Written by Arnav Das
I have loved wines from South Africa from the first sip of Wolftrap White blend, a time I couldn’t even pronounce Boekenhoutskloof properly, but my only and recent travel cemented South Africa and its wine in my heart. In case of the wines there are a lot of kick ass Bordeaux Blends, Pinot Noir, SMG (Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache), top class Chardonnay, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc; but I want to discuss what is supposed to be and should be the highlight and showstopper of South Africa: Pinotage.
My journey in the world of Pinotage started with the Kanonkop Pinotage and it was a love affair since the first bottle. A wine that is yielded from the vineyards of Simonsberg (Stellenbosch) which I believe has one of the best aspects I saw in South Africa. A full bodied, medium+ to high tannin wine with a lot of black fruit and oak influence; something that I like. But it was a constant point in my head if the child of Pinot Noir and Cinsault, two delicate grapes will be a big wine like this. Don’t get me wrong, I still adore the wine.
After a couple of years of drinking Pinotage, this journey in South African Wines has taken me to two fantastic but distinct personalities who create fantastic wines specially Pinotage, from two different regions of South Africa Hemel-en-Aarde and Tulbagh. What unites them is their passion for wines, kindness, love of dogs and the zeal to create great wines, especially Pinotage.
Hamilton Russell Vineyards, Hemel-en-Aarde
We reached the estate 15 minutes early and walked towards the lake. In a small room I could see a handsomely dressed gentleman taking a session, most probably a tasting room assistant.
As we waited taking pictures, the place was peaceful and quite, sound of the birds chirping and the fountain in the dam.
I saw the man come out and started talk to our host. I reached closer and he put his hand out and said, “Hello, Anthony”, and I was in an awe that it was Anthony Hamilton Russell. For me he is Wine Royalty and to witness his company was amazing.
We were welcomed in the tasting room with a glass of Ashbourne Sandstone, where there were maps, pictures and soils of the valley of Hemel-en-Aarde. How it was his father who was the first one to establish a vineyard and how he had to take it over leaving his corporate job.
This is the man who established Hemel-en-Aarde as a region. Worked in the mapping of soils and then establishing the sub regions of Hemel-en-Aarde. He is also working towards conservation of wildlife by asking estate owners to leave a piece of their lands to create a long patch of land for animals to move around.
While it was asked about his views about his wine being a blend of all of his vineyards while many winemakers try to do parcel specific wines. He called a single parcel wine to be Pavarotti, a tenor in his might which is great but a blend of great parcels is a marvelous symphony.
Mr. Anthony, guided us through the cellar of Chardonnay filled in Burgundy barrels, amphorae and then to the underground Pinot Noir Cellar. The two varietals Hamilton Russell is famous for.
The liquid is a testament to the legacy of fine wine making at Hamilton Russell. We tasted 2022, 2023, 2024 Pinot Noir and 2023, 2024 Chardonnay; the wines were sublime. I loved the 2022, 2024 Pinot Noir and the 2024 Chardonnay. The Hamilton Russell range of course are his star wines and highly allocated. But also see a bit of dissatisfaction on his face that while his wines are appreciated for premium quality, they are at times treated a substitute for Grand and Premium Cru Burgundy wines.
This is when we were poured Hamilton Russell, Ashbourne Pinotage and my mind was blown. I really love Pinotage and it has to be the best one I have tasted.
The Ashbourne estate was founded in 1996 and sits in east to the Hamilton Russell estate. Named after his great great grandfather Lord Ashbourne, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. While the parcel produces a white blend called Sandstone, the parcel was the first piece of land in Hemel-en-Aarde on which Pinotage was grown and is pretty much the main concentration for the Ashbourne estate.
The wine, in my opinion is the greatest reflection of Pinotage. It’s what I believed, the child of Pinot Noir and Cinsault should be like; Medium bodied, silky tannins, elegant, fruit forward, savoury, with a well-balanced oak, some spice and an underlying minerality. But as I said this, he mentioned that,”it would be wrong to judge a child for what his parents are”, it should be best expression of the child’s individuality.
I believe other than winemaking it’s the terroir that helps these characteristics of the pinotage at Ashbourne. Cool maritime climate, low vigour, shale driven, and clay soil.
The wine goes through an elevage of 10 months in tight grain 400 litre barrels, and 10 months in neutral 2000 litre Foudre. Giving the wine a long, slow and a very well integrated oak.
While, I was still mesmerized he said, “I hope that more of these young winemakers come ahead and start making Pinotage, I think that’s our identity”. I love him for saying this. That’s when I told him that, he should meet Dirk Swanepoel.
Mr. Anthony, treated us at his residence, the iconic Braemar house and during the great conversation he said;
“We don’t have Competition we have Colleagues”.
This surely resonates with me as in this world of cutthroat competition, a man still has the heart to help everyone around and create a great winemaking society.
There have only been four winemakers at Hamilton Russell, currently taken care by Emul Ross since 2014. The previous three have gone ahead to what we see as the best of Hemel-en-Aarde. 1st winemaker Peter Finlayson established Bouchard Finlayson, 2nd winemaker Kevin Grant established Ataraxia and 3rd winemaker Hannes Storm established Storm Vineyards.
Dirk Swanepoel at Oude Compagnies Post, the House of Swanepoel Wines
We arrived in Tulbagh on a Sunday Morning and settled down in a beautiful farm just near to Oude Compagnies post. Sunday is generally a quiet day in South Africa and if you are in a countryside like Tulbagh it’s quieter.
After the drive to Tulbagh, we craved some beer and like an angel arrived Dirk Swanepoel, in his Pickup truck with Eve on the co-passenger seat, Eve is a Black Boerboel. The truck was dust laden till the inside, and well that’s how a farm truck should look like.
We climbed the back of the truck and were asked to brace and hold whatever we can by our host. We understood the importance as he pushed the accelerator to the max and we were gone with the wind. Why it is important for the story is because it shows the raw nature of the man, someone else would have been gentle as there were a couple of new faces in is truck. But we loved it.
Later when we were ready to visit the winery, two Pickup trucks arrived with 3 dogs. We climbed the Pickup trucks and moved towards the winery. That was a fun way to land up to a winery. Swanepoel winery gets its name from the family name, which in Old Dutch means a pool full of Swan’s. The beautiful labels of the wine embodies the family name and nature.
As we reached the winery we were welcomed with a SMG rose, and an introduction to the winery. An old high ceiling two room stone building, one room is where the winemaking happens and the other is where he hosts tastings. The music was old school rock as we went through the tasting.
“Get loose, drink a lot of wine, no rules”
We boarded on the trucks and drove through the vineyards and climbed into the mountain to reach a tasting table hid within the fynbos, overlooking the valley. Sabered a few bottles of the Cap Classique made of Grenache Noir. It was surprising how beautiful this wine was for a change great freshness, heavier flavours, and medium plus mid palate and a long finish in an elegant bottle. One of the best Cap Classique I have tried.
Dirk casually took us through the terroir of the region and how it helps to be on this part of the valley.
Swanepoel vineyards is nestled in the Oude Compagnies Post in the foothills of Obiqua Mountains. 235 ha of land in slopes in which approximately 10 ha is being planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage, Grenache, Mourvedre, Shiraz & Assyrtiko. There are 7 soil types within the estate. Ranging from rocky sandstones to clay rich soils. Being in the slops of Obiqua gives the vineyards gentle sun for the longer time, tending to a slow ripening and fresher style of grape juice with optimum phenolic ripeness, rather than on the Winterhoek and Witzenberg mountains that get a longer blazing sun.
We drove down to the winery/tasting room and were treated to his wines, each wine was a display of elegance and style. While I would like to mention about the show stoppers; Pinotage and the White Pinotage.
The Pinotage is fruit driven and aged in oak for 18 months. Early morning harverts to retain full freshness and fruit phenol. A gentle ageing for long time giving a gentle oak background to the wines. There are hints of minerality and a very obvious leafy green note which can pretty much be from the fynbos that grows into the vineyards.
The White Pinotage was next and it was daringly different and amusing. There is pretty much no shade of pink to it, clear white wine; and as soon as you put your nose in the glass, it’s a symphony of grapefruits, apricots, pears, guava and apples. The wine on palate has freshness, medium acidity, medium bodied with a heavier mid palate and a long finish.
There are only five producers in South Africa who produce a White Pinotage, how is this wine different. As he answered, the most easy and common way to make a grape loose its colour is through charcoal filtration; but then it would strip away the phenolic components as well. It will give a blanc de noir but a flabby, tasteless, highly adjusted
one.
At Swanepoel the grape for White Pinotage goes through a very gentle pressing, cold fermentation and later aged in oak for six months. The oak is mostly 3rd and 4th fill as the job is mainly to strip off colour and add a little bit to the flavor and body. These three
processes ensure a wine that looks completely like a white wine with complex aromas, elegant body.
So, what made me write about these two personalities?
These two are from two different scales and styles of life. On one side there is an eloquent looking man with a baritone, vintage range rover, established a wine region, a finely tendered estate, full workforce, great cellars and is the epitome of his game and on the other side is a young man in his shorts, shirt and heavy boots, a pickup truck, the dogs on it, a winery with only 5 tanks a candle lit barrel room, loud rock music for tastings, a mad scientist of wine making and is establishing his name and the area of Tulbagh.
What is common is the zeal to produce fantastic wines, let their terroir talk, let the grapes express, not to force varietals to the land that it doesn’t accept, their love for their dogs, amazing hospitality and most importantly their love for their indigenous Pinotage.
They are the Pavarotti and Black Sabbath of the winemaking; two different spectrums of the game with a common aim to produce top quality wines specially Pinotage. Two generations two styles one aim to produce fantastic wines. That’s what South Africa needs generation of great wine makers.
It’s my belief that while South Africa may produce the best of everything they can, but the way forward has to be Pinotage. It was surprising to visit a few retail stores and see Pinotage under represented; I hope it changes with time. It’s something that will give South Africa a global recognition in the minds of diners, connoisseurs and sommeliers to give it a special segment on itself in menus and a confidence to suggest others.
