Wineland Article August 2008: The future looks bright for blended white

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Great White Tasting 2008
The future looks bright for blended white
The annual Great White Tasting, a trade and media tasting held this year at Vergelegen, included some of the Cape’s top white blends and emphasised the quality and diversity that this category offers. EDO HEYNS reports

Chenin Blanc is South Africa’s most planted varietal, with a lot of these plantings being beautiful old bush vines. Unfortunately unfavourable prices and the fact that Chenin hasn’t quite yet grabbed the market the way trendier Sauvignon Blanc has done, result in rare 100 year-old Chenin still being uprooted. A new surge of interest shown in higher quality white blends – of which many have Chenin as base – and wineries producing examples that are gaining international acclaim could, however, command higher prices and play a role in saving these historic bush vine stalwarts.

Eben Sadie, Sadie Family Vineyards.

Miles Mossop, Tokara.

Albert Ahrens, Lammershoek.

Eben Sadie, skilled and unconventional producer of the iconic Sadie Family Wines Palladius and equally impressive Sequillo, tells that a neighbouring Swartland grape grower uprooted 30 ha of about 30 year-old Chenin bush vines within a year – because the grapes from these low yielding vines only realised a price of R1 000 per ton.
This trend is also reflected in Sawis’ statistics, with Chenin topping the list of most uprooted varieties. This, despite the fact that South Africa has earned a name as producer of Chenins that many believe could rival some of the Loire Valley’s best – with several Chenins and Chenin-based blends fetching prices of more than R200.
Creative and experimental practices seem to have become synonymous with the Swartland’s white blends. Lammershoek and Sadie Family Wines are using uncommon varieties such as Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Clairette Blanche and even Hárslevelü as blending components while constantly trying new ways to apply wood in their winemaking.
Larger 500 and 600-litre barrels are used more often, with Eben looking to use even bigger barrels in the future. The thickness of the barrel staves is also more important than in the case of red wine – thicker staves imply that the wine is less exposed to oxygen, assuring that this more reductive approach preserves the fruitiness of the wine.
Lammershoek winemaker Albert Ahrens mentions that the Viognier component in his Roulette Blanc blend, as well as many other white blends with this variety, has gradually been reduced. According to Albert, Viognier has a tendency to dominate a blend, but he also mentions that a smaller component of Viognier in a blend plays an important role. The Roulette Blanc consists of Chenin Blanc, Harslevelu, Viognier and Chardonnay, with the Viognier component being scaled down from 16% in 2004 to 9% in 2006.
Angela Lloyd, who was a judge in the white blend category at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show, cautioned that Viognier should be handled with care when blending as “a little can take over”. Viognier, which is generally picked at a very ripe stage, also pushes up alcohol levels.
Interestingly, Albert recommends decanting the Roulette Blanc. According to Eben, who also decants his whites, the style of these Rhône-like blends is not built around volatile flavours based on reductive winemaking, as is the case with Sauvignon Blanc – the stable flavours of wine that has been exposed to oxygen and wood opens up when decanted. He does, however, not recommend the decanting of older vintages.
Tokara winemaker Miles Mossop has also proven his skill in making white blends. The Saskia 2006, a Chenin/Viognier blend made under Miles’ own label and named after his daughter, is made from Chenin sourced from 30 year-old unirrigated bush vines in Stellenbosch and Viognier from Paardeberg.
Miles won the trophy for the best white blend at the Old Mutual Trophy Show with a wine very different to the Saskia – The Tokara White 2006. This is a Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon or white Bordeaux-style blend, another style in which South African winemakers recently started to excel.
André van Rensburg, Vergelegen’s winemaker, has been a local pioneer of Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon blends with the ever impressive Vergelegen White. As he puts it, “When one of the different components of a blend tastes better than the final product, you didn’t blend.”

White blends are no longer limited to the “cheap and cheery” category, with more and more serious blends proving the potential of these wines

For the Vergelegen White both the Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon are whole bunch pressed and then fermented and matured in barrels for ten months.
Another passionate supporter and maker of white blends is Ian Naudé from Adoro Wines. With the Naudé White 2008, he took the proven Bordeaux blend and added Chenin to the equation, producing a lean and elegant wine that combines mineral characters with appealing fruit.
Naudé adds that these wines were made in a style that would benefit from maturation.
White blends are no longer limited to the “cheap and cheery” category, with more and more serious blends proving the potential of these wines. Especially the use of Chenin, a unique South African asset, sets these blends apart – and hopefully convinces producers to nurture old Chenin blocks, despite lower yields.
The wines tasted were:

1. Sequillo White 2007 Eben Sadie, Sadie Family

2. Palladius 2006 Eben Sadie, Sadie Family

3. Tokara 2006 Miles Mossop, Tokara

4. Saskia 2006 Miles Mossop, private label

5. Roulette Blanc 2004 Albert Ahrens, Lammershoek Wines

6. Roulette Blanc 2006 Albert Ahrens, Lammershoek Wines

7. Vergelegen White 2006 André van Rensburg, Vergelegen

8. Vergelegen White 2007 André van Rensburg, Vergelegen

9. Naudé White 2006 Ian Naudé, Adoro Wines

10. Naudé White 2008 Ian Naudé, Adoro Wines

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