MICHAEL FRIDJHON: The big three and taking the fast lane with SA wine

In the space of a single lifetime the Cape wine industry has evolved from a co-op/wholesale merchant-driven enterprise to one of the edgiest and most exciting in the world. Transformation came in a series of waves, with the newcomers building on the ground broken by their immediate predecessors.

The process began in the 1970s after the promulgation of the wine of origin legislation in 1973. Estate wineries entered the market, pretty much for the first time. Most were old family farms seeking independence from grape supply contracts with producers of the country’s most popular premium wine brands. By the early 1980s it was clear that they had created a new segment in the market. They had also showed that it was possible to survive as an independent producer.

The next wave of newcomers were industry outsiders. They brought commercial skills and a greater sense of the buying power of the country’s financial heartland. They established ultrapremium brands, focused as much on the international market as on domestic consumers. As the era of isolation ended, they travelled the globe, carrying the message that the Cape could produce world-class wines with an international appeal.

They were followed, about 20 years later, by the “rock star” winemakers. Free of the burden of inherited vineyards but without the kind of capital necessary to buy their own sites, they turned to grape farmers who owned remarkable, often ancient, vineyards but were commercially naive. Many of these growers were almost insolvent — the inevitable result of their dependence on a declining income stream from the co-ops that paid them an average harvest price for exceptional grapes.

Given the excitement generated by the postmillennium innovators — Eben Sadie, Chris Alheit and Andrea & Chris Mullineux — the debt of gratitude to the innovators of the 1980s and 1990s has been largely forgotten. At an event branded “Three Cape Classics” hosted by Hamilton Russell Vineyards, Kanonkop and Klein Constantia, Anthony Hamilton Russell reminded the audience of the significance of the part played by the producers who shaped high-end Cape wine from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s. He also pointed out that with distribution in more than 60 countries, all three “Cape Classic” producers are the most visible presence of the best of the Cape in the wine markets of the world.

This year Kanonkop celebrates its half-century in the bottled wine trade. It is now widely regarded as the most important traditional wine estate in SA. Unsurprisingly, the production team under Abrie Beeslaar does not ease up: investments in viticulture, and a new cellar (commissioned less than 10 years ago) have made a palpable difference. At the “Three Cape Classics” event, winemaker Abrie Beeslaar showed older and younger versions of several of his wines, with the more youthful examples finer, more intense and with dense, powdery tannins. An added benefit is that the grapes now achieve full ripeness at significantly lower potential alcohols.

The modern era of Klein Constantia dates back to the early 1980s. The estate became the beacon that saved the Constantia Valley from urban encroachment. As the home of Vin de Constance it has united a historic icon with a modern reality. While its focus on the legendary dessert wine is crucial for the brand, sauvignon blanc is the variety on which the estate is judged. Winemaker Matthew Day’s handling of the 2022 standard release — one of the finest new world examples — makes the point.

Emul Ross’s wines at Hamilton Russell also reflect the Hermanus producer’s commitment to burnishing its reputation, with major vineyard investments evident in the fruit quality of the latest bottlings. The current release pinots — especially the 2021s — are fresher, purer and more authentic than they have ever been. The chardonnays are utterly Burgundian: unshowy, intense, nuanced and slow-evolving.

The “Three Cape Classics” date back to the era when the Cape wine industry chose the high road. Judging from their current releases they are all still very much on course.