The release of a new dry rosé provided the perfect excuse to interrupt the Chardonnay harvest at Jordan Wines for a moment’s respite and a quick celebration of all the ingredients that make for a successful wine at this top Stellenbosch cellar.
The new rosé features an Amaryllis belladonna on the label. Commonly referred to as the March Lily, this elegant flower earned the moniker by making its fragrant appearance each March.
Seasons in the sun
Speaking of harvests – last season was characterised by lots of heat and rain, says owner Gary Jordan. With almost 870 mm (including 95 mm on 25 September last year) it was 70% more rain than Jordan had received in 2022.
All that rain was followed by an unprecedented heatwave. Despite being one of the cooler Stellenbosch areas, Jordan registered 33 days above 30 °C during their growing season. “They always said a heat wave is when you have three consecutive days above that temperature,” Gary says. “Our whole harvest was like that.”
Gary realised smaller roots would be waterlogged from the rain and then struggle to recover during the heatwave, putting the plants under stress – especially in the granitic soils of the area. That led to a late start to the 2023 harvest – later than he has ever experienced – but with skill and foresight, the vines are again flourishing with great acidity, and Gary is excited about this year’s harvest. “It’s going to be a really great vintage,” he says. “Fingers crossed we don’t get any major rains during the red wine harvesting stage.”
New plantings
Gary spent much of the harvest on the back of a 30-tonne excavator. “We’re busy with a massive replanting programme with vines ordered last year,” he says. “We’re planting 11 ha this year and another 10 next year.”
February also brought in Jordan’s third vintage of Assyrtiko, first planted in 2019 on dry, windy, north-facing slopes overlooking the sea. The vineyard serves as the mother block for Assyrtiko in South Africa.
From the mother block, cuttings can be cleaned and propagated at Vititec and supplied to producers around the country. As a Mediterranean variety, Assyrtiko is regarded as a promising candidate for climate-resilient varieties in South Africa. “We need more of these hardened grape varieties to deal with the heat,” says managing director Jacques Steyn.
Excavations also included laying the foundations of a new manor house, which will begin receiving guests later this year. Guests will certainly appreciate its close proximity to the award-winning The Jordan Restaurant with chef Marthinus Ferreira.
The difference a yeast makes
Inside the cellar, managing director Jacques Steyn and winemaker Sjaak Nelson, hinted at some of Jordan’s winemaking secrets through a comparative tasting, which show the difference that two different yeasts – Vin7 and Vin13 – have on the same Sauvignon Blanc grapes.
“Winemaking is much like cooking, but as a chef you’re not always in control of your own ingredients,” Jacques explains. “In winemaking, it’s very important to build up your spice cabinet by allocating some of your ferment to a concrete egg, or an amphora, or split the vineyard into separate ferments. This creates the opportunity for complexity down the line. We always blend from perfection.”
The difference between the two yeasts is noticeable. Vin7 leads to more reductive character and is fermented at 14-15 degrees. Vin13 ferments at slightly higher temperatures, which means the process happens faster. “When the yeast struggles, it creates more glycerol, which contributes to more mouthfeel. So the Vin7 tank will give more mouthfeel while the Vin13 will give more fruit on the nose,” says Sjaak. “And the two combined give you the perfect blend.”
The Chameleon range, Jordan’s range of blends, has recently been expanded with single-varietal wines that express a different kind of blending. “When you farm your own vineyards, you get to know the vineyards so well that you know what to do with a difficult vintage,” Jacques adds. “We don’t just want to accumulate sugar, but also want to develop flavour. That means we work with two ripening cycles: physiological ripeness – which enhances sugar – and phenolic ripeness, which enhances flavour, colour and tannin. Our viticultural practices bring these cycles together so that they’re in balance when you harvest.”
Variety and varietals
Two blocks of Chenin received Old Vine Heritage status last year, which adds even more depth to their offering. “The main difference between Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc is that Sauvignon Blanc is an aromatic grape variety, which means, like Muscat, Gewurztraminer and Riesling, you can taste the flavours even in the juice,” Jacques says. “With Chenin and Chardonnay, the flavour develops with vinification and winemaking.”
In the cellar, this means Sauvignon Blanc tends to be treated more reductively, cutting out contact with oxygen as much as possible, to keep the inherent characteristics of the juice for the final wine. “Chenin can be worked both ways, either reductively or oxidatively.”
The Chardonnay gets more oxidative treatment, which gives the wine more maturation potential. “It’s what we call a winemakers’ grape – you have to build the wine more deliberately and work with a plan,” Jacques says.
“Deliberately exposing he wine to oxygen helps build the wine’s ‘immune system’, since all the compounds that would oxidise the wine later on is precipitated out.” Further micro-oxygenation that occurs in the barrels will become part of the aging process. After nine months in the barrel, the wine is able to handle oxygen better and can last longer in the bottle.
When fermentation is finished, lees settles to the bottom of the barrel, which the winemakers mix into the wine every week to add texture and complexity. Lees also serves to clarify the wine of proteins and is a natural antioxidant. “We don’t add any sulphur to the wines, which tends to extract wood flavours; it’s just the lees and tannins from new oak, which prevents the wine from oxidising.”
The cellar’s concrete eggs and amphoras also assist with this mixing process. “We can roll over the barrels to mix up the lees, but the concrete egg allows the lees to move and mix with even the slightest shifts in temperature,” Sjaak says. The same process is at work in the handmade clay amphoras. “The concrete egg results in a lovely minerality, while the amphora gives a more authentic representation of the grape itself.”
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- Concrete egg
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- Clay amphora
Competitive edge
The next vintage of the dry rosé is already in the cellar, produced from dedicated Merlot and Syrah blocks. “So many people are making rosé as a byproduct of red wine, bleeding off juice and needing to add carbon to remove some of the colour, but we’re serious about it,” Gary says. “Our rosé is made from grapes specifically grown for its flavour profile.”
It’s the kind of dedication that draws return visitors and commands a loyal following. But Jacques believes South Africa has another advantage over other wine countries. “South Africa offers a wide variety excellent, well-priced wines within driving distance of a major city,” he says. “It’s only a 40-minute drive from Cape Town to most of our wine-producing areas, which means visitors can easily spend the day, have a great experience, and drive back. A lot of countries try to emulate this model, but it is hard to replicate elsewhere.”
