“Judging from the clear vintage variations our judges are increasingly finding during their selection process, it has become apparent that producers have over time increasingly resisted interfering too much with the grapes.
“It is also clear that increasingly, producers are finding their niche – matching site, soil, vines and slope to produce wines they understand. Both of these factors feed into quality of wines through predictable, repeatable results. And this is what we’re seeing in the auction selection line-up – consistency in quality over several vintages, which goes a long way towards helping the producers build their own unique brand heritages,” she says.
“Our judges were impressed with this vintage continuity over several flights of reds, Noble Late Harvest and ports, and how these wines evolved and changed over consecutive vintages. This constantly evolving heritage is a tribute to the efforts of our wine makers over the years to produce icon wines – ones that deserve the Nederburg Auction’s unique seal of approval.”
The international panel of judges selected 146 wines, only 39% of the total number of wines submitted. According to their tasting notes, this year’s line-up is defined by ‘perfect balance, intensity, complexity, true expression of soil and grape variety and immense depth’. View all their comments here.
Tasting convenor and sommelier Higgo Jacobs says the increasingly definitive South African wine heritage is a result of wine producers ‘innovating while taking pride in their history – properly embracing who they are as wine producers”.
Evidence of this innovation and new skill level is starting to shine through, says selection group leader Cathy van Zyl. “Investment in vineyards over the last few years is clearly showing in the quality of the wines.”
Fellow selection panel member Roland Peens believes there’s been a change in the style of winemaking in SA from 2009 onwards. “We’ve started to respect the fruit more, using less new oak, making lighter, less alcoholic styles of wine.”
Wine producers in step with this change in style tended to do well in the tough Nederburg Auction selection process, says Steyn. “It was clear from the panel discussion that the judges were very hard on over-ripe, over-oaked wines – but they equally rewarded icon wines that deserve the Auction’s unique seal of approval.”
Several categories of wine performed extremely well at the tasting, with Noble Late Harvest garnering the most praise from the panel ahead of Cap Classique, port, white blends, Chenin, Chardonnay, Cabernet and Semillon.
Steyn says looking at statistics and judges’ comments from previous years, it is clear that we just do not understand how good South African fortified and sweet wines are, particularly the Noble Late Harvest category.
Peens confirms this, saying Noble Late Harvest wines from the sixties, seventies and eighties are outstanding, simple and honest: “Wines 15 years and older hardly show any ageing and can age much longer. This is a category buyers can buy with confidence, especially if they want to further mature it for a special occasion.”
In terms of white wines, Peens also highlights the Chenin Blanc category, which he says showed an incredible depth in quality, and the Chardonnays that remain one of South Africa’s most exciting and top categories. “The white wines on auction all possess impressive complexity, balance and structure for ageing. Buyers can be confident in purchasing these and their ability to age 10 to 15 years.”
This year's 42nd annual Nederburg Auction will take place on Friday and Saturday, 16 and 17 September, at Nederburg winery in Paarl. A total of 146 wines from 79 producers will be auctioned over both days, including debut participants Bayede 7, Fable Vineyard, Glenelly, Jakobs Vineyards, Kershaw Elgin, Kleinood, Seven Springs and Windmeul.
The well-supported Nederburg charity auction will take place straight after the close of the main auction, and all proceeds raised will be donated to two local community organisations, Hope through Action and The Breytenbach Centre.
The 2016 collection comprises of 73 red wines, 50 white wines, four Muscadels, 11 Noble Late Harvest wines, six Ports and two Méthode Cap Classique. Click here to view a complete list of the 2016 selection.
The annual Nederburg Auction offers an exclusive opportunity for local and international wine buyers to select, taste and bid on a stringently curated range of distinctive South African wines. Prospective buyers keen to register for this year’s event may do so via the website: www.nederburgauction.co.za.
Image caption:
Kenichi Ohashi MW, pictured, was one of the eight members of the 2016 selection panel, which also included Cathy van Zyl MW, Richard Kershaw MW, Tim Atkin MW, Roland Peens, Justin Knock MW, Andreas Larsson and Greg Sherwood MW.