The South African wine industry received rave review last week in New York Times but there was also a concern for ever increasing alcohol levels. Hopefully, the problem may be resolved by certified organic wineries like Avondale in Paarl, which use organic, bio-LOGIC processes that help maintain the balance in the vineyards and keep the alcohol levels down, reports Cathy Van Zyl, MW from South Africa.
South African winemakers were thrilled last week with a rave review for their cabernet sauvignons in none other than the New York Times.
This review serendipitously coincided with the formation of the USAPA, an association of some 100-odd South African producers perturbed that that country's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) had shifted its export focus away from developed countries, despite the fact that many of these, like the USA, for example – were important growth markets for the local wine industry.
Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa, the organisation responsible for marketing South African wines on the international stage, had criticised the DTI's decision and endorsed the USAPA. In the ensuing debate sparked by her comments at the launch of USAPA, the DTI's agro-processing director, Tshifhiwa Madima, said the decision was taken well before the crunch came, and it was taken because the emerging markets of Brazil, China and India were growing much faster than traditional markets, and it was important to put more energy there to maximise opportunities presented.
But that's politics, and we're more concerned (rightly or wrongly) about wine, so back to this rave review.
SA wines balanced with sense of structure & shape…
The New York Times' chief wine critic, Eric Asimov, wrote that he found the wines "balanced, with a sense of structure and shape". In fact, the critic went so far as writing: "South Africa, of all places, is one of the greatest sources for moderately priced cabernet sauvignon on the planet today. I suspected this before, but after the wine panel tasted 25 South African cabernets recently, I can say it unequivocally, without the usual hedging and qualifications. Well, almost, but I'll get to that later."
… But high alcohol getting higher
This 'later' was a concern over the wines'' relatively high – 14% to 14.5% - alcohol levels, and mimicking of an international style. Asimov's 'hedge' went something like this:
"In California, where producers used to strive to make wines like these, the trend in the last 15 years has been to pick grapes later and later, resulting in big, overly alcoholic wines of surpassing fruity sweetness but little shape or structure. These are the wines that have mostly received the greatest praise and for which producers have charged the most.
"Could such an evolution occur with these South African wines? I can't answer that, but I see some possibly disturbing notes.
"First, the Boekenhoutskloof 2006 cabernet from the Franschhoek region . At $47, it was the most expensive wine in our tasting. While the winemaker is critically acclaimed, we rejected the wine for its generic vanilla-cherry cheesecake flavours, which I often taste in New World red wines that are intended to please an international audience.'
"Second, while we all loved the 2004 De Trafford cabernet, our No. 1 wine, a look at the De Trafford Web site indicates that the next vintages are evolving in a bigger, riper direction. The 2004 was 14.5% alcohol, but the '05 and '06 are both well above 15%. Admittedly, I haven't tasted either of those wines, but on paper at least they seem ratcheted up in size."
Now, when I visited Napa and Sonoma, among others, in 2006, I found many likeable wines, but even more that exhibited what I call 'excessive hang-time' character. These were exactly as Asimov describes above and, while standing out, certainly not pleasant or refreshing to drink. It was distinctly comforting to know that this was not the style that South African winemakers were aspiring to.
Lately, however, I've also noticed 'hang-time' characters creeping in to certain wines in South Africa and, while I can't agree wholeheartedly with Asimov about the BHK, his concerns about alcohol levels have been voiced by me and many others, for some time now.
Lower Alcohol Challenge
Some winemakers have taken up the lower alcohol challenge. A few are electing to fight the battle in the cellar; it is now legal to reduce alcohol levels by reverse osmosis but not by the addition of water. Others are focussing on the vineyard, using canopy and water management techniques in an attempt to reach physiological ripeness at lower sugar ripeness levels (the sugar converting during fermentation into alcohol so the higher the sugar content of the grape juice, higher the final alcohol level generally).
AVONDALE: the Bio-LOGIC Farm
Other producers seem to be attaining lower alcohol levels without even trying. A case in point is Johnathan Grieve, who is in charge of the vineyards at Avondale in Paarl, one of the warmer winegrowing regions in the Cape.
Avondale practices what it calls Bio-LOGIC. According to Johnathan, the move to 'green' farming began in 2000 shortly after he started working the fields at Avondale. One of his first tasks was to plant 25 hectares of organic vines on virgin soil, and then he started to turn the existing vineyards towards this 'Bio-LOGIC'.
He explained: "The heart of Bio-LOGIC is really to help the soil to re-invent itself, by taking it back to a natural state – pre-agriculture. The most important part is to view the vineyard as a living self sustaining entity, or system that will keep its own balance. Once you start viewing it as such and you start feeding the system, and not the vine, the balance comes."
Balanced Soil & Yeast key to lower alcohol
It is in this 'balance' that Johnathan has found a solution to higher alcohols. I highlight the word 'solution' because he wasn't really looking for one.
"With Bio-LOGIC and organic farming practices where the key word is balance, we have found that ripeness occurs at 22° to 23° balling**, maximum 24° balling compared to the 25° to 26° other producers usually have to wait for. This makes for a better balance in the wine, and allows for a more natural winemaking process using naturally occurring yeast fermentations.
"We've also found that the natural yeast in our vineyards has a lower alcohol conversion rate than those super strain commercially available yeasts. Commercial yeasts are selected to be vigorous and extremely dominant as the yeast manufactures can't afford to sell products that get stuck fermentations.
"So, our vineyard practices result in ripeness at a lower sugar level, and our naturally occurring yeasts are not as vigorous in converting sugar to alcohol, which means we have two forces at work assisting us to produce balanced, relatively lower alcohol, fruit-driven wines," he explained.
Achieving balance in the vineyard
Avondale achieves the balance using the Albrecht philosophy; it constantly feeds the system (the entire farm) with natural elements, rather than synthetic fertilizer. A complete cover crop system is in place to generate nitrogen and to create a living system in which organism and micro-organisms can flourish.
To correct nutrient imbalances, it uses, among other natural methods, sea salt. Unpolluted sea water contains all 90 natural elements. By preparing samples of sea water to a point where all the elements are present in perfect balance, it creates the perfect nutrient source. This is part of feeding the whole system because it provides micro as well as macro elements.
Once the system is in balance, the vine will control its own nutrient sources. When the vine needs nitrogen for growth, it will secrete exudates (or basic sugars) on its roots. This is food for a certain group of fungi and bacteria, which then produce the nitrogen the vine needs.
When the vine needs to set its fruit, and when veraison occurs, the vine needs potassium, not nitrogen. It will then secrete a different food source that attracts a different micro flora, which provides the potassium.
As a result of the vine taking control, Avondale avoids the 'force feeding' and imbalances that arise from chemical farming.
"Chemical farming is by design based on an imbalance of nutrition and the absence of natural immunity in vines," said Johnathan.
"In reality, the entire balance, growth and ripening of vines and grapes are disturbed by conventional farming. Hence, the holy grail of so-called 'phenolic ripeness' is forever shifting out of site, and towards higher balling, and higher alcohol levels. The result is wines with alcohol levels of 15% and way above.
"Our credo of maintaining sustainable farming practices fits in with our desire to palatable, elegant and balanced wine, and not chase the modern, yet perhaps short-sighted trend," he said.
Proof is in the pudding
The tasting we enjoyed after our vineyard tour proved that Avondale's wines are certainly balanced and elegant. Let's hope that their vineyard practices continue to assist them maintain them so.
Cathy Van Zyl
Somerset West, South Africa
January 29, 2009
**Balling is a measurement of the dissolved sugar-to-water mass ratio of a liquid calculated at 17.5° C and was invented by a German scientist, Karl Balling. It is still used commonly in South Africa and is very similar to Brix level used in India and elsewhere, which was created by Adolph Brix, by re-calibrating originally at 15.5°C but now at 20°C- Editor
Cathy Van Zyl is the only resident Master of Wine in South Africa. She is the Associate Editor and taster for the coveted Platter's Guide for South African Wines. She is a judge and panellist for several competitions in South Africa and abroad. She contributes to international magazine and websites, including delWine, and lectures for the Cape Wine Academy on tasting.
This guest article is a Special Wine Feature, as delWine salutes the 350 Years of Winemaking in South Africa on February 2- editor |
