At what price point is it possible to talk about the “high-end” of the Cape wine market? There are countless numbers of producers who — fairly arbitrarily, it should be said — attach a palpably ridiculous price to a wine available in such small quantities that it doesn’t matter whether they actually sell any.
Niels Verburg at Luddite was the first producer to make a statement by releasing a wine at R100/bottle. That was a little more than 20 years ago, and it worked very well for him and for the wine in question, the now well-established Luddite shiraz. In 2017 he thought he would repeat the trick, launching a 2014 wine called “The.Cabernet Franc” at R5,000. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t sell out despite showing quite well at a blind tasting alongside 2013 Chateau Margaux and 2013 Chateau Mouton Rothschild (2013 is the worst Bordeaux vintage this century and The.Cabernet Franc didn’t have the track record of a Bordeaux First Growth).
The few attempts by various producers to get to the other side of the R2,000 mark have not been convincing. Most thoughtful wine buyers know when they’re being “schmoozed” out of their money. There’s a point where price is either a function of rarity, reputation and desirability or is offered as a proxy for quality. When wines regularly sell for anywhere between R2,000 and R200,000, the former applies. When they gather dust, it’s the latter.
Graham Beck’s cuvée prestige – marketed as Cuvée Clive – has been about for more than a decade. Priced originally alongside some of the better-known Champagnes, it looked at first like an exercise in brand marketing — a small batch, beautifully packaged offering to raise the profile of the marque. It has managed to track an upward price trajectory year on year, so we know it has been selling out.
The cellar has now launched an aged release, 2015 — 10 years after the vintage. Demarcated with the Roman numeral for 10, namely “X”, it’s a serious bottle of fizz. Served blind next to a couple of big French cuvées prestiges (Dom Perignon and Taittinger Comtes de Champagne), it held its ground well. Priced at R2,800, you might even argue it’s a bargain compared with the high-profile French examples.
Just because there are wines like Cuvée Clive and Vilafonte, which regularly sell for between R1,000 and R2,000, doesn’t mean that we should think that those pitched at under R1,000 are cheap. So when Eben Sadie (all of whose wines sit in a range of R700-R1,500) arrived for lunch with a bottle of cabernet he said was “brilliant” and a bargain at R700/bottle, it seemed worth paying attention.
The wine in question is the CR1 Redstone — produced from a 30-year-old single Somerset West vineyard of dry-farmed cabernet sauvignon (to which 15% malbec has been blended). It’s finely crafted and made for the long haul, with no concessions for the impatient: three years in 228l Bordeaux casks, none of them new. Treasure hunters should contact the Capelands farm.
If obscure gems drive your wine purchases, you might want to find the Simelia Senectus 2018 syrah, produced from a small block of shiraz planted in 1980 on the Groenberg mountain in Wellington. The 2018 is spicy rather than peppery, and very Rhone-like. Be ready to spend around R1,050/bottle.
You should, however, keep some of your powder dry for the latest releases (all 2024) from Lourens Family Wines. All are splendid, though three are exceptional.
The Lua Grenache Noir is delicious, fragrant, textural and engaging. The single vineyard Skuinskap Steen at R465 (from a block planted in the 1977 at 750m) is absolutely riveting. But for me the wine of year is the Lindi Carien — a white blend so harmonious, layered, intense and fresh you cannot quite believe it, and so delicious you won’t leave a drop in your glass. Selling for R320 (if you can find it), it’s worth the effort of chasing it down.
This article was first published in Business Day.
