So what is an icon wine anyway?
Thursday, 7 March, 2002
Clive Torr CWM
And what is the difference between it and a benchmark or a cult wine?
Interestingly, the Oxford Pocket Dictionary simply defines an icon as an image or a statue – and equally surprisingly, The Oxford Companion to Wine doesn’t even give this frequently cited wine-word an entry. So what is it … and how do we get one? Clive Torr CWM offers some thoughts on the subject.
Defining an icon wine
An icon wine is a wine of very, very high quality. It is achieved by a combination of factors, starting with site selection. Planted in exactly the right climate, a variety can express itself specifically. There are all kinds of factors, like keeping yields low, allowing the vine to put its whole life force into one bottle of wine. This is an expensive operation. In fact a vine can happily produce over ten bottles, but at a more diluted level. There also has to be massive attention to detail, gentle handling of the grapes in a very clean environment in the cellar, allowing nature to express optimum flavours of the grape variety.
Icon wines are made from the classic grape varieties of the world. Obscure varietals are insignificant and cannot express the concentration of flavour desired at this price point.
Viticulture has to be at the highest standard, site selection matched to the variety and optimum ripeness at picking - and obviously factors like rainfall have a significant effect on the flavour profile.
Once a great wine has been created - nursing it to perfection, requires a lot of oak maturation -fining and clarification are crucial steps to place this elixir in the bottle.
Who decides if this is a wine of icon standard?
The public votes with its wallet. People will not fork out extreme sums of money without, first of all, the necessary expression of flavours and then the credits, awards, and of course publicity. Consistency from year to year plays an important part in determining the price point and credibility of these wines.
The difference between an icon wine and a benchmark or cult wine?
· The icon stands above the rest, leader in its field, consistent in quality, well acclaimed and available, sometimes expensive - in a class of its own.
· The benchmark wine is the wine that everyone aspires to. Very typical varietal character, medium priced, accessible to students of wine and discerning collectors.
· The cult wine category includes wines that, by their sheer brilliance (and this can include once-offs) have been so highly rated, written up and acclaimed in the press that, upon their release, they can immediately claim exorbitant prices. Usually produced in small volumes, not widely distributed, often allocation-only and with a massive hype factor.
In addition …
Each varietal has its market leader, most popular, most awarded, rarest, most sought after and best value.
These are all judged by tasting competitions, international awards and – more importantly – by the public’s willingness to buy them. These will vary greatly from season to season in the world of wine.
Some examples:
Sauvignon Blanc
Cloudy Bay – Thelema (for South Africa) and Durbanville Hills (for Distell) are always sought after, snapped up, purchased and consumed with delight and enthusiasm by consumers worldwide. Frustrating for us mortals to obtain samples of these - and to pay the premium price - but with wonderful varietal definition and pinpoint flavour. These wines are working towards cult wine or icon status.
Chardonnay
Burgundy’s Corton Charlemagne, Le Montrachet, or Chablis or, in South Africa, the great wines of Robertson with their limestone soils, seem to shine in competitions. Plaisir de Merle 1999 is the only South African white wine to win a gold in the International Wines and Spirits Competition last year. Others to try are: Fort Simon, Lanzerac and Rhinofields from the Durbanville Hills cellar.
Pinotage
The undisputed icon and champion is Kanonkop. The new African development project at Tukulu has won awards two years running. Jacobsdal is fabulous and Lanzerac was the first Pinotage bottled in South Africa.
Merlot
Has yet to reach icon status, with Veenwouden able to claim cult status. From Distell Lanzerac and Plaisir de Merle, Fleur du Cap (unfiltered) and Luiperdsberg from the Durbanville Hills cellar are all striving for cult status.
Cabernet Sauvignon
The 1974 Nederburg is possibly the finest red wine ever made in this cellar, followed by the Rustenberg 1982 and the Ettiene Le Riche Reserve. Plaisir de Merle, Thelema and Klein Constantia all lead the market with their new-clone drinkability with Plaisir de Merle enjoying the closest to icon status. Others to try are Stellenryck 1994 and Le Bonheur 1996.
Shiraz
The varietal with unbelievable potential for South Africa and the oldest grape variety known on earth. Stellenzicht, with their 1994 set everybody on the road to strive for perfection in the variety, subsequent 1998 and 2000 vintages tasting gorgeous. Boekenhoutskloof 1997 was a once-off - (sadly the vineyard gave way to housing development) - and Gilga can claim cult status. Stellenzicht has the potential and the volumes to push for icon status.
To Summarize …
The public will decide on the status of these wines. Made with passion, beautifully crafted and packaged, they can be positioned at honest prices, but ultimately their popularity can only come from success in the market.
Many would agree that the humble Chateau Libertas has achieved icon status because of its incredible quality and value over sixty-five years. Icon doesn’t necessarily have to mean a huge price tag.
You decide………….vote with your cash!
By Clive Torr CWM