Black Elephant Vintners

Black Elephant Vintners logo

2013 Pinotage Top 10 winner ‘Back Road’ 2012 Pinotage comes from a winery, Black Elephant Vintners, that I’d not previously heard of.  Not surprising since it only came into being in January 2013, founded by Franschhoek based financiers Kevin Swart and Raymond Ndlovu.

It’s a tremendous achievement for a brand new winery to leap into Pinotage stardom with their maiden vintage, but they do have the benefit of a winemaker with form.  

Winemaker/viticulturist is Jacques Wentzel, whom I met when he was cellar-master at Schalk Burger’s Welbedacht winery. While there Jacques crafted their 2009 Meerkat Pinotage which was a Top 10 winner in 2011.

Hand-picked grapes for The Back Roads Pinotage 2012 came from a single vineyard of old vine Pinotage growing in “Die Perskoen” ward of Wellington.  Uncrushed grapes with 15% whole bunches fermented spontaneously and aged for 15 months in used (5 - 8 year old) French oak barrels. Full details of the winemaking process and technical information is on the website www.bevintners.co.za which went live this week.

I look forward to tasting Black Elephant’s wines in the future, and congratulations again to Jacques and the Black Elephant team.

 

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Pinotage Top 10 2013 Winners

Winners of this years Pinotage Top 10 Competition are

Anura Pinotage Reserve 2011
The Back Roads Pinotage 2012
Diemersdal Pinotage 2012
L'Avenir Pinotage 2011
Lyngrove Platinum Pinotage 2012
Manley Pinotage 2011
Rijk's Reserve Pinotage 2009
Rooiberg Winery Pinotage Reserve 2012
Springfontein Jonathan's Ridge Pinotage 2010
Wildekrans Pinotage 2011


Back Road comes from a winery I've not previously encountered (or even heard of), Black Elephant Vintners in Franschhoek.

Congratulations to them and all the winners and runners up

Diemersdal Pinotage Reserve 2012
Fairview Primo Pinotage 2011
Kanonkop Pinotage 2010
Kanonkop Pinotage 2009
KWV The Mentors Pinotage 2011
Môreson Pinotage 2011
Simonsig Redhill Pinotage 2011
Wagenboom Pinotage 2010
Windmeul Pinotage Reserve 2012
Windmeul Pinotage 2011

The Pinotage Association says: Pinotage stalwarts L’Avenir in Stellenbosch and Tulbagh’s Rijk’s Private Cellar joined relative newcomers including Black Elephant Vintners from Franschhoek in the winning line-up for this year’s Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition.

This year’s Absa Top 10 Trophy winners underscored the belief that excellent soils and climatic conditions for Pinotage are found throughout the Cape winelands. Besides L’Avenir, Stellenbosch produced winners in Lyngrove Wines’ Lyngrove Platinum Pinotage 2012, while Manley Pinotage 2011 from Manley Private Cellar also got the nod for Tulbagh. Franschhoek is represented by The Back Roads Pinotage 2012 from Black Elephant Vintners, with the Anura Pinotage Reserve 2011 sealing the Paarl slot.

Closer to the coast there is Springfontein Jonathan Ridge Pinotage 2010 from Stanford and Wildekrans Pinotage 2011 in the Botrivier area. Robertson’s Rooiberg Winery also takes a Top 10 with its Rooiberg Winery Pinotage Reserve 2012 and the Diemersdal Pinotage 2012 ensures that one of South Africa’s oldest wine-making areas, namely Durbanville, also makes the list of this year’s winners.

This year’s Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition attracted 126 entries.

L’Avenir and Rijk’s Private Cellar cemented their status as two Pinotage wine icons by winning their eighth Absa Top 10 Pinotage Trophy. Since its launch in 1997 the Absa Top 10 Pinotage Competition has become South Africa’s leading showcase for the country’s own grape variety, and according to Beyers Truter, chairman of the Pinotage Association, for any cellar to win eight Absa Top 10 Trophies in 16 years is a monumental achievement.

 “Apart from having to impress a discerning panel of judges each year, the competition among cellars has increased in intensity over the years,” says Beyers. “For a winery such as L’Avenir to win an Absa Top 10 Trophy at the inaugural competition in 1997 and to still have what it takes to come out top in 2013, is an amazing achievement. It not only says a lot about the respective wine-making teams’ commitment to Pinotage and their understanding of the grape’s unique intricacies, but also speaks volumes of the importance of established terroir in the specific regions.”

L’Avenir won Top 10 Trophies in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Rijk’s Private Cellar in Tulbagh produced Trophy winners in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012 before reaching the magic number eight at this year’s Top 10 awards. The two cellars’ winning wines were the L’Avenir Pinotage 2011 and Rijk’s Reserve Pinotage 2009.

 "For 17 years now, Absa has been the driving force behind the Top 10 Pinotage competition, enticing wine makers every year to aim for one of the prestigious trophies. Our partnership with this competition reflects our long-standing commitment not only to the Pinotage Association but to the SA wine industry in general. This competition encourages the growth of this vibrant sector which has an enormous contribution to make in the economic landscape of our country," says Brienne van der Walt, Managing Executive: Absa AgriBusiness.

 Internationally-respected sommelier, restaurateur and author Guido Francque is one of the wine world’s most ardent admirers of South Africa’s Pinotage grape variety, and the Belgian says the quality of Pinotage wines are showing vast improvements as wine-makers and viticulturalists put their fingerprint on the cultivar.

Francque said the 126 entries from 80 producers was the most impressive line-up he had experienced in his years of judging the Top 10.

“I have been following Pinotage for over 20 years now, so have seen pretty much all that the South African wine-makers have employed in making your country’s signature wine variety in terms of extraction, wood-maturation and levels of ripeness,” says Francque.

“One thing that struck me about this year’s entries was the discernible classical structure among so many of the wines entered. Less American oak – an experiment which I think does not work so well with Pinotage – and a nurturing of the variety’s Pinot Noir and Burgundian character has led to some truly extraordinary wines.”

 According to Francque, a classic wine is both feminine and masculine. “It needs the feminine elegance and lightness, just as much as the masculine structure and back-bone must be present,” he says. “This is being found in more-and-more Pinotage wines as wine-makers achieve balance and integration.”

One of the striking features of this year’s ABSA Top 10 judging experience, he says, was the vintage variation among the wines. “The entries produced wines from 2007 to 2012, and experiencing such noticeable variation in the vintages was, for me, extremely exciting as it not only showed expressive character of Pinotage, but also vindicates my belief in South Africa as a wine country with true terroir that allows for such different expressions between vintages.”


This year’s judging for the Absa Top 10 took place at Nederburg. On the panel with Francque were: Duimpie Bayly, Chairman, Neil Pendock, Winnie Bowman, Chris Roux, Frans Smit and Debbie Thompson.

 

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WOTM - Pelican Ranch 2010 Pinotage

My Wine of the Month for August is this deliciously and plumply juicy single vineyard offering from Pelican Ranch, an artisan winery located near Santa Cruz in California.

 

Owner/winemaker Phil Crews is a professor of chemistry at UCSC’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, a noted expert in marine sponges and teacher of classes on Wines and Wine Chemistry. Hence the nicely informative back label.

It looks to me that the grapes come from John Bree’s 5+ acre Pinotage vineyard at Sutter Ridge in Amador County, planted more than twenty years ago and thus some of the oldest in California.

 

 

 

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2013 Cape Blend Competition Finalists

Just announced are the ten finalists of the Perold ABSA Cape Blend Competition. Cape Blend rules requires minimum of 30% and maximum of 70% Pinotage in the blend.



2012 Anura LB Cape Cuveé
2011 Clos Malverne Spirit of Malverne
2011 Flagstone Dragon Tree
2011 KWV Abraham Perold Tributum
2011 Namaqua Cellar Door Pinotage/Malbec
2009 Sumaridge Epitome
2011 Viljoensdrift River Grandeur Cape Blend
2011 Warwick Three Cape Ladies
2010 Welbedacht Hat Trick
2012 Windmeul Cape Blend

The three winners and two runners-up will be announced on 20 September 2013.

This year's finalists KWV and Windmeul were winners last year with their 2010 Cape Blends.

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Pinotage Icewine - World First for Canada

Pinotage grapes have made many styles of wines including red, white and pink, sparkling, dessert and fortified.

Now comes a world first from Canada: Pinotage Icewine.

Stoneboat Vineyards, near Oliver in British Columbia’s southern Okanagen Valley, picked their frozen grapes on 11 January 2013 at minus 11 degrees Celsius (12.2F) and 39 Brix.

The resulting icewine, sold in a frosted half-sized bottles, is a lively pink colour with 8.3% abv and residual sugar of 230g/L, TA 12.3 g/L and pH 3.43.
 
Owner-winemaker Lanny Martiniuk says it “has intense aromas of fresh raspberry and candied apple. Subtle notes of dried cranberry and raisin are nicely balanced by spicy undertones on the palate. Cellar now through 2025”.

Stoneboat Pinotage Icewine 2012 is available at the winery for $74.90 CDN per 375ml bottle.

Congratulations to Stoneboat Vineyards!

See here for videos from my visit to Stoneboat

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Pinotage Top 10 2013 Finalists

Just released are the 20 finalists for the ABSA  Pinotage Top 10 Competition. The 10 winners will be announced at the end of this month

Producer Name	Description	Vintage	WO
Anura	Anura Pinotage Reserve	2011	Simonsberg-Paarl
Baarsma	Lyngrove Platinum Pinotage	2012	Stellenbosch
Black Elephant Vintners	The Back Roads Pinotage	2012	Wellington
Diemersdal	Diemersdal Pinotage	2012	Durvanville
Diemersdal	Diemersdal Pinotage Reserve	2012	Durvanville
Fairview	Primo Pinotage	2011	Paarl
Kanonkop	Kanonkop Pinotage	2010	Simonsberg Stellenbosch
Kanonkop	Kanonkop Pinotage	2009	Simonsberg Stellenbosch
KWV SA Pty Ltd	KWV The Mentors Pinotage	2011	Kusstreek
L'Avenir	L'Avenir Pinotage	2011	Stellenbosch
Manley Private Cellar	Manley Pinotage	2011	Tulbagh
Moreson	Moreson Pinotage	2011	Kusstreek
Rijk's Cellars	Rijk's Reserve Pinotage	2009	Tulbagh
Rooiberg Winery	Rooiberg Winery Pinotage Reserve	2012	Robertson
Simonsig Landgoed	Simonsig Pinotage Redhill	2011	Stellenbosch
Springfontein Wine Estate	Jonathan Ridge Pinotage	2010	Walker Bay
Waboomsrivier Wynkelder Edms Bpk	Wagenboom Pinotage	2010	Breedekloof
Wildekrans Wine Estate	Wildekrans Pinotage	2011	Botrivier
Windmeul Kelder	Windmeul Pinotage Reserve	2012	Paarl
Windmeul Kelder	Windmeul Pinotage	2011	Paarl

 
Among the well known names and previous winners is a name new to me of which I know nothing, - Black Elephant Back Roads Pinotage. Also new to me is the Wine of Origin (WO)  'Kusstreek' which I cannot find on any WO list but according to Google translations  Kusstreek is Afrikaans for 'Coastal'.

Congratulations to all. 

WOTM Delheim Bush Vine Barrel Selection 2007 Pinotage

My Wine of the Month for July is my last bottle of Delheim Bush Vine Barrel Selection Pinotage 2007.

 Just four 225 litre barrels (new French oak, aged for 13 months) were selected for this special bottling, so that’s no more than 1,200 bottles or 100 cases produced. I don’t know if this was available anywhere else than the winery where it cost 120 Rand in 2009, about twice the cost of the standard bottling.

 

I accounted for case of it myself when I was in the Cape in 2009 and also brought a few bottles home of which this was the last. We drank most of them in Delheim’s glorious garden restaurant with friends.

 One was American author Tom Mullen who later wrote about lunching at Delheim in his book Wine and Work - People Loving Life

“There weaver birds live in a huge oak tree on acres of land coated by pine trees and fynbos vegetation. We sit on a porch overlooking lush greenery with a view of distant Table Mountain. While drinking a glass of Pinotage I eat ostrich meatballs with organic cabbage, then follow that with a dessert of Pinotage ice cream – the color of blue berries.”

 

I remember how lush the wine was then, how exciting and vibrant with rich plum and berry fruit flavours and a spiciness that made your mouth water in anticipation of the next sip. This wine is now starting to show signs of aging, with the upfront fruit receding uncovering more complexity, and it’d be interesting to see how it would develop, but I’ve no regrets because I have so loved drinking this wine.  

 

 

Pinotage Recipe Competition

 

 

I was taken with Christiaan Steyn’s recipe for Ostrich skewers with Pinotage Onion Marmalade and Sweetcorn soufflé, particularly his instruction at the end of the second sentence

Start a coal fire.

Boil the kettle, pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees, clean the sweet corns, pour your first glass of Pinotage.

Christiaan blogs about food at TASTE BUDS and his recipe for Karoo Tapas is an entry in a competition run by South African supermarket chain Pick’n’Pay. They list a set of ingredients and challenge food bloggers to produce a meal from them.

The current challenge is to use traditional South African ingredients: DrostdyHof Pinotage, Ostrich sausage, maize meal, Waterblommetijes (water lily flowers – a local delicacy), Chutney and mixed dried fruit. One of the ingredients may be omitted and contestants are allowed to add some, but part of the meal must be cooked over coals.

 

Christiaan’s recipe is here and you are invited to vote for it by pressing the green button.

The competition score board with links to all recipes entered is here. As far as I can see, Christiaan is the only one who had the very good sense to enjoy the Pinotage he didn't use in the recipe while cooking.

 

Image (c) Copyright Christiaan Steyn at  TASTE BUDS and used with his permission.

 

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Kanonkop launch red Kadette Pinotage

Kanonkop are launching a new varietal red Pinotage under their Kadette label with the 2012 vintage due for release sometime in next two or three months. The Kadette label, named in homage to Bordeaux’s Ch Mouton-Rothschild ‘Mouton Cadet’ was originally a blend of wines that didn’t make it into Kanonkop’s main labels.

As demand for Kadette grew output could only be increased by using bought in grapes. The 2010 vintage saw a Kadette rosé made from Pinotage join the lineup, and now, with the 2012 vintage a red Pinotage.

The red Kadette Pinotage is made and barrel matured for 14 months at Kanonkop and will cost between 5 and 10% more than the Kadette Red.

My thinking  is that Kadette is now the name for Kanonkop’s non-estate  wines, i.e. those made from grapes not grown on the estate.

However I can see myself ordering Kanonkop Pinotage from a restaurant winelist and getting Kadette while being charged the Estate wine price, as has happened recently with L’Avenir who also have three Pinotage labels.  

 

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