MICHAEL FRIDJHON: Stellenboschkloof has much to offer wine lovers

Not that long ago you could have run a wine quiz confident that a question like “name an estate in the Stellenboschkloof” would have stumped the team. The same is not true today: just more than 40 years ago Ted Jordan acquired a property deep in the kloof, where the folds of the hills reach into Polkadraai. Unsurprisingly he called the property Jordan and it has become one of the bright stars in the constellation of the Cape’s wine estates.

Another 20 years elapsed before Wendy and Hylton Appelbaum bought a rundown fruit farm alongside Jordan, reaching upwards towards the southern slopes of the Bottelary Hills. Its original title deeds revealed that an early owner had called the estate “De Morgenzon”, presumably because the higher vineyards caught the morning sun. The sheer gravitational force of these two properties has put the Stellenboschkloof firmly on the map.

Both estates share in common proximity to False Bay, which means cooler days and more moderate diurnal temperature variations. Many vineyards face south and east, away from the sun trap that lies across the Bottelary ridge to the north. Surprisingly in this era of Cape wine where producers celebrate their “brand home” while buying grapes across the length and breadth of the province, both make their wines from grapes grown in their own vineyards.

I first met Gary and Kathy Jordan in 1989 when they were working at Iron Horse in California. It was something of a surprise back then to find any SA winemakers in US cellars. Gary had qualified as a geologist (which explains why so many of the Jordan brand names relate to the world he briefly inhabited). He then studied at UC Davis before returning to SA.

Since then he and Kathy have created one of the Cape’s finest wine estates. Contrary to the received wisdom that says that the best wines are produced in highly focused cellars, Jordan has a fairly extensive range. This includes the Cape’s first assyrtiko — saline, limpid, flinty and delicious. Pretty much everything bearing the estate’s name is a benchmark at its price point.

At a recent tasting I was most impressed with all the chardonnays, from the unwooded through the barrel-fermented, the Nine Yards and now the Old Vine Timepiece (from a vineyard planted in 1988). All are correctly priced — except perhaps the Nine Yards, which, even at R585, is undervalued. No longer opulent and showy, it is now all about complexity, nuance and linearity.

The chenins are equally impressive: the Inspector Péringuey 2023 is pure and fine, the Old Vine Timepiece (from a vineyard planted in 1983) intense and delicious. The cabernets and cabernet blends have a precision and refinement about them. The entry-level “Long Fuse” represents great value at R275.

Given the proximity of the two properties, unsurprisingly the same varieties perform well on both farms. DeMorgenzon’s chardonnays are exceptional: from the entry level DMZ 2024 — now 100% estate fruit — to the 2021 Reserve (a little old-fashioned but with a richness and generosity that is self-defining). The chenins are equally striking. The DMZ 2024 is fabulous value at R155 — everything you would expect from a wine at double the price — while the 2022 Reserve overdelivers at R475: luminous, pure and multilayered. DeMorgenzon also produces an exceptional syrah Reserve, with the 2022 the best so far.

The most important change at DeMorgenzon has been the elevation of the DMZ range over the past few years as fruit from the estate’s vineyards has replaced bought-in grapes. No longer a pedestrian second label range, it has been transformed into an offering that represents exceptional value for money. In addition to the chenin, the wines I most liked were the rosé, which is delicate and savoury, and the 2024 sauvignon blanc: fresh, detailed and multidimensional.

As the holiday season approaches, and the country’s wine lovers descend on the Cape, it’s worth noting that, with two great estates side by side, a visit to the Stellenboschkloof should be mandatory.

This column originally appeared in Business Day.