Cape Somm 2016

When you have served guests over several years you really appreciate it all the more when seeing a master at work. This was the case for me at the Wines Of South Africa (WOSA) Sommelier Cup 2016 finals in Cape Town. 

Having paid for my education by working holidays twice a year in train dining cars and at the Blue Room I have a pretty good idea how to serve guests at a table. CWA wine courses much later ups my game, but when Sophie introduced me to “Somm” and “Red Obsession” a year ago I was in awe of such dedication and desire to succeed. So when the invitation for Cape Somm 2016 arrives unexpectedly I rsvp immediately, looking forward to experiencing real brilliance.  Entering “The Reserve” on a red carpet I am swept away into a world of smartly dressed people, great wines and hors d’oeuvres  - all creating a vibrant and classy ambiance. The tension is almost edible when three semi-finalists are announced from the eight who spent the past week visiting many of South Africa's best wineries: Joe Yang from Macau, Marc Almert from Germany and Nathan Morrell from Canada. Look on www.wosa.co.za/sommelier/#winners 

Neil Grant, the MC and Chairman of the South African Sommeliers Association (SASA), describes the procedure to the audience once they are led to a waiting room - each candidate must perform three practical tests in a restaurant environment before two judges at a time. The six judges are well renowned in the industry, with three being on the board of SASA while the other three are respectively from Canada, the UK and the USA. Have a look on www.wosa.co.za/sommelier/#judges

Marc Almert describing 'orange wine'

Back to the onstage tests. First up is a 6-minute test to serve a 1983 Vintage Port. This involves lighting a candle which I find quite intriguing. Directly after that follows a 9-minute blind-tasting session with one red wine for which a full descriptive is required and two spirits for which basic comments are needed. Plus a bonus – an orange wine which assured some laughs. Lastly follows a 10-minute set in which wines must be paired to each dish of an extravagant 5-course meal with a South African slant. All this happens while film and stills camera crews capture their every move. With each candidate only brought onto the stage for his own test sequence I find the difference in approaches quite fascinating. Throughout the tests the judges grill the candidates on details of wines mentioned, including asking for alternative options. But they’re not done yet. A 5-minute group test with each one pouring a magnum of MCC (Méthode Cap Classique) follows which produces lots of sparkles while the serving brought about some shards.

Nathan Morrell & Joe Yang serving MCC

While the judges debate the score and it is verified by the auditors I get the opportunity to ask the six semi-finalists which wines and wineries they would choose as the best on their recent visit. Mullineux gets two mentions while Groot Constantia and Chamonix also stands out. Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc are favoured.  Cheron Cowan mentions that the best wines are not to be found in the US, while Erik Grödahl from Sweden says that our wines are far too cheap.

WOSA Sommelier Cup finalists with 3 winners

Neil announces the winners in reverse order and with two tying for second place Marc Almert is the obvious and clear winner - well-deserved and definitely on a par above in all four tests. Petra Mayer, WOSA Germany Country Manager seems every bit as happy as Marc and there are smiles all round by everyone on stage.  More photos are on https://za.pinterest.com/fmswinemarketin/capesomm-2016

Siobhan Thompson, WOSA CEO with Marc Almert, WOSA  Sommelier Cup winner and Petra Mayer, WOSA Germany Country Manager

With the crowd once again enjoying some superb hors d’oeuvres and wines, I interrupt Marc to ask him a few questions. Here are his answers in brief.

Marc: “This is my first visit to South Africa. WOSA has done an excellent job and during the past week we’ve tasted a lot of mature wines. There is a very positive vibe about South African wines with our guests [Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg].”

For all aspiring sommeliers here is valuable advice from Marc.

A: What does your training regime consist of in terms of theory, tasting and focus on countries?

M: My training regime is mainly structured by the syllabus of the Court of Master Sommeliers. This includes all beverages, mainly of course wine, and requires details of the original product, the regions, legislation, climate and top producers. Of course classic wine regions like France, Italy etc. feature more than upcoming regions like Romania or India, but all are featured. And there is never theory without tasting the according wines.

A: What do you do to get all those information on the wines, vintages, regions, wineries, winemakers into your memory?

M: In order to make the information stick the most valuable source is travelling to the respective countries and / or interacting with the winemakers. Sadly this is not always possible. The main references are websites (i.e. Guildsomm) as well as textbooks (i.e. Oxford Wine). From these I take out the most important information and transfer it to a flashcard App, which I then use both on Tablet and Smartphone whenever time permits. In addition I attempt to attend as many specialised tastings and trainings on fairs or trade events as possible, especially to keep the tasting constant. Usually I spend about 1 to 2 hours each day outside of work for tasting and / or theory rehearsal.

A: Do you follow a specific format when tasting wines when training? Thus, by varietals, regions, vintages, wineries?

M: Tasting I try to mix two things: knowing which wines I am tasting, then I usually taste a lot of similar wines directly after each other (i.e. only Stellenbosch Pinotage). The second form is blind tasting, prepared by coaches or colleagues. Here I deliberately ask for a variety of wines to see which ones stuck. Tasting preparing for competitions or exams tends to focus on classic styles from classic varieties of classic regions, whereas privately I enjoy tasting all styles of wines, i.e. also something like a Veltliner from outside of Austria.

Now off you go, open that bottle and tell me what’s inside. Prost!

Photo credits: Anton Blignault

© Anton Blignault, Cape Town

South Africa’s wine heritage

With ProWein 2015 opening in Düsseldorf on the Ides of March I have been reflecting on South Africa’s wine heritage.

Siobhan Thompson, WOSA CEO, said recently ‘South Africa's wine reputation is at an all-time high, with taste makers who have recently visited our shores like Jancis Robinson MW, Tim Atkin MW, Andrew Jefford and Neal Martin praising our creativity, originality and quality. When Neal Martin wrote at the end of last year in his report on the country: "South Africa is the most dynamic and exciting New World country at the moment," he was expressing a view shared by more and more influential critics.”’

With the Dutch arriving at the Cape on 6 April 1652 the South African wine industry started on 2 February 1659 when Jan van Riebeeck, first Governor of the Cape, wrote in his journal “Today, praise be to God, wine was pressed for the first time from Cape Grapes.” Evidently the vines must have come from somewhere else. In 1654 the Dutch East India Company (VOC) sent Van Riebeeck vine cuttings from Rheingau, Germany. These vines didn’t propagate since the damp sail cloth damaged their root system. During 1655 more cuttings arrived from Bohemia, the Canary Islands, France, Germany and Spain. Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains from France were successful; including Muscat d’Alexandrie, known locally as Hanepoot.

The famous dessert wine, Grand Constance served to the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte at St Helena Island and other royalty such as King Louis Philippe of France and Frederick the Great of Prussia, was crafted from Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains at Groot Constantia. This 750 ha estate (a grant 15 times larger than the VOC’s provision) was secured by Simon van der Stel, the Cape’s second Governor in 1685. It was later subdivided into three units. This year heralds 330 years of uninterrupted winemaking on the estate. Since my arrival in the Cape I’ve spent many memorable hours on the estate marketing the wines to our client in Belgium, amongst others. On one such occasion Anne-Sophie and I were driving back to town when she tells me, “I’m surprised that you asked Boela so many questions. You don’t know it? The winemaking process seems quite essential to me.” That remark put me on the road towards my studies at the Cape Wine Academy.

Here is a more recent encounter of the South African wine history. Our family is really passionate about wine. With me being in the wine trade I pride myself in keeping everyone up to date. And of course whenever I fly up to Johannesburg to visit, it is taken for granted that I take along a case of wines. And wanting to impress them I carefully choose a case of mostly red wines with vintages dating back 7 to 10 years.

But on this occasion Pierre discovered several old vintage wines when packing their household goods. He decided to serve these at a lamb spit braai the day before he and his family flew home. Two prized possessions were a Chateau Libertas Superior 1980 1.5L magnum and a Simonsvlei Pinotage Superior 1985 1.5L magnum. And not just for being so old. These were given to him by my dad when he received his BSc and Honours degrees.

Chateau Libertas was launched in 1932 and is the creation of Dr William Charles Winshaw, the founder of Stellenbosch Farmers Wineries. It is a Cabernet-based blend, wood-matured and designed for immediate enjoyment but with sufficient maturation potential for many years to come.  

Pierre enjoys sharing and as his custom he invited 20 plus family members to join him to commemorate these occasions plus my dad’s passing away in 2010. I was not there as I flew back to Cape Town the week before.  Pierre told me afterwards that although some wine leaked out, the Chateau Libertas 1980 tasted absolutely superb, like velvet with black fruits on the nose and palate. The Simonsvlei Pinotage 1985 was smooth with plums on the nose and berries on the palate.

To track back one generation, Pinotage was created at Stellenbosch University in 1925 by Prof. Abraham Izak Perold, the first Professor of Viticuture. Perold was attempting to combine the best qualities of the robust Hermitage with Pinot Noir, planting four seeds from the cross in the garden of his official residence.  In 1927 he left the university, forgetting about the seedlings. When a team came in to tidy up, Charlie Niehaus a lecturer who knew about the seedlings, happened to pass by and rescued the young plants. Prof. CJ Theron at Elsenburg Agricultural College, Prof. Perold’s successor, grafted them in 1935 onto Richter 99 and Richter 57 rootstock. The best one was selected for propagation and christened Pinotage. During 1941 the first Pinotage wine was made at Elsenburg. Planting Pinotage since 1953, Bellevue Estate won the champion trophy at the 1959 Cape Wine Show; while Lanzerac Wine Estate was the first to commercialise Pinotage in 1961 with a 1959 Pinotage.

South Africa has 356 years experience of producing excellent wines and this is ample proof that our red wines can age 30 to 35 years with grace. Let us make you a part of this success story.

References: Cape Wine Academy, Groot Constantia Estate, Distell Ltd, Platter’s 2015 South African Wine Guide, Simonsvlei International, WikipediA, WOSA (Wines of South Africa).

Photo credits: Anne-Sophie DUBUS, Annelie Blignaut