Baronne, a title for everyone
Monday, 2 July, 2012
Nederburg
It was a momentous time for many reasons. Elvis was king, with the power
to lure a TV audience of 1.5 billion people. Around the world, they
watched him live in concert with the broadcast of the Aloha Satellite
Show. (Not in South Africa, though. TV was still to come here). It was
also the year Pink Floyd gave fans Dark Side of the Moon and Roberta Flack released her iconic Killing me Softly with his Song that you still hear played in public spaces nearly four decades later.
The Vietnam War was over. The Washington Post earned a Pulitzer Prize for its Watergate exposé, giving us that strange suffix for every scandal since from Monica-gate to eTollgate. Pablo Picasso died and nuclear magnetic resonance, the technology for the MRI scan, was developed. Cinephiles will remember 1973 for The Sting, The Exorcist, Last Tango in Paris (banned in South Africa) and American Graffiti.
And local vinophiles of that vintage will remember 1973 for the first Nederburg Baronne, now almost a brand in its own right and one of the biggest red blends on the South African market. So popular and ubiquitous is Baronne, that for some the name has come to signify red wine itself, in the same way that people talk of a Thermos, for a vacuum flask, or a Hoover, when they mean a vacuum cleaner.
The omnipresent Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz blend was conceived by that doyen of winemakers, Günter Brözel, who wanted South Africans to have the pleasure of an affordable, elegant, satisfyingly smooth red blend: quite simply an everyday wine that would add nobility to any occasion. "There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing about the name but Baronne was settled on for its classical, French association," he recalls without a moment's hesitation, even though it was 39 years ago.
Today, its plump, lively fruitiness is widely enjoyed and Gunter still likes to have it with his meals.
You can find it in most bottlestores and supermarket shelves and on restaurant menus from steakhouses to family bistros, in the city, outlying towns and at game lodges. It has become an integral part of the South African landscape and even with the accessibility lent by its styling, pricing and distribution, it still finds favour with the critics. Last year alone, it earned a gold medal at the Michelangelo International Wine Awards and received commendations from the Decanter World Wine Awards and the International Wine Challenge.
Among generations of winelovers, who may be divided by decades, culture, language or experience, it still appeals for its clever combination of succulent red fruit flavours (Cabernet) and slight peppery, smoky characters (Shiraz). It's a very versatile wine that goes extremely well with burgers, ribs and hearty pastas. But it will never be out of place with Chateaubriand or Sunday roast. It can hold its own at Christmas, on birthdays, at graduations and other rites of passage.
Nederburg's red-wine maker, Wilhelm Pienaar, calls it the ultimate get-together wine. "It's just the wine you want for bonding, whether you are with the family, watching sport with your mates or celebrating an occasion. It's a fixture in our house and in so many others. I love that you find it in so many parts of the world. When you are far away from home and you encounter a bottle, it's like bumping into an old friend.
Here's a letter from a fan in Canada, who opened a 1979 bottle recently. "As a Capetonian living in Canada, in 1980 I bought a bottle of Nederburg 1979 Baronne. Well, today I opened it and it was in prime condition after all these 33 years. The cork was a little crumbly, but the wine was superb." She added that the wine received no special attention. "It was just lying on its side in a cupboard (and survived) four residential moves, in four different climatic conditions in British Columbia, Canada. I had to let you know."