The Five First Growths of South Africa
October 14, 2009
The other night I was sharing a bottle of wine with my good friend The Wine Thief and the conversation ventured onto the topic of ‘French First Growths’ and how many cases we will one day have in our private cellars (wine does that to the imagination - it’s always good to dream).
I then posed the following question: what are the five first growths of South Africa?
The Wine Thief immediately proclaimed a list of great new wineries who in our minds make South Africa’s best wine - but I argued that he was off the mark.
What constitutes a “First Growth”? In my mind it’s an estate that sits on historical land (that just cannot be replaced), has been there for an eternity, produces great wine year in and year out and is a cultural icon of South Africa.
Therefore, my Five First Growths of South Africa are as follows:
What do you think? Any you would add to that list and/or remove? I can think of a few so I’d be interested to hear what you think.
Posted in Estates, SA Wine Industry
October 15th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Ja, boet those Frenchie First Growths are a tad expensive these days - you’ve got to sell the plaas, but best to go for their second lables, like Mouton Cadet or Margaux’s Pavillon if you must.
As for the whole SA first growth - the criteria is good and well, but what about expressing the country’s diversity in terrior, backed up with a track record. Here’s my list:
Klein Constantia - the origin of Vin de Constance
Kanonkop - solid as a rock
Bouchard Finlyason or Hamilton Russel - too tight to call, pioneering the cool climate craze
Cederberg - putting attitude and altitude in a bottle
Boplaas - you’ll always need a good Cape Port that’ll last a few decades
Dit raak nou bietjie rof, because you could add another 10 to 15 that could easily qualify - such as Paul Cluver, De Wetshof, Vriesenhof, Delheim, Simonsig and a bunch of others who revolutionized the industry such as Niel Ellis, the man who started with Darling Savvy back when folk were drinking Premier Grand Cru Dry White.
October 19th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
The one producer that will inevitably pop up on all lists is Kanonkop, because they have “the big three”:
Excellent products
Ageable wines
A proven record over ample time.
I would never include Nederburg in such a list. Nederburg is a brand - it has no sense of place and their grapes come from ALL over.
France’s First Growths are all from one region and it would be MUCH easier to select five “First Growths” from Stellenbosch, for instance. But let’s try anyway:
Kanonkop
Meerlust
Rustenberg
Vergelegen
Hamilton Russel
I’m not even happy with my own list, if that conveys my point…
October 20th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
The Idea is great! Let´s work on it.
Maybe a Big Five Red, Big Five White and Big Five Sweet an fortified works better. I think that´s make more sense.
But anyway. for me Nederburg, Vergelegen and Meerlust are no candidates for such a list.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:29 am
I understand your enthousiasm about first growths and “Southafrican Grand Cru”, but winefriends and -collectors are very conservative. After Bordeaux-prices exploded in the 90ties we tried to feature Australian and Californian icon wines in Germany. Customers didn’t want them. Talking about: great, selling them: difficult.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:50 am
hi everyone - thanks so much for the comments - it’s always great debate these things.
i think the reason i tried to define a set of 5 South African first growths was indeed to create a debate on who shoudl be in the list but also (and most importantly) - i made a list to exposure the whole “french first growth” notion and the lore that comes with it as a bit silly.
how can one possibly say that the best wineries of south africa are these five and thats it for ever - the list wont change.
you all have a different list of five and the list i presented isnt even my top five of south africa!!
in any case it fun to debate it and I like your idea mario of defining the best in each category!
Also the idea of selecting a cou ple for each region is a good one too - so perhaps ill roll out a series of posts with soem lists and we can debate them!!
whats the best winery in south africa then?
October 21st, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Hi there,
a very interesting question !
If you ask me, there are some vinyards with excellent terrior for wines with great deepness and balance as well as the bpossibillity to age for a long long time.
The Stellenzicht Syrah (Golden Triangle) is a perfect example how a great wine out of a great terrior tastes alike.
As well the Ansela van de Kaap (Muratie Estate since 1685!) is able to age more than 10 years (taste the 1998 for example, just brilliant!).
If you ask me about white wines … instantly Klein Constantia comes to my mind!
Waht better than the Vin de Constance is SA able to produce?
Greetings from a german wineenthusiast
Christian Valk
tbc…
October 21st, 2009 at 1:36 pm
I have tasted at the Mega Tasting in London more as 50 red wines from Southafrica with a higher price then 30 Euro. I posted my personal list and a summary of this experience in my weblog Drink Tank:
http://drinktank.blogg.de/eintrag.php?id=2884
My personal favorites are:
Kanonkop: Paul Sauer (seit 1981)
Rustenberg: Peter Barlow (seit 1996)
De Toren: Fusion V (seit 1999)
Saxenburg: Triple S Shiraz (seit 1997)
Mont du Toit: Le Sommet (seit 1998)
October 21st, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I think a definition of “First Growths” needs to be established before we can debate which wine fits the definition. Judging from the above everyone seems to have a different idea of what constitutes a ‘First Growth”.
Is it the wine which defines or is the standard to which all wines in SA should aspire, in each variety. Or is it just a few varieties which define the quintessential South African wine? This might mean that it is then a certain vintage. The standard of this wine will fade with time as memories fade or fashions change.
Anyone care to enlighten me?
October 21st, 2009 at 2:28 pm
there are in the moment 4 options: best over all, best by region, best by type or colour, best bei variety or blend. Let´s discuss it.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:09 pm
When the 1855 Classification was decided, it basically reflected price in the marketplace at the time. And the wine world was much smaller. I’m not sure that you will ever find consensus in a South African context but it’s a noble idea!
Cheers