| Posted: 02.07.2011 | ||||||||
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As always, there is a great feeling of relief that another vintage is behind us now that the wines are safely secured both in tank and in barrel in the cellar.
The summer weather conditions were ideal for the grape harvest, one of the driest on record, but fierce winds at blossom time affected our yields and the tonnage of grapes taken into the cellar was below average for the crop, with our flagship Pinot Noir being the biggest loser.
This was mitigated in some measure by the first crop of Pinot from our new high density planting where the vines are planted, Burgundy style, at a density of 10,000 vines per hectare, as opposed to the more conventional 3,000 vines per hectare.
The theory behind the high destiny vineyard is to seek to obtain a better leaf to fruit ratio for the benefit of grape quality. The result is less bunches per vine but higher overall yields per hectare.
The negative is that the vineyard rows are narrow, preventing the use of mechanisation, but adding to the imagery of a truly hand-crafted wine.
The grapes are being vinified separately from the older but more conventional Pinot block, planted in 2000, and it will be interesting to see the different characteristics of the two wines once the winemaking process is completed.
The 2009 Oak Valley Pinot Noir has recently been released following the success of the 2008 vintage which was the winner of the Decanter Regional Trophy last year.
Winemaker, Pieter Visser, is adamant that his 2009 is the best Pinot he has ever made. It has a more complex structure than its predecessors and will benefit from another year or two in the bottle. The wood is still quite prominent, but without dominating and supressing the fruit, which is the product of a relatively virus free vineyard.
We look forward to watching this wine develop as we are particularly confident of the end result.
The Oak Valley Chardonnay 2010 has just been released but it is still very much an infant. We would have preferred to release this wine later, but the pressure caused by the selling out of the highly successful 2009 vintage, which last year won the International Wine Challenge Trophy for the best SA White Wine, forced our hand.
The 2010 Chardonnay won Silver at both the Decanter and IWC competition in London, but in our view, still has to develop the in bottle to achieve its true potential. The wine has recently been invited to participate in this year’s Five-Nations Wine Challenge.
For the 2011 vintage, our new Chardonnay blocks on the high-lying mountain slopes have just produced their first crop, and as in the case of the Pinot Noir, these grapes have been fermented separate from the fruit from our original 1992 block which to date has been the sole source of our highly successful Chardonnay offering.
The 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, has also just been released and was immediately rewarded with a 92 point score from Stephen Tanzer in the USA.
The wine, as has been the case with all of our Sauvignons since the first vintage in 2003, is characterized by fresh natural acidity, a product of our high-lying mountain vineyards, located between 450-600 metres above sea level on cool south facing slopes.
This wine has distinctive minerality, well supported by the flavours of ripe grapefruit with hints of green apple – very appropriate in Elgin!
The 2010 was finished too late for a Platter rating last year, so will only be rated for this year’s edition of the guide.
During the past year we have conducted a number of vertical tastings of our Sauvignon Blancs and on every occasion we learn that these wines can keep for at least 5 years, and over time can improve greatly in terms of complexity, as well as secondary aromatics and flavours. This is the hidden benefit of Elgin Sauvignon Blancs in general, and through the Elgin Wine Guild, we are promoting this point of difference with our SB’s. The popular myth that Sauvignon needs to be enjoyed straight from the vine needs to be debunked so that wine lovers can be encouraged to buy and experience the older vintages.
The Oak Valley “OV” Sauvignon Semillon blend has been listed at a number of top restaurants around SA, and slowly but surely continues to grow in popularity. The 2008 vintage is a 4 ½ star Platter wine with a relatively limited production and is made using our very best fruit exclusively fron the mountain vineyards.
It is targeted at the wine connoisseur who is looking for greater depth and complexity in a white wine. The wine is to be featured at the up-and-coming Elegantly Elgin Festival in August.
The Oak Valley Blend 2006 has recently been released and has firm but ripe tannins which will ensure longetivity in the wine.
The Bordeaux styled blend, which since inception has been predominantly Merlot, with a lesser proportion of Cabernet Franc, has become popular in Canada where both the LCBO in Ontario and the SAQ in Quebec have listed the wine.
The Blend spent 20 months in French oak, of which 69% was new wood, so the wine has both structure, and aging ability whilst retaining a concentrated dark fruit component.
We believe that Merlot, in particular, has an important future in Elgin’s cool climate, a view that the recognition won by Shannon’s Mount Bullet has served to reinforce.
The 2nd label Rawbones range has achieved great success in the marketplace since the festive launch of the Rawbone Wishbone Sauvignon and the Rawbones Butchers Block Merlot / Cabernet Franc at Mzolis Place in Gugulethu during December last year.
These wines represent great value for money and both were listed in Neil Pendock’s best seller column in the Sunday Times.
The Wishbone and the Butchers Block are soon to be joined by a third wine in the range, a rosè, appropriately named Rawbones Medium Rare. It has been made in a drier style, complimented by delicious strawberry aromas. We expect it to be a top seller this coming summer.
Moving away from wine, the ABSA Cape Epic again used Oak Valley as a stage location for the 2011 race, and the hope is that this will continue to be the case in the future.
The race is becoming bigger and more sophisticated and we upped our game accordingly with our own Oak Valley marquee serving our wines over the 3 days that the race spent on the farm.
The trails that make up the Oak Valley Mountain Biking Experience are becoming increasingly popular and the number of bikers visiting the farm has increased by 37% this year alone. Such is the popularity that we have approached neighbouring farms to attempt to create longer and more diversified riding options. With 9 out of 10 bike sales being in favour of the MTB version, this component of the Oak Valley experience is destined to show ever stronger growth into the future.
Finally our son Christopher, who is in the process of completing his Masters in Wine Business degree at Adelaide University in Australia, is heading back to the farm in July where he will take over the responsibilities of the marketing of the Oak Valley and Rawbones ranges of wines.
Expect the newsletter to take on a new shape and feel, whilst his father takes a well-earned rest!
Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen
01st July 2011
