South African wines enjoying great success

By Tom Marquardt and Patrick Darr
South African wines are once more becoming available in world markets after the anti-apartheid reforms of the early 90s.
Enjoying a Mediterranean climate, South African wineries have made a quantum leap in quality in the past decade, rapidly gaining respect and market share in the global wine markets. Several wines that we have sampled recently are making us believers in the potential for South African wines.
A recent visit by David Finlayson, winemaker and managing director for Glen Carlou located in the Paarl Valley, furthered our impressions of the positive direction of these wines.
At age 35, the youthful David is the second generation to run Glen Carlou — he took the reins from his father who founded the winery in 1985.
He shared with us a story of his first vivid memory at the winery, when as a child he opened a valve to a 15,000-liter tank of pinot noir and was knocked over by the onrushing torrent. He also shared his initial wine epiphany, which was in 1991 when a friend opened and shared a 1982 Chateau Margaux. That experience inspired David to join in working the harvest at the Chateau Margaux in 1995, as part of his winemaking education.
Mr. Finlayson described the wines of South Africa somewhere between old world and new world in style — ripe fruit of the new world but some old world restraint, complexity and aging ability. Furthermore, he said that the neighboring Stellenbosch region is analogous to the Napa Valley with it’s more famous wineries and the Paarl Valley is similar to Sonoma with less glitz and glamour, but with good solid wines.
We were impressed by two of the wines that he shared with us. The Glen Carlou Chardonnay Paarl 2004 ($18) was a real nice wine, with a pear, apple and lemon notes. Medium bodied and round in the mouth from the partial malolactic fermentation, it had a nice touch of mostly French oak aging. Good acidity to match well with food and a lot of complexity and pleasure for the price.
The Glen Carlou Grand Classique Meritage Paarl 2003 ($22) was an amazing wine — 50 percent cabernet sauvignon, 35 percent merlot, 8 percent malbec, 5 percent cabernet franc and 2 percent petit verdot. This wine exhibited a sophisticated cassis nose with a hint of mint. Cassis and berry flavors with some complex earthy elements that combined for a balanced and pleasurable drink. David said that as this wine ages it will take on a more European old-world style. The bottle we tasted from had been open for several hours, so if you want try this wine decant it at least an hour before serving to get the most enjoyment. Highly recommended.
WINE OF THE WEEK
2006 Bird Sauvignon Blanc ($18). The grassy character of this grape is restrained in this version. Good citrus, gooseberry and passion fruit flavors.