NEDERBURG AUCTION 2016
In a year, which has shown nothing should be taken for granted, the 42nd Nederburg Auction is shaking off middle age with a few welcome changes.
Changes are nothing new since the new team took over, with Business Manager Dalene Steyn at the helm. For instance, dropping the fashion show, which drew people, including bidders, away from the main action; and then generally smartening up the venue to give it an aura of the prestige that had become a little unexciting around the edges.
One introduction that particularly pleased me is that for the first time in many years, I had the opportunity to taste as many or few as I pleased. These had been selected by a new-look panel made up of MWs, both local and international, a former Best Sommelier of the World and a Director of one of South Africa’s major importers.
My approach, after a bit of a dip here and there among the Chardonnays, was to head for the older wines. The star among those Chardonnays and the best dry table wine I tried, was De Wetshof Finesse 1993. Brilliant and youthful in colour, Robertson’s typical limey character remains clear and well-sustained. The area’s limestone soils really do help to preserve good acidity and low pH levels. In the slightly younger Chardonnay camp, Haskell Anvil 2010 and Stellenrust 2011 fly the flag for ageing SA whites and neither are at their best yet. Frankly anyone who buys from the recent vintages of many of the white wines on offer should feel confident about laying them down for a good few years.
Moving on to Semillon; nothing as ancient as the De Wetshof here, but both Fleur du Cap 2010 and Shannon 2012 delighted my Semillon-loving taste buds. The toasty flavours in both come not from the oak they’ve been in, but from the grape itself. Both enjoy good freshness and length and will make noteworthy companions at table.
On to the white variety du jour, Chenin, mainly with a few grams of sugar, but as they evolve, this turns mellow rather than sweet. Illustrating this very well, I thought, is Beaumont Hope Marguerite 2008, while Raats Family Chenin 2009, which is dry, gains complexity from its maturing honeycomb and freshness.
Remarkably, both Lanzerac Pinotage 1969 (375ml) and Lanzerac Cabernet 1968 were open for tasting. At this age one is prepared for individual good bottles; both the above were perfectly behaved and will astound anyone who’s not tried South African wine of this age. For a more modern take on our home-bred variety, it’s hard to beat Kanonkop 2003, especially as it comes in magnums. A beautifully polished, savoury mouthful.
It was left to the Bordeaux-style blends to show our reds can evolve. Three smashing and very different examples are to be found in Morgenster 2000 with its tertiary, sweet and lingering fruit; Vergelegen 2004, a more savoury wine with Cab Franc leafiness and the blood-and-iron meatiness I associate with André van Rensburg’s older flagship blend, but there’s also plenty of grip for further development; for a true classic wine there’s Jeremy Walker’s Grangehurst 2006 – restrained, medium-bodied with delicious silky flesh, fine tannin and that familiar lead pencil nose.
I wasn’t going to try any sweet wines, until I saw Signal Hill Eszencia 2002, a wine that has a special association for me. I was the first to review it in the Platter Guide 10 years ago, where it was awarded Five stars. ‘Ageless, restorative, impossibly delicious elixir’ began my note, for something that wasn’t even allowed to call itself wine in those days, the alcohol being too low (5.2%). That’s since changed, but not the wine nor my opening salvo. It’s a once-off, just a few hundred litres coaxed, drop by drop from the shrivelled grapes: it deserves to be a star of the auction and reach an extraordinary price.
From the relative small number of wines I tasted, I can see there’s something for everyone on the auction. All it needs now is for Friday 16th and Saturday 17th September to be fine and sunny, but I’m sure Dalene and the team have that detail under their belts too.
- Angela Lloyd