There’s nothing boring about South African Bordeaux-style reds

“French Bordeaux is recognised world wide as something really special. We use the style as a measuring point, as a reference,” says Christian Eedes, editor of Winemag.co.za.

In conjunction with RisCura, a global financial services provider, Winemag.co.za recently hosted an awards ceremony to identify the top South African wines in this category.

“South Africa’s top producers now have a handle on generating wines showing fruit purity like never before,” says Eedes. “There are plenty of wines, which are indeed very sexy on account of their luscious fruit, the fact that they involve blending arguably contributing to a more complete and less severe drinking experience than is the case with single-variety Cabernet Sauvignon.”

The awards attracted 59 wines from 46 producers and the average score was 87.2.

There were 13 wines that were rated 90 or higher on the 100-point quality scale. Nine were from Stellenbosch, one from Constantia, one from Durbanville, one from Walker Bay (Hemel-en-Aarde
Ridge) and one a multi-regional blend (Darling and Stellenbosch).

When asked how South African Bordeaux-style blends compare to their French counterpoints, Eedes says: “In many of the tastings I’ve been involved with, South Africa does very well against the best of Bordeaux. Ultimately, we still have a long way to go with getting the rest of the world to recognise this—though this isn’t about the quality of the wines, it’s more of a marketing issue.

“In basic terms, there are very good reasons why Cab and Merlot get blended together. They complement one another in the vineyard and the bottle.

“In Bordeaux it’s quite unusual to use all five of the varieties but here in South Africa it’s a lot more common to use all of them. Partly because each of one of the varieties brings something to the party but also because it captures the imagination to have a five-way blend.”

The first South African Bordeaux-style red was released by Welgemeend Estate in 1979, followed in 1980 by Meerlust’s Rubicon.

On the back of the RisCura Awards, things are looking good for our Bordeaux-style wines. “They tend to be a premium offering and some carry high price tags. They’re a blue chip category, one we’ll always have—as long as our winemakers make sure their wines are worthy of their prices,” Eedes concludes.

– Malu Lambert

Wines rated 90 points or higher were as follows:

94
Groot Constantia Gouverneurs Reserve Red 2013