Tuesday, 6 July, 2021
Wines of South Africa, Angela Lloyd
At a recent comprehensive tasting of South African Rieslings, those from Elgin stood out for their quality. What is it about this cool-climate area that suits this finicky grape? I asked three producers whose wines much impressed guests at the tasting.
Andries Burger, winemaker at Paul Cluver for the past 25 years, knows much about the area and Riesling. There are three blocks on the farm, aged 33, 14 and 11, the former two all or partly on ferric rete, a sedimentary rock with iron oxides; it also gives its name to one of the Cluver Rieslings. The estate Riesling comes from the three blocks, each fermented separately, ‘A difficult exercise knowing when to stop fermentation, then requiring lots of analysis and making pre-blends to ensure we have perfect balance in the wine,’ Andries explains. The farm’s renowned Noble Late Harvest is mainly drawn from the oldest vineyard where most botrytis develops.
Koen Roose, the Belgian owner/winemaker at Spioenkop, whose first Riesling was produced in 2011, maintains the variety needs poor, rocky soil, specifically ferric rete. ‘If the soil is too rich, the bunches will be too big; they’ll give you fruit but not texture.’ His focus is very much on viticulture; ‘Keep the canopy low and no fertilizing,’ is his advice.
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