The long-awaited media launch of Taaibosch Wines in the Helderberg in March 2021 in the middle of the Covid19 pandemic may turn out to be a turning point for the South African wine industry. The opening of the newest cellar in a year which marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Stellenbosch wine route represents a prestigious union of French and South African viticulture in tumultuous times.
That the French business associates of Oddo Vins Domaines chose South Africa to invest in as the fifth leg of their global portfolio of cellars in premium regions of France, Spain and Italy – among many potential wine countries – is good news enough. What is even more curious is that the group revealed a singular brand focus on creating only one wine at the old Cordoba property it acquired – Taaibosch Crescendo, a high-altitude Cabernet Franc led-blend with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Our French hosts flew in for the media launch of the spanking-new cellar, the first 2018 release and newly planted vineyards high on the slopes of the Helderberg overlooking False Bay. Bertrand Otto, head of the Edmond de Rothschild group since 1989 – a familiar figure locally as the former Rothschild representative of Rupert & Rothschild Vignerons in Stellenbosch – joined Oddo Vins Domaines as viticultural head in 2016. He says the attraction of the old Cordoba wine farm is as one of the best sites for Cabernet Franc in South Africa. He says Rupert taught him “Success lies in attention to detail.”
The jovial French jetsetter who flies between the stellar vineyards OVD own in Sancerre, Provence, Rioja, Sicily, South Africa and markets in the Far East, comments, “We will see much better exposure of South African wine in the world, especially in Asia, the USA and Europe. Wine is a world market today from China to the Philippines. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. In South Africa we have the terroir, the climate, the grapes, the people and the technology to make great wine.”
Schalk Willem Joubert spent a decade as CEO at Rupert & Rothschild, working with renowned French oenologist Michel Rolland, before coming over to Taaibosch. The legendary winemaker took media on a tour of the high-lying vineyards. The steep contours and thick red clay call for driving skill – and end in indigenous fynbos, the motif of the cellar. Meaning hardy, viscous and sticky, taai is a good metaphor for this new-world cellar at the foot of Africa. Overlooking new vines mulched with a sea of white straw, we can feel the cooling ocean breeze coming off False Bay.
Standing at the highest point of the farm, at Pascal’s Place (after investor Pascal Oddo) 380m above sea level, Schalk points out the old vineyards replanted in the early 2002 by Chris Keats of Cordoba – and the new vines planted on the steep terraces. He explains, “There’s a ten degree difference in temperature between here and the R44 down below. We pick Cabernet Franc earlier and riper at lower alcohols to avoid pyrazines. I want slow-growing, slow-ripening dryland bushvines. Organic farming is not for sissies. But it’s the right thing to do – to get balanced fruit and look after the soil.”
Attention to detail comes to mind as Schalk talks about the art and science of bushvines – or what the French call gobelet after the goblet shape. He raises the bushvine by “two pruning shears” high to get air circulation, stop fruit from lying on the ground, get homogenous light and even ripening.
Our learning curve continues down in the spanking new gravity-flow cellar (450 tons) with its rows of small oak barrels, 9000 litre foudre and snazzy 4500 litre Italian cement tanks. Chris Keet, the legendary winemaker who created the Cordoba Crescendo brand back in the 1990s, now makes First Verse, the acclaimed Bordeaux blend under his own Keet Wines label. He joined us for the tasting of Schalk’s maiden Taaibosch Crescendo 2018 – back in the cellar for the first time in almost two decades. “This is absolute magic” he declared on tasting the iconic blend back on the map.
“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel” declares Schalk, “I don’t want to recreate Cordoba but we did want to nurture the focus of Crescendo. We have to continue Chris’ legacy. The tannic structure is so refined in the Helderberg. We didn’t want to make an over-extracted, big, bold wine. Crescendo is about the chalky Cabernet Franc style, the length and “tension”. The purity of fruit is the most elusive thing for a winemaker. We wanted to make an elegant expression of this unique site.”
In a fascinating conversation between two celebrated winemakers about the art of wine brands, Chris commented, “We’ve seen a lot of newcomers on the market with heavy bottles and high prices. ”He warned wine brands often lose their focus, adding too many bells and whistles, adding second-tier ranges, varietal wines and super-premium wines in a mixed basket of products. He believes the beauty of a single cellar blend like Crescendo is its clarity of focus.
Schalk adds, “Brands are about the same message, over and over, nurturing the focus. Building a brand is about integrity, about the perception of quality, not the price. (Taaibosch Crescendo 2018 sells at R300 ex-cellar, a limited release of 18 000 bottles.) We’re proud not to have aspirational pricing. We need volume to grow Crescendo into a brand as a sustainable business with a market presence – without compromising on quality. There are not enough wineries that are a brand as such. The trick is to grow a brand like Kanonkop Paul Sauer or Boekenhoutskloof Chocolate Block.”
Bertrand Otto adds, “You can’t make an organic wine, then import the bottle and put it in a fancy ego box!” On a roll, Schalk ends, “Producers tend to be disconnected from the end-consumer. We want to grow a wine club and deal directly with consumers at the cellar-door. We don’t have enough volume to put Taaibosch on the retail shelf. You lose exclusivity, curiosity and custodianship.” Nailing his colours to the mast, the winemaker offers exclusive daily tastings in the cellar to club members.
We finished our tour of farm and cellar with a fabulous lunch in the new hospitality guesthouse high on the Helderberg with dreamy views of False Bay. Monche Muller (ex-Test Kitchen), the chef at Pink Valley Wines, a specialist rosé wine house, the neighbouring sister estate of Taaibosch opened by Oddo Vins Domaines in 2019, prepared a superb food and wine pairing. In true French style, we were treated to a comparison of Taaibosch Crescendo 2018 and Chateau Duhart-Milon 2017 from Pauillacin the Lafite-Rothschild stable. At six times the price, the French blend was assembled and stylistically similar to Taaibosch Crescendo 2018, but nowhere near as accessible. “It’s rare to have a Cabernet Franc led red blend in South Africa” concludes a satisfied Schalk Joubert. Watch this space.