Brian and Marion Smith are biodynamic pioneers in the Elgin Valley,
with their Elgin Ridge wine estate.
Brian
Smith, vineyard manager
Taurai Matunbwa, and Marion Smith
They moved to South Africa in 2007 after selling their
Kingston-based IT business. They'd always wanted to do a vineyard
project but it took them a while to decide where. Initially they had
thought about making sparkling wine in the south of England, but the
land was just too expensive. Then they considered France, but found
that the wine industry was in turmoil and most of the properties on
the market were there because the people were struggling to sell
their wine, and they were expensive to boot.
So they turned to South Africa, and a property in Elgin that ticked
all the boxes. Marion had first visited Cape Town in 2002, and liked
it so much she came home having brought a holiday flat. Brian
visited in 2003 and while he was staying there tasted a Sauvignon
Blanc that he liked so much (the debut vintage of Iona), he went to
visit the owner, Andrew Gunn. They became friends.
Winemaker Kosie van der Merwe
The combination of affordable land, and knowing people there led to
the purchase of an abandoned 10 hectare apple farm in 2007. 'It
turns out that we have wonderful soils,' says Marion. 'This was more
luck than judgement,' Brian adds. 'It is great that we were able to
plant from scratch.'
The winery
They started off by planting 4.5 hectares, with 3.5 hectares of
Sauvignon Blanc and half a hectare each of Chardonnay and Pinot
Noir. Initially they farmed organically, and then converted to
biodynamics, making them one of the very few certified biodynamic
wineries in the Cape. Since then they have added more vines,
including some Semillon, more Chardonnay, and even a bit of Cabernet
Franc. For the first few years Brian made the wine with help from
Niels Verburg, but as of the 2016 vintage they hired Kosie van der
Merwe, a talented young winemaker who is now running things.
Viticultural consultant Kevin Watt helped get the vineyards
established.
In October 2016 I visited, and had a look around the vineyards with
vineyard manager Taurai Matunbwa, and then a tasting with winemaker
Kosie van de Merwe. I really like what's going on here, and in
particular the Pinot Noir and sparkling are very interesting. The
Sauvignon is made in a more complex and interesting style than most
in South Africa, which sometimes counts against it in competitions,
but it's an interesting drink.
For the Sauvignon Blanc, which is the bulk of production, the 2016
vintage was a warm one, but the wines showed good retention of
acidity. The cool weather in February saved the vintage, and harvest
was in the first week of March. 'We harvest on taste because we want
ripe flavours,' says Kosie. They open up the canopy quite a bit
promoting thiol precursors, and pH was around 3.3 with acids at
5.4-6.
This year, the must was settled for three days and no enzymes were
used. Juice was heated up to 15 C for fermentation to start, and
Kosie tried to keep it there as it progressed. Biodynamics allows
the use of a yeast nutrient called 2B Fermcontrol, which is really
useful.
I returned in March 2017 to spend a day getting stuck into vintage,
and I also had a chance to revisit the wines. The tasting notes
below are from both occasions, with month/year of tasting indicated.
THE WINES
Elgin Ridge 282 Sauvignon Blanc 2016 Elgin, South Africa
A nice growing season has resulting in a really appealing
wine. Lovely textural Sauvignon with ripe pear and melon characters,
as well as a bit of tangerine. It's a ripe yet balanced style with
some complexity and a smooth warmth in the mouth that reminds me a
bit of sake. Very much in a ripe fruit spectrum, and works so well.
91/100 (03/17)
Elgin Ridge 282 Sauvignon Blanc 2014 Elgin, South Africa
This was a challenging year which required rigorous
selection in the vineyard, and the final wine had some botrytised
fruit in it. Half the normal quantity made. Very pure, fresh citrus,
pear, spice and ripe apple notes with a touch of apricot and maybe a
bit of sweetness. Textured with melon and peach skin characters.
91/100 (10/16)
Elgin Ridge 282 Sauvignon Blanc 2015 Elgin, South Africa
14.5% alcohol. Very pure, fresh citrus and pear fruit on
the nose with some passionfruit richness. Fresh and detailed on the
palate. Quite delicate and precise with lovely citrus and
passionfruit, and some fruit sweetness. Some alcohol evident. 92/100
(10/16)
Elgin Ridge Chardonnay 2016 Elgin, South Africa (cask sample
of final blend)
6 barrels made, 1 of which is new. Very
linear and spicy with nice citrus and some pear fruit, with apple
and spice. Zippy and vigorous with some some oak. Lovely. 92-94/100
(10/16)
Elgin Ridge Chardonnay 2016 Elgin, South Africa
CY95 clone, barrel fermented in old barrels. This is tight and a bit
unyielding at the moment, but there's lots of potential here. A hint
of struck match on the nose and some cedary, spicy structure on the
palate, as well as fresh lemony fruit with some spicy detail. There
are richer elements here, and they are competing a bit with the keen
acidity and shy citrus fruits, but this should come together really
well. 93/100 (03/17)
Elgin Ridge Pinot Noir 2016 Elgin, South Africa
(Cask sample) First vintage was 2012, and the vines are now seven
years old. Lots of fruit was dropped this year and there was a lot
of sorting. 777 clone is punched down lightly and goes to stainless
steel. 667 is fermented in 500 litre bins with 12% whole bunch on
top. 115 goes into the concrete egg. Nice sweet red cherries and
plums with some elegance. Very fresh and supple, and really nicely
expressive. 91-93/100 (10/16)
Elgin Ridge Pinot Noir 2015 Elgin, South Africa
100% destemmed, into stainless steel, 3 d cold soak, natural ferment
of around 10 days, go to barrel with free run, pressings go to
separate barrels, kept separate until blending. Attractive aromatics
with sappy red cherries and plums. Lovely fresh cherry and plum
fruit palate with hints of herbs and tar and a nice spiciness under
the fruit. Drinkable, with a nice combination of sweet and savoury
notes. 90/100 (03/17)
Elgin Ridge Pinot Noir 2016 Elgin, South Africa
This is Kosie's first vintage. One third in stainless steel, one
third in plastic bins, one third in concrete egg. A bit of carbonic
in the plastic bins, with 80% destemmed and 20% whole bunches on
top. This has a lovely silky character in the mouth, which makes it
stand out, with a combination of sweet fruit and elegance. Floral
and expressive with liqueur-like raspberry and cherry fruit. There's
a subtle, sappy edge to the floral nose, with fine cherry fruit and
appealing texture. It has an immediate appeal, but there's also some
seriousness here. 94/100 (03/17)
Elgin Ridge MCC 2011 Elgin, South Africa
12.5%
alcohol. Such a distinctive fizz. 83% Pinot Noir and 17% Chardonnay,
with the base wine made oxidatively, fermented in stainless steel
and going to barrel for 2 years, stirred every 3 weeks. Then the
wine spend 3 years in bottle on lees with zero dosage. Full yellow
colour with a hint of pink. Intense but delicate too, with ripe
apple, pear and a hint of strawberry. Lovely texture with some
almond and apricot. 91/100 (10/16)
Elgin Ridge MCC 2012 Elgin, South Africa
25%
Pinot Noir, 75% Chardonnay. Natural ferment, two years in oak, then
three years on lees for the second ferment, zero dosage. This wasn't
made as a commercial preposition but because co-owner Marion Smith
wanted some fizz, but it has turned out to be quite a good seller.
This is the second vintage. Rich, appley, waxy nose combines sweet
and savoury elements. On the palate there are ripe apples, almonds
and some sweet melony notes. There's a richness to this wine that's
quite delicious, and some baked apple, marzipan and pastry
characters, too. A brave wine. 90/100 (03/17)
Elgin Ridge MCC 2013 Elgin, South Africa
100%
Chardonnay, natural ferment, two years in oak. This is an
undisgorged bottle, and it isn't released yet. There's a lovely
rounded creamy texture to this wine, which shows lovely citrus
characters typical of Chardonnay, with some crisp apple notes. Has
lovely richness to the crisp fruit, with a warm textural, slightly
nutty thread. Real complexity to this, with some pastry richness.
91/100 (03/17)
Elgin Ridge Chaos 2016 Elgin, South Africa
Debut
vintage for this 40% Semillon/60% Sauvignon blend. The Semillon was
partially destemmed, whole berries in a barrel with some whole
bunches on top. After a few days the whole bunches was hand
destemmed, and the whole berries were then pressed and went back o
barrel. The Sauvignon Blanc was destemmed, pressed and fermented in
barrel. Bottled in 500 ml bottles. Complex, spicy and intense with a
savoury twist to the taut, waxy citrus fruits. There's some nutty
detail, here, too. It's clean but complex with a bit of structure. A
good acid core runs through it. It's not an orange wine, but it has
an almost red wine-like presence, with some structure. Give this
time. A brilliant food wine. 93/100 (03/17)
ELGIN WINE
Introduction
Elgin
Ridge
Almenkerk
Iona
Paul
Cluver
See
also:
A
visit to Elgin from 2010
Wines
tasted as indicated
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