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south
african wine, part 11
Lammershoek
Lammershoek
Wine Estate, Welgelegen, Aprils Valley, Malmesbury, South Africa
Tel: +27 22 482 2835
Website: www.lammershoekwinery.co.za
E-mail:
kretzelp@intekom.co.za
 I
was looking forward to my next appointment a good deal. When you are
touring wine country as a journo there are four sorts of appointments:
those you don’t look forward to and which justify your lack of
enthusiasm by being dull or bad; those you don’t look forward to and
which surprise you by being great; those you look forward to and which
disappoint; and those you look forward to and which live up to their
billing. This one fortunately fell into the latter camp.
I was off to the Paarl/Swartland border, where the
slopes of the Paardeberg (also referred to as Perdeberg) are emerging as a ‘hot’ new region.
Paardeberg has been placed firmly on the map as a source of brilliant
wines by the likes of Eben Sadie (Columella) and Tom Lubbe (The
Observatory). On this trip, I’d already experienced some of Alex
Dale’s Perdeberg wines, and had logged them as being pretty
impressive. The reasonably deep soil here consists of decomposed sandstone, granite
and clay, and the climate has larger than usual day–night
temperature swings. It just seems to result in particularly
interesting wines.
The destination was Tania and Willie de Waal’s pad,
the home of Scali, where we were joined for dinner by Paul and Anna
Kretzel of Lammershoek (together with their son; all three are
pictured here), and Eben and Maria Sadie of Columella and Palladius.
I’ll write the wines up by producer, beginning with
Lammershoek.
Paul and Anna Kretzel bought the Lammershoek farm
(along with neighbouring farm Welgelegen) in 1995, at which time the
entire crop was delivered to the cooperative. They were getting R1200
a ton for Chenin Blanc (of which they have 36 hectares), yielding at 5
tons/hectare. They thought about pulling it up. Then they decided to
make their own wines. The first to appear were a Chardonnay and red
blend in 1999; the Chenin was first made in 2000. As well as the wines
tasted here, they also make a Tinta Barocca, a Zinfandel and a
Pinotage.
As well as making their own wines, they still sell some
of their grapes, but to the likes of Eben Sadie and at a much better
price. The wines are very impressive, with the Chenin standing out as
one of South Africa’s very best examples of this wonderful grape.
 Lammerschoek
Chenin Blanc 2005 Swartland
This is an old vine Chenin made in old wood (except for one barrel
which is new). Half of it undergoes natural fermentation. It’s a
rich, intense, dense sort of Chenin with some sweetness to the fruit.
Quite a big style with latent complexity and some herbiness. Dense,
with real appeal. Lots of promise here. Very good/excellent 93/100
Lammerschoek Roulette Blanc 2005 Swartland
60% Chenin Blanc, 24% Chardonnay (all new wood) and 16% Viognier.
This is a rich, mellow style of wine with a brooding nose showing
rich, toasty, taut herbal notes, with some fruit sweetness. The palate
has good concentration with slightly sweet melony fruit and good
acidity. Nice density and subtle oak influence. Very good/excellent
92/100
Lammerschoek Roulette Red 2004 Swartland
Mainly Shiraz with a bit of Grenache, Carignan, Viognier (2%) and
Mourvedre. Very nicely defined nose is quite expressive and spicy,
with a hint of meatiness. The palate shows lovely fresh fruit and nice
spiciness. Quite sweetly fruited with some vanilla. It’s a bit
southern Rhône-ish; a wine at peace with itself. Very good/excellent
92/100
Lammerschoek Syrah 2004
Quite a ripe, sweet wine with a chocolatey character to the fruit.
It’s quite dense and rich with a sweetness to the red and black
fruits on the palate. Evolving into an interesting wine, with a bright
future ahead of it. Lovely smooth spicy structure. Very good/excellent
90/100
Wines tasted 12/05
Find
these wines with wine-searcher.com
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