Diners Club Wine Society Newsletter
Winter 2010

The difference a decade makes

As much as clothing fashions change from season to season, so too do wine making and drinking fads. In the same way that colours and hemlines vary, wines fade in and out of vogue. It's as much stylistic as anything else.

A few years ago, rosé and pink wines were an almost absolute no-no. Just as a real man would not be seen dead eating quiche, he sure as hell would not let a drop of pink pass his lips! Nowadays it's a different story. There's barely a local wine farm which doesn't offer Rosé – because there's a demand for it. People are really enjoying pink wines with their abundant fruit flavours that go so well with a variety of foods. But probably the biggest fashion fad of recent years has been the move towards Rhône varietals Shiraz and Viognier.

 A quick review of the statistics of vine plantings in South Africa makes for interesting reading. In 1999 Shiraz accounted for 3 469 hectares while 10 years later it has climbed up the rankings to become the fourth largest category with 10 006 hectares now planted.

The story goes that once upon a time global plantings of Viognier totalled just 10 hectares in the tiny French appellation of Condrieu – until it was discovered and winemakers began planting it around the world. In 1999 there was a total of 11.7 hectares of Viognier with roots in the South African soil. Fast forward a decade and the 2009 total stood at 894 hectares! Both figures demonstrate the massive interest in the Rhône duo. So what's the reason for the explosion of interest? Simply put it is because local winemakers have realised that the similarities in growing conditions make it well suited to South African conditions, more so than some more finicky grape varietals such as Pinot Noir which require very specific (cool) circumstances to produce the best results. It's not solely about climatic and soils but about the tastes and blending options they present.

What's not to like about the bold black fruit and spicy taste of Shiraz? It can be chunky and meaty too, but when blended with other grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, as in the case of the Guardian Peak Frontier, it takes on a smoother, gentle veneer. It's like seeing someone casually dressed in a pair of corduroy trousers – and then adding a tweed jacket and cravat to the outfit, taking it into a different social strata!

Viognier, when vinified on its own, offers stone fruit such as peach, apricot and nectarine. Factor in a bit of wood maturation and the spectrum alters to include toasty butterscotch, vanilla and even honeysuckle. In the early days of having both grapes available to play with some South African winemakers adopted the practice of either fermenting them together or blending a portion of Viognier into Shiraz. It's quite easy to spot since the Shiraz then takes on overtly floral, violet aromas which some tasters love – and others find quite off-putting.

Bearing the planting stats in mind, a high proportion of the vines are still young and there's still a lot to be learned – but the lessons are going to be fun for winemakers and consumers alike. It's like hemlines going up and being able to display a well-toned leg...