A recent tweet I came across states that according to K. Anderson and S. Nelgen’s Database of Regional, National and Global Winegrape Bearing Areas by Variety, 1960 to 2016, South Africa had the world’s largest area under Colombar vineyards (11 512 hectares), with France at 8 441 and the US with 7 991, comprising 93% of the global Colombar vineyard area.
Despite this, it is not the most sold or enjoyed wine varietal in any of these countries. It also explains the doubt expressed by a wine writer in a retweet, that these huge vineyard hectares are “going to assist South Africa’s quest to wine premiumisation”.
Today, according to the latest statistics from the South African Wine Industry Information and Systems (SAWIS), this total is down to 9592.19 hectares. It is planted in all the wine producing regions of South Africa, with the most plantings in the Olifants River (2309.82), Robertson (1873.93), Breedekloof (1782.17) and Northern Cape (1286.31).
But despite less hectares, Greg Sherwood MW writes about “the Old Vine Colombard movement”, with single varietal wines showing what is possible with this once ‘work horse’ variety now.
Greg is a regular judge at the Decanter World Wine Awards, SA Top 100, Nederburg Wine Auction and WoSA World Sommelier Awards, and tastes many of the world’s finest wines every week. If he praises the 'work horse', we should take notice.
Statistics of the Old Vine Project (OVP) shows a total of 4 292 hectares old vines – vines certified to be older than 35 years and Chenin blanc (the most planted grape in South Africa) accounts for the greatest percentage. But following Chenin is other whites such as Colombar, Sauvignon blanc and Semillon of which Colombar comprises 426.46 hectares.
It has been planted in South Africa since the 1920s and was primarily used as a base wine for brandy production until the 1970s, when Cape winemakers discovered it could produce extremely pleasant drinking wines.
In Dave Hughes and Phyllis Hands’ book, SA Wine (published in 1983), it states: “Once one of the most important cultivars used in the making of Cognac, Colombar has all but disappeared from the European vineyards in recent years, to be replaced largely by St Emilion (Trebbiano) in the vineyards of Cognac. In South Africa, it began its career as a brandy and fortified wine grape. It remained almost unheard of by the local wine lover until the early 1970s, when a serendipitous accident resulted in its sudden emergence with a new career as a natural wine.
“In 1954 Wouter de Wet, a farmer in the Robertson district, was mistakenly supplied with Colombar vines instead of the St Emilion he had ordered. Since they were equally suited to the making of rebate wine for brandy, he proceeded to cultivate the variety, which he supplied to the Robertson Co-operative Winery. The vines did very well in the local Breede River conditions and other farmers began to follow suit. But it was the manager and winemaker of the Robertson co-operative, Pon van Zyl, who was the first to realize the potential of this new cultivar for the making of a natural wine Colombar's ability to produce an aristocratic wine under the hot conditions of the inland areas was quickly appreciated. At first the authorities were wary of this new development, since recent data showed Colombar wine to be very prone to oxidation. But modern wine making has more or less dispelled this fear and its public acceptance was signalled by a series of first prizes in the late 1970s for this hitherto unknown wine at the Cape Championship Wine Show.
“Thus, while Colombar has not lost favour in South Africa as a brandy- producing grape, it has gained it as a natural wine producer. It is a vigorous grower and has a comparatively longer life than most other varieties. This is probably due to the particularly hard-wood character of its trunks and canes; a quality which also makes it resistant to dead arm and other wood-rotting fungi. When grown in the hotter regions it produces a high natural fruity acid content and a highly characteristic and fragrant aroma,” it reads.
Two decades later, Mike Froud writes in 2012: “Colombar is not considered to be one of the so-called noble grape varieties, but man can it make for a good drink. Few would argue that it could rival fine Chardonnay and Chenin for complexity and class, but it can be a delightful white wine when originating from healthy vineyards and entrusted to a winemaker willing and able to coax the best from it.”
Results of recent wine competitions such as Veritas prove this to be true. In the past 20 years, Colombar wines achieved 21 Double Gold medals at Veritas and in 2018, Orange River Cellars was awarded three Double Gold medals for their 2018 vintages.
The company has a variety of Colombars in their wine range. The old vines in the Northern Cape are found in Douglas (3.38 hectares) and Central Orange River (38.14). The first Colombar was planted after the flood of 1974. The oldest producing block of Colombar was planted in 1984 and belongs to Daantjie Rossouw in Augrabies.
Colombar originated in Charentes in southwest France and was developed from a crossing of Chenin blanc with Heunisch Weiss (also known as Gouias blanc).
It is a vigorous grower, with an average yield potential of 15 t/ha to 20 t/ha. Higher yields are achieved in some regions. Grapes usually ripen late midseason, from the first half of March.
But is Colombar really making a comeback?
Johan (Mosdop) Dippenaar, manager at Orange River Cellars' Keimoes Kelder, says he believes Colombar will become one of South Africa’s most popular white cultivars, but it might take some time. “We started to bottle Colombar as a single varietal in 1990 and it is now our best-selling cultivar wine.”
The wine grapes of Orange River Cellars originate from 239 expert grape farmers all along the Orange River, also known as the Great Gariep River. These pockets of vineyard land stretch over a distance of more than 300 kilometers between Groblershoop and Blouputs. The terroir (geophysical and micro-climatical) diversity of this vast thirstland is unmatched by any winegrowing region in the country, and translates into the production of strikingly individualistic varietal and blended wines.
Mosdop says it is here that Colombar thrives in warm climatic conditions with temperatures varying from 30 degrees Celsius to 45 degrees. Of these 239 growers, a total of 215 produces Colombar.
“I believe that it works well with the rich soil that we have. We can produce excellent quality at high production and Colombar loves the heat just like we do.”
He explains that the decision to bottle Colombar as single variety, was initially to expand the range the cellars had to offer, but the more they worked with the wines, the more potential they saw. “We started experimenting with harvest sugars and ph of the grapes and the wines got better and better and now I believe that we are probably one of the best producers of Colombar,” he says.
It is used in all Orange River Cellars' dry and semi-sweet blends and it is bottled under the Hedgehog, Omstaan and Regopstaan range as a single variety.
Mosdop says Colombar benefits from wood exposure. “We were the first to experiment with barrels. Because of the high acidity and low pH of Colombar, it does age well in barrels, for us the American oak with its vanilla flavours work best with the tropical qauva and passionfruit, but the wood is only there to support the fruit and the pallet.”
He says Colombar wines are fruit-driven with flavours of quava, passionfruit, lychee, white pear, gooseberry and pineapple, with a higher acidity than most cultivars.
Herman le Roux, Orange River Cellars marketing manager: international and Western Cape, says it is an excellent wine to pair with food. “For unwooded Colombar wines, it is best enjoyed on its own – well chilled. But it pairs well with hearty salads, cheeses such as goat’s cheese/cheddar/gruyere, sushi, creamy chicken dishes, most fish cuts which includes fish and chips. Go big and try it with honey-glazed duck.
“For wooded Colombar wines, try it with pan-seared fish cuts or creamy fish and chicken dishes. Fresh oysters, hearty salads, honey-glazed duck, pulled-pork and sushi will also be ideal partners for this wine. Be daring and enjoy with a varied range of Asian cuisine, as it enjoys playing with aromatic spice components such as ginger and lemongrass,” he concludes.