Willie spreekt

Gepubliceerd door Wine Magazine, het belangrijkste wijntijdschrift van Zuid-Afrika:

South Africa’s Wine of Origin (WO) scheme seeks to specifically delineate the relationship of wine to the land and, while the first rulings date back to the early 1970s, Voor Paardeberg was only declared a separate ward within the Paarl district as recently as 2003. There are now eight producers actively involved in marketing the area – Anthony Smook, Ayama, Bernheim, David Frost, Horse Mountain, Oude Denneboom, Scali and Vondeling – with the Voor Paardeberg Visitors’ Centre on the David Frost Estate offering all of their wines for tasting at one venue.

It is somewhat curious that Voor Paardeberg falls within the district of Paarl as it could just as easily be designated as part of Swartland. Willie de Waal of Scali, first established in 1999 and the longest-standing producer in the area, points out that it is just about equidistant between the towns of Paarl and Malmesbury, the ‘capital’ of the Swartland district. “I drop my girls off at Paarl Girls’ High every morning and I know the mileage is precisely 22km door-to-door. Malmesbury, on the other hand, can’t be more than 25km away”.

You might think that a determining factor when it comes to situating Voor Paardeberg in either Paarl or Swartland is the soil type, but since the ward generally displays mainly granite and Malmesbury shale common to both areas, this doesn’t prove very helpful. Nor do the prevailing wine styles: Voor Paardeberg tends to produce robust, full-bodied reds, which again might be seen as equally characteristic of either of the larger districts.

Why I believe that Voor Paardeberg ultimately belongs more to Swartland than Paarl comes down to the human element. The wine classification systems of Europe have to a greater or lesser extent always taken cognisance of the particular communities living on the land when deciding where a particular appellation starts and stops, and this should also apply in South Africa.

In the case of Voor Paardeberg, one individual has given impetus to the rise in prominence of this area: Eben Sadie, creator of Columella, Palladius and Sequilo, wines that are defining the modern South African wine scene. Though he sources fruit largely from the Swartland, much of it comes from Voor Paardeberg. And while his new cellar is outside the ward, he and his family still live on Scali as tenants of De Waal… It is impossible to deny that the publicity he’s attracted has created a slipstream effect for his neighbours.

Demarcation issues aside, what wines to look out for? The producers in Voor Paardeberg are all immensely proud of their reds, which on the whole tend to be powerful, and in some cases too much so. On the other hand, it’s their Chenin Blanc-driven white blends that really capture the imagination, and you feel that if producers were to pursue this style with intent, it could really make the area famous.

Top of the pile is Scali Blanc 2006, a blend of 70% Chenin Blanc, 25% Chardonnay and 5% Viognier, a wine that is all about mouthfeel and texture rather than primary fruit. Tania de Waal, wife of Willie and jointly responsible for the winemaking, explains that it’s “a white wine made like a red wine”, with the Chenin spending three days on the skins and undergoing regular punch-downs during fermentation.

Part of what makes these wines so good is that the Chenin is sourced from old vines, of which there are relatively large plantings in the area. Unfortunately, however, as these vines get older, yields drop, making them more and more uneconomical for growers who get paid by quantity more so than quality. Willie de Waal relates that many of the vines are being uprooted to be replaced by younger, heavier-bearing ones, although he’s doing everything in his power to convince his neighbours otherwise. Let’s hope he succeeds.