages.

The 2006 had really plumy fruits and was inviting and very drinkable. The 2005 was a bit funky on the nose, and delivered blackberry fruits. A bit more restrained.

The standard Stormhoeks come from Wellington fruit, not from Graham’s own vineyards, but from other growers blocks that he has selected.

Koos Bosman makes samples of wines to show to potential buyers. When Stormhoek have an order, they then source the fruit or wines and make and blend them to Stormhoek’s standard. They have inverted the usual winery practise: instead of making wines and then trying to sell them, they only make wines when they have a customer for them. They don’t use the small scale warehouse winery for the large volume wines, instead they rent facilities at the nearby modern Bovlei co-operative winery. “Stormhoek is a virtual winery,” Graham told me.

As to the future, it is early days how the relationship with Origin Wines will work. Origin bought the assets of Stormhoek’s UK partner Orbital Wines. Those assets include the Stormhoek brand name in the UK. Graham is keen to get Stormhoek back on all the UK supermarket shelves.

Origin claim Stormhoek

UK Trade magazine Harpers report today that South African company Origin Wines has taken over the assets of the failed Orbital Wines. Those assets include the UK rights to the Stormhoek.

Harper's exclusive report Bernard Fontannaz, MD of Origin Wines saying “By taking on the assets of the company we have avoided getting tangled up with legal issues and taking on deals we are not comfortable with.”

In other words, they are not taking over Orbital and its staff.

Stormhoek Pinotage -- lets drink it!

My thoughts are with everyone connected with Stormhoek -- those poor unfortunates at Orbital who put so much effort into making the brand a success and then who lost their jobs at Christmas, and the people, such as Krisjan van Rooyen and Basjan Manus, farming grapes and making wine in the Cape while worrrying about their future.

An announcement is imminent about who has bought the brand in the UK, and we wait to hear whether they intend continuing the 'off the wall' marketing initiatives that has characterised Stormhoek so far.

Consumers should currently be on the receiving end of an intense five week marketing campaign for specially labelled pink Valentines Day wines, but this seems to be still-born in the wake of Orbitals crash. So it seems Stormhoek or their new distributers will be left with pallet loads of pink to shift when the dust settles.


Trying to do my own little bit to help, I though I should scoop up some Stormhoek Pinotages. It is unusual for a red, but I rather like their clear glass bottle (pictured above). But it is what is inside that counts.

I get a very smoky, almost barbecue smoke* nose that follows through on the palate where there are black fruits, cherry and dark plain chocolate flavours, and its a bit meaty and chewy. Good balance, bit short finish. A wine that cries out for a hefty meat dish and thus an ideal braai wine.

Details
Producer: Stormhoek
Vintage: 2006
Winemaker: Graham Knox
Variety: Pinotage
Appellation: Western Cape
Alcohol:14%
Price: £5.99
Best Before: November 2008

*"why should the word smoke possess only the name 'smoke', when from minute to minute, second to second, the amalgam of hundreds of odours mixed iridescently into ever new and changing unities as the smoke rose from the fire"
(Patrick Suskind, 'Perfume')

Stormhoek -- "Opportunity for Reinvention"

Stormhoek are putting a brave face on the collapse of parent company Orbital Wines. “From down in South Africa, we view this as an opportunity for reinvention.” Using computing terminology they are calling it “Stormhoek 2.0.”

“In three short years, Stormhoek has grown from zero to about 200,000 cases in the UK market,” says a statement posted today on the Stormhoek website, “For those members of the wine trade fraternity who may suffer in Orbital’s reorganization, we are sorry and we are working with them to minimize any problems. We hope that we can make it up to you in the future with mutually beneficial business.”

Meanwhile “back at the vineyard, we are busy thinking about harvest and the more mundane things we need to do to get wines made and in the hands of customers around the world.”

Stormhoek "In Administration"

Stormhoek, famous for their unconventional marketing via blogging (not to mention an easy drinking, modern style Pinotage) have collapsed "into administration" reports UK's Off Licence News after cash-flow problems.

The administrator is said to be looking for a buyer for the company as a going concern but all ten off the staff, including founder Nick Dymoke-Marr, failed to get Christmas pay cheques and were handed redundancy notices this week.

A truly sad setback for such an innovative business. I wish all the staff the best for 2008.

Pinotage to the Rescue

Pinotage not only takes a major part in turning around the recent decline in South African wine sales in the UK, but also plays a vital role in rescuing a marriage.

Exports of Pinotage wines from South Africa to the UK are up by 46% in the period January -April 2007 compared with the same period last year. South Africa wine exports overall increased by 8%, reversing a previous decline. While the major SA brand in the UK (Kumala) still suffers falling sales, the second (Namaqua) and third (First Cape) largest brands are doing well, with First Cape - who market a varietal Pinotage - seeing a 114% increase in sales. And no doubt the recent promotions on Stormhoek and Beyerskloof have also helped. (Information from Harpers )

Meanwhile an anonymous blogger is having problems with her husband who she is "beginning to suspect may be on the verge of a mid-life crisis. "

She writes "Our finances preclude the purchase of that typical symbol of mid-life crisis - a ‘male meno-Porsche’ so instead he has bought a pair of in-line skates.

To be fair, as well as being an all round Boy Scout, H has always been a good skater – a sort of Ray Mears on wheels. He used to rollerblade to work when he was young and carefree, and was therefore a frequent recipient of abuse from motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike.

However this weekend, he returned from a skating trip with more of a glow than usual. Apparently, a car full of teenage girls had beeped their car horn and waved at him as he skated along. All fairly innocent, you might think, but no - he has been down at the gym this morning, clearly convinced that his body is now a temple at which young women will come and worship. Bless!

More worryingly, he has declared his intention to abstain from drinking wine. Surely such self-delusion has its limits? Clearly some action needs to be taken to avoid irreparable damage to our marriage. Therefore, in an attempt to lure him once again with my oenophile charms, I have uncorked a Tesco Finest Beyers Truter Pinotage (£7.99). I am certain that the spicy blackberry flavour will convince him of the error of his ways. How could he fail to realise that a lithe limbed lovely offering him a swig of her alcopop cannot compare with the delights of drinking decent red wine? Even if it does mean sharing it with a woman whose teeth are gradually turning blue."

Stormhoek Pinotage is getting Fresher

Stormhoek are leading the field with a 'best before' date on their bottles. Many people think wine has to age years before it is at its best, but that is a fallacy. The overwhelming majority of wines are at their best on release. And Stormhoek's "Freshness Indicator" shows the time period when the wine will be most enjoyable, or -- as us wine geeks call it -- the "drinking window."

I was intrigued to compare the dates on the 2005 Pinotage back label (pictured above left) with that from the 2006 vintage (pictured below right).

It is recommended to drink the 2005 before January 2008, thus the drinker has two complete years ( 2006 and 2007) plus the few months after the wine was released in 2005, to enjoy the wine.

But the 2006 vintage should be enjoyed by June 2008. That is 7 whole months less than the lifespan of the 2005. Puzzling......

Another thing that puzzles me about the Stormhoek label is that there is no indication where the wine was bottled. One assumes that Stormhoek bottled it at their winery in South Africa, but it doesn't say so. There are increasing numbers of wines being shipped in bulk for local bottling. It saves costs by not shipping glass bottles, but I try not to buy such wines because I just don't trust them.

If you want to check the bottles for yourself, and you live in Britain, then nip along to Tesco's with your camera phone, take a snap of yourself holding a bottle of Stormhoek and email it to them, and they'll send you a £5 voucher. Stormhoek are currently discounted at Tesco's (and Waitrose). See www.stormhoek.com for details

Riedel to make Stormhoek Iced Pinotage glass ?

The blogosphere has been full of posts about Stormhoek's new pink Pinotage that is designed to be served over ice.

I got to taste it at the London International Wine trade show yesterday and again today. Yesterday they served it in the standard small ISO* glasses with a few ice cubes added. And I was not entranced. The London heatwave had defeated the show hall's air-conditioning, and the few cubes of ice that could be squeezed into the small ISO glass couldn't chill a warm wine. The impression I got was a simple sweet pink wine.

I returned to the Stormhoek stand this morning and suggested that an ISO glass was not ideal and it would be better if the wine came from the fridge.

A nearby fridge was raided and a larger glass found (pictured above left) which was loaded with ice and topped with Couture Rose -- Stormhoek's new Pink Pinotage made to be served over ice.

It has an inviting colour -- and chilling removes the overt sweetness I didn't like the previous day -- and the Pinotage variety has enough body to deliver satisfying flavour.

"So why use ISO glasses?" I asked.

"When we launch the wine to the public, we intend to have ready a special glass made just for this wine -- the ISO glass we use here at this trade show is the standard glass supplied for this show."

I couldn't help but notice that almost opposite was the Riedel stand. Riedel are famous for creating glasses designed to get the best from almost any wine that you can name.

I put the question. "Are you working with Riedel to produce a glass for iced Couture Rose?"

My answer was a smile and a discreet 'No comment'.

So please do not pass on that Stormhoek and Riedel are designing a special glass. It is just a baseless rumour. But remember that you heard it here first ;)

*ISO - International Standards Organisation - a wine glass created to be ideal for wine and to standardise wine tastings. The glasses come in several sizes, but the smaller one is most often used in tastings. (Maybe because it keep pourings small??)

Nan don't

So, off to Nando's to score a bottle of Stormhoek Pinotage for the cost of 2 glasses.

Well, that was the idea. But despite an entrance display and the restaurant being covered in signs promoting their Wine Festival offer, the till rang up the full bottle price. Luckily I noticed the price momentarily flash up on the till and queried it and (after the managers special till authorisation card had been obtained) got a correction before paying. But I didn't notice they'd overcharged on the food, and with the general environment the evening wasn't the great success I'd hoped.

The St Albans Blog recommends sitting upstairs, but staff headed off anyone making for the stairs and seated us crammed together on the ground floor until it was full. Various reasons were given, but basically it was for the convenience of the staff who presumably were tired of going up and down those stairs.

The tills didn't always recognise combo's and charged each item separately, thus our order of chicken, chips & corn was charged as a combo (£8.10)while our order of chicken, chips and salad wasn't billed as a chicken/salad combo (£8.10)with a side of chips (£1.65) totalling £9.75 but as chicken (£5.45), salad (£3.45) & chips (£1.65) totalling £10.55.

The chicken was tender, there was more peri-peri sauce on it than I've ever had it before, the chips were dull, like McCain oven chips, but there were plenty of them. The salad and its dressing were good, mixed lettuce leaves with three baby tomatoes and a couple of pepper strips.

I think Nando's basic idea is brilliant. Flame grilled chicken (not deep fried like KFC) coated with a spicy sauce before cooking over real flames (not cooked elsewhere and microwaved like McD's) served with some simple accompanients, perfeck!

My original Nando's experience was in Sandton, Johannesburg, the first time I went to South Africa in 1996. There was waitress service, great food, a choice of spicy sauces. It was really enjoyable and I thought then that this was an idea that would succeed. And if I was any sort of a businessman (which I am not) I'd have taken a franchise immediately.

Over the years in Johannesburg and the Cape I have eaten Nando's takeaways, and I was pleased when Nando's started to open in the UK and delighted when one appeared in Snorbens.

So, what about the wine? The bottles were stacked on the counter by the kitchen, not ideal conditions, and thus the Pinotage was too warm. This was the 2006 vintage, not the award winning 2005, and -- maybe because of the conditions it was kept and served in -- it didn't taste quite as good, there was a sharp edge to it and a rim of small bubbles.

We didn't hang around for a dessert (tempting though they sounded), but took the unfinished bottle home, where chiled a little it delivered some ripe blackberry fruits and - the little that was left -was very drinkable.

Conclusion -- Nando's is a place to eat, not to dine.

Pinotage on offer at Nando's

Buy two glasses of Stormhoek Pinotage, or any other wine, and get the rest of the bottle free. That is the offer in the current Nando’s Wine Festival which runs until 13 May in the UK.

Nando’s flame-grilled chicken restaurants have spread fast throughout the UK, and since Nando’s originated in South Africa it is not surprising that some South African wines appear on their new wine list, and there are two wines each from Spier and Stormhoek.

I wonder why, of all the wineries in South Africa, that it is the newcomer Stormhoek that gets on the list? Is their success solely a result of their blogging, as is often claimed?

If blogging is a factor, how come the so few of Stormhoek’s competitors have blogs? And why do those who do have blogs update them so infrequently? Of the Pinotage producing wineries that I have found with official blogs (links on the right menu bar) Backsberg didn’t post once in April and Warwick haven’t posted since 9 March. Beats me.

Anyway, back to Nando’s. They describe Stormhoek Pinotage as “Alluring – a very deep and sophisticated character with a complex nature”. A 250ml glass of sophistication costs £4.95 and the alluring bottle is £14.95. During the festival Nando’s are also holding wine tastings in the evening.


See you there.

Pinotage & Vindaloo? No Problem!

Wine and food writer Fiona Beckett has tried matching a curries with various beverages, and recounts the experience on her Food & Wine Matching website in an article titled Can any Wine survive a Vindaloo?


Armed with a "can of supermarket lager, a bottle of Greene King IPA (Indian Pale Ale), an Alsace Gewurztraminer, a full bodied, fruity red Stormhoek Pinotage from South Africa and a mango lassi - all served chilled, even the Pinotage" she started with a medium hot Chicken Rogan Josh, moving on to a supermarket vindaloo and finishing with a "vindaloo from the takeaway, which was hotter still. The Gewurztraminer really couldn’t cope with this unless you added some raita and dal but the Pinotage still kept going"

She concludes that "the big surprise - although I’d had an inkling it would work because South Africans regard it as the best match for curry - was the Pinotage, welcome news to those who prefer drinking red wine to white. But don’t drink it at room temperature, chill it first!"

That Pinotage is a good match for spicy foods is no surprise to Pinotage lovers, but it is good to hear the word is spreading.

Pink for Valentines Day

That day is almost upon us, and as I look out at the heavy snowfall covering everything with white and merging into the freezing fog in the near distance so that it seems I am in a white cocoon my thoughts turn to a warming mouthfilling red Pinotage.

But if you're looking for pink, Pinotage makes a most attractive wine . Award winning Pinotage makers Stormhoek have put a special Big Love cartoon label on their pink Pinotage, and are currently touring UK branches of Tesco promoting it. It is also available in Pick'n'Pay branches in South Africa

Wine Diva Caroline Lowings has chosen Spier Discover Pinotage Rose as her Valentines Pick of the Week; she finds it "a delicious profusion of candy, strawberry and lingering berries."

The last Pinotage Rose I had was Sperling and Sperling Pinotage Rose, made at Delheim Estate by Canadian winemaker Ann Sperling of Malivoire Wines in Ontario together with Victor Sperling of Delheim. It had a delightful rosy colour, natural Pinotage sweetness makes this dry wine very approachable drunk on its own as an aperitif. It is available in Ontario LCBO stores.

Back home, this is my Muller Thurgau vine.....

but I'm smiling because, if they've cleared the runways of snow, I'll be flying to Cape Town tomorrow, and I have a lunch booking at Delheim Estate for Monday where I might just order a bottle of their Pinotage Rose. Because it is going to be hot there!!

Stormhoek

Stormhoek have been stirring up a lot of publicity through their blogging. They sent some free bottles to bloggers (people who keep a public diary on the internet) and received newspaper inches galore discussing their revolutionary marketing in return .

However I really did not like their Pinotage when I tasted it at the London Wine Show: it was obviously faulty, so I have been intrigued to see it gaining good reviews from tasters who I respect and I was flabbergasted when this low priced wine won the International Wine and Spirit Competition 2006 Trophy for Best Pinotage. (Previous winners were Bellingham Kanonkop, L'Avenir, Neethlingshof, Simonsig, and Kaapzicht's Steytler.)

So I picked up a bottle of the winning 2005 vintage at the supermarket. It is closed with a screwcap (hooray) and has a 'freshness indicator' on the back label saying that it should be consumed before January 2008.

This wine definitely isn't the same one that I tasted at the wine show. No faults here. There are some lovely rich ripe berry fruits, some spice, medium finish. This is a wonderfully drinkable wine.

Is it the worlds best? Well there is no doubt that it holds that title from the IWSC :)

Interestingly, the Stormhoek blog says this 2005 vintage was made for the US market and "Unfortunately for our friends elswhere, it’s only available in the USA". Well, it's in the UK Waitrose supermarkets at £5.99 ($11.50).