De Kaap word weer Hollands

Orange wine is a no-brainer for SA given the love the Dutch have for the colour. It was Willem de Zwijger, Prince of Orange, who put the Netherlands together a century before Dutch merchants established a refuelling station at the Cape. Today the Dutch are the most dynamic nation in Europe and great fans of SA wine.

jurgengouw_l

Step forward Jürgen Gouws (above) who makes a Swartland Chenin Blanc as if it was a red wine, leaving the wine in contact with it’s skin for three weeks. While Tom Waits insists “when you hear sweet syncopation, and the music softly moans, it ain’t no sin to take off your skin, and dance around in your bones” sometimes boney whites can get boring.

Skin contact produces an oxidative style stunna, reminiscent of the wines of Josko Gravner in Friuli. Jürgen’s Intellego Elementis was Orange Wine #1 in the Guardian yesterday. I’m off to my own piece of orange heaven, Lemoenfontein, tomorrow to see if I can source a bottle in the Wine Kollective in Riebeek. In the meantime, the Guardian carries on with the story:

Intellego Elementis, Swartland, South Africa 2011 
(£26.99, Selfridges)
Jürgen Gouws is an exciting young winemaker in South Africa’s Swartland region, and he leaves the skins in his chenin blanc for three weeks to yield a chewy, intense, apple-tangy wine.