Sources report that golfer Ernie Els has sold his Helderberg winery to German investors for R260 million or around R3.46 million per Hectare. The brand will also be licensed to them for five years going forward. If true, such a sale will confirm the Helderberg as the St. Emilion of SA wine. But with global warming on the cards, would the Germans have been better off buying further south? Certainly the wines of David Trafford at Malgas are super impressive. I write about one in The Times this morning.

Bottle of the Week: Sijnn red blend 2010

How much and where? R220 from www.sijnn.co.za and adventurous wine shops

Why? The southern Cape is the new frontier of SA wine. As global climate change threatens

the vineyards of Paarl and Stellenbosch, wine lovers are increasingly making the pilgrimage

out beyond the black stump. To Elim, Bredasdrop and Malgas where the mighty Breede

River reaches the sea with a sigh and cooler vineyard sites. Malgas is sag lam (soft lamb)

written backwards and the Sijnn (the Khoi name for the river) wines of David Trafford are the

kind of thing to drink with salt marsh lamb.

 

If Arabian Djinns could drink they’d also enjoy the unusual blend of Syrah, Mourvedre,

Touriga Nacional and Trincadeira. The last two cultivars hailing from Portugal which sent

Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama to the region long before the French Huguenots woke

up to the viticultural potential of the Cape.

 

This Sijnn is a revolutionary challenge to the prevailing wisdom that Bordeaux recipe of

Cabernet and Merlot are the most appropriate styles for red blends in the Cape. A sign of

coming times, if you like.

 

Rating: *****

*****: Christopher Columbus

****: Ferdinand Magellan

***: Marco Polo

**: Zheng He

*: Louis Theroux