Orange River Colombard shows that simple can be best

Lafras Huguenet

The gnashing of wine-soaked teeth could be heard from Simonsberg to Sandton as this year’s SAA Wine Awards announced Orange River Cellars to have made the Best White Wine in South Africa. The Orange River Cellars Colombard 2015, about which I wrote enthusiastically on these page in November, bullied the country’s finest – and most expensive – Sauvignon Blancs, Chardonnays and Chenin Blancs into submission to top the judges’ score-sheets.

All this aforementioned teeth-gnashing was, of course, one part envy on the side of those producers who lost out on SAA glory. But the real chomping had to do with the fact that the Orange River Cellars Colombard comes in at a retail price of R30 compared to the R250 plus price-tagged wines which were adjudged to be of lesser quality in this competition.

Because this is just not supposed to happen: Among the greater Cape wine fraternity, the Orange River is not a recognised quality wine region. There is not a hint of a sea-breeze, no rolling hills or 120 year-old bush-vines. In fact, the vineyards lie in a hot region that was it not for the Orange River, could be classified as a desert. There, yields are 30t to 50t a hectare, with some Orange River Cellars wineries harvesting 1 000t of grapes per day.

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If one believes all the PR wine-speak rolling out of the industry’s well-heeled circles, a wine winning a top award from this region is pretty much like one of those UCT protestors being selected as Chairman of the Cecil J Rhodes Supporters Society – unthinkable.

But during the SAA’s blind-judging, facilitated by Tsogo Group Sommelier Miguel Chan, all wines are equal. Pedigree, price, background, image and PR hype do not count, because the judges only experience the wine before them, as it should be.

Am I surprised this lesser-known mass-produced wine kicked butt among the top white wines from South Africa?

Well, talents for a wine judge I do not have. But if I were one, then the fresh, floral and dancingly perky flavours and the fresh, zesty mouthfeel of the Orange River Cellars Colombard would have jumped out in the comprehensive line-up full of obviously fine, but complex and sophisticatedly textured wines.

Even the most discerning wine judge or drinker must admit that sometimes, a clean, fresh and well-made friendly wine is king. Like those times after a walk through the desert, or during the tasting of a few hundred wines.

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Awarding a lesser-known and value-for-money wine from what is essentially a massive co-op is good for the South African wine industry. For producers it shows that everybody is in with a chance at competitions based on blind-tastings, as long as the wine is well-made, focussed and pure. For the public it underscores my and other plain wine-drinkers’ belief that high prices, big talk and a pampered image of exclusivity does not necessarily mean that what is in the subject’s bottle is necessarily better than a low-flying cheap wine. As SAA showed this year, these wines too can take to the skies.