This is the maiden vintage of their flagship red wine, and with the launch earlier this year of the early-drinking Red Falcon 2005 (a Merlot / Shiraz blend that has become an immediate hit with customers), Middelvlei Estate have neatly book-ended their expanded range of premium red wines.
Tinnie Momberg, cellarmaster and co-owner of Middelvlei Estate, was thrilled to get instant recognition for their new eclectic red blend. "The Momberg was made to add an extra dimension to the premium range, predominantly single-varietal, offered by Middelvlei. The wine is an unusual blend for a serious wine - a selection of our best Pinotage (37%), Shiraz (29%), Cabernet Sauvignon (17%) and Merlot (17%). We’ve delayed the release until now because we wanted greater wood and fruit harmony. The wine has shown excellent development from year to year and is now drinking beautifully, and will continue to do so for a number of years." The Middelvlei Momberg 2004 will retail and sell from the farm at ±R150.
The vineyards, from which the Momberg grapes were harvested, were carefully tended to ensure low yields and concentrated fruit. The four vineyards, one per varietal, were chosen because they had consistently produced the best quality fruit over a number of years. They vary in age from the 4-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon to the 18-year-old Merlot. The grapes were fermented in the traditional Middelvlei way, in open cement tanks. The wines underwent malolactic fermentation and were blended, followed by barrel maturation for 17 months – half in new French Nevers oak barrels and the other half in new American oak barrels. This dark ruby-red wine has delicate red and black fruit aromas, with hints of wood spices. The Momberg is well structured and has concentrated ripe-fruit flavours, mid-palate complexity and a luscious lingering aftertaste.
Middelvlei wine style is refreshed
In broadening their range, Middelvlei have shifted their winemaking focus to embrace more fruit-forward wines with smoother tannins. The process started in the vineyards in 2003 and the results were already evident in the 2004 vintage, when three Middelvlei reds were awarded Gold Medals at the 2006 Michelangelo International Wine Awards.
This style modification has been gradual so that they can nurture their large customer base along the "new way", at the same time seeking out new markets locally and abroad. The domestic market (including foreign tourists visiting the farm) remains their most important one, accounting for over 60% of total sales. Their main export markets include Germany, Holland, Scandinavia and other EU countries.
As an estate, all Middelvlei wines are made from their own grapes. And it’s in the vineyards where the shift in focus first began. Ben Momberg, Middelvlei’s co-owner and viticulturist (and part-time marketer with wife Jeanneret), has been very active in the vineyards adapting viticultural practices to limit yields, enhance fruit richness and intensity, and to achieve greater parity of physiological and phenolic ripeness. A replanting programme, involving the renewal of the farm’s 130 hectares of vines at the rate of 10 hectares per year, should have commenced this year but inopportune heavy rains set them back a year. New plantings will include more Sauvignon Blanc and some Viognier.
Cellar changes have also been implemented to aid their changing style of wine. These improvements are geared to shift the Middelvlei wine style into fruitier territory.
New equipment installed includes:
• a new de-stemmer to help soften the wines and reduce tannins;
• a new must cooler to extract fruitier flavours;
• a new refrigeration unit to better control fermentation;
• an upgrade of tanks and the replacement of some of the older open fermenters with stainless steel tanks.
The Middelvlei range
The Middelvlei Chardonnay, the only white wine in the Middelvlei range, has doubled in volume over the past two years, owing to consumer demand. Its light wooding falls away with the 2007 vintage, which spent time on its lees and underwent malolactic fermentation to retain its rich fruitiness. It sells off the farm and retails at ±R42.
Other wines making up the Middelvlei range are (current releases – showing farm and retail price):
A wonderful wine estate to visit
Middelvlei, in addition to winetasting, offers visitors cellar tours and barrel tastings, vineyard walks and small conference facilities. Bookings in advance are preferable.
Middelvlei is very family-orientated and this is evident in their large family of animals resident on the farm. Most of the animals have wine names, such as the two donkeys - Port and Jerepigo, Ruby the Jack Russell, the Blumenweilers - Chianti and Rosé, the Dachshunds - Pinotage and Pongrácz, Tinta the Great Dane, Pontac the Boerboel and Malbec the aptly named Ridgeback.
But that’s not all. A whole bunch of wild animals have also made their home at Middelvlei. Cameroon pygmy goats and several mountain tortoises (most of which have lived on the farm for over 30 years) have joined the Middelvlei family.
Then... wait for it... you can also look forward to meeting their three wallabies, the youngest of which was born at Middelvlei. And the latest addition to the family are two baby Cape Foxes, found abandoned on the farm. They frolic playfully with the two Dachshunds, one of which started lactating in order to feed the youngsters, revealing Mother Nature’s powerful maternal instinct. This is the third set of baby foxes that Ben has hand-reared. Ben hasn’t named the foxes because they are being trained to be re-introduced to the wild and the Momberg family doesn’t want to become too attached to them.
Middelvlei Estate is open for wine tasting and sales: Weekdays and Saturdays: 10h00 – 16h30.