2011 Skurfberg

Also from the Olidants River Region comes the 2011 Old Vine Series Skurfberg. It is born from three parcels of pure, old bush vine Chenin Blanc planted on decomposed sandstone soils. It has a very delicate, precise bouquet of walnut, lemon rind, blackcurrant leaf and lanolin. The palate is beautifully balanced with tightly wound citric fruit and minerals. The finish is reticent at the moment, but both its intensity and persistency suggest it will reward years of bottle age. You gotta love the eminence gris, the “Gandalf” of Swartland winemakers, Eben Sadie. Curiously, when I sat down with him at the Cape Show it was the first time we had met. He assured me that his samples had been safely despatched for my attention – the only problem being that he had sent them to the wrong side of the Atlantic. C’est la vie. Eben told me that he is withdrawing from his venture in Priorat so that he can focus entirely upon South Africa and that can only be a good thing for the country’s wine industry. Eben is a man full of principles and ideals that he is unafraid to see carried out in his wines, which in my opinion are aligning closer to his vision of what they should be with every vintage. Now let us move on to Eben’s Old Vine Series of wines. Let me make it clear that these very limited bottlings are as much an intellectual exercise as a sensory one. If you are seeking wines that mean something – then you should learn about them first, understand where Eben is coming from and then appreciate them for what they represent as much as how they taste. So my scores are in some ways irrelevant here. I just urge readers to understand them, try one out, make up their own mind, drop me a line and tell me what you think. And because they are so individual and I have only tasted the once or twice, I have refrained from drinking windows, but suggest that for the most part while they can be enjoyed young, they are also well worth cellaring. Importer: Broadbent Selections, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 931-1725 and Fields, Morris & Verdin in the UK