Amani wine farm, Stellenbosch

Stellenbosch farm Amani is named after the Swahili word for "peace". American couple Rusty and Lynde Myers, along with winemaker Carmen Stevens, now run it. By Christian Eedes.

Amani on the Polkadraai Road as you drive from Stellenbosch towards Kuilsriver is a relatively new farm, its first bottling having been completed in 1997.

 

The Merlot 2001 from this farm attained a double gold medal at the 2002 Michelangelo International Gold Awards, to go with a not unrespectable 3½ Star rating in the December 2002 issue of WINE magazine, and though major accolades have not been forthcoming since, it has pretty much managed to hang on to a reputation for making a decent example of this difficult variety.

In this issue the Merlot 2005 again gets a 3½ Star rating (see also page 74), prompting a visit to this property for closer inspection. It was originally set up by former advertising executive Mark Makepeace and his wife Hillary, who gave it the name Amani meaning “peace” in Swahili. They then sold it to current owner Jim Atkinson in 2002, who without delay installed his daughter Lynde and son-in-law Rusty Myers to run the place.

Atkinson is by all accounts quite a character. Now 80 years old, he was born in a one-room shanty in Oklahoma, USA. He fought in both World War Two and the Korean War, before making his fortune as a geologist prospecting for gas and oil while based in Calgary, Canada. Currently based in the Bahamas, he also has horse-racing interests in Florida and owns a valuable stud, named Val Royal. And the cost of a mare being covered by this stallion? A cool £10 000 (approximately R140 000)!

Myers admits the decision to go wine farming was not his (you suspect that father-in-law does not brook dissent) but having given up his career as a restaurateur in Oklahoma, he’s set about being managing director of Amani with purpose.

“We’re committed to a high-quality, low-volume approach. Because of our relatively small size, we can’t survive by competing with those producing quantity,” remarks Myers. The property has 32.4ha under vineyard, of which 67% is red. Production in 2008 will amount to approximately 200 000 bottles in total.

The cellar has seen a lot of winemakers come and go in recent times – hotshot Kiwi winemaker Rod Easthope was initially called in to consult when Atkinson first acquired the farm and then Danelle van Rensburg was appointed as winemaker in time for the 2003 harvest. She left after the 2005 crop had been vinified and in August of that year Carmen Stevens took over, having moved across from Stellenbosch Vineyards where she was responsible for the Welmoed range.

Stevens used to work with between 4 000 and 5 000 tons of grapes at Welmoed, and she relates that a lot of her efforts got blended away. So when approached to work at the much more boutique-sized Amani, she didn’t hesitate. “The opportunity to get whatever I do into bottle really appealed.” In addition, having well-to-do employers has meant she has been able to fulfil her every wish in terms of cellar equipment. Stevens is now 36 and her career seems to be taking off : towards the end of last year, she received one of the 2008 Institute of Masters of Wine Chairman’s Scholarships.

In terms of location, there’s no reason that Amani shouldn’t be making fine wine, the highly fancied De Toren being a close neighbour. Myers relies on respected viticulturist Kevin Watt for advice in the vineyards, with a shift to high density plantings having been implemented: whereas the conventional width between vineyard rows is 2.5m, 10ha at Amani are planted at 1.75m intervals and a further small block (less than 1ha) at 1m intervals. The vines being planted so closely together create a “bonsai effect” causing the berries to be smaller and hence concentrating flavours.

“Watt is expensive and demanding but that’s what we want,” comments Myers. “If we’re not getting better, we’re getting worse.”

The Merlot 2005, which Stevens saw from barrel into bottle, only amounted to 7 200 bottles and is unfortunately sold out from the farm but should still be available in the trade. It contained 13% Shiraz (a small enough component that it could still be labelled a single varietal wine) and spent 14 months in French oak, 25% of which was new.

On a preliminary tasting, the Merlot 2006 is even more pleasing than its immediate predecessor. Merlot is supposedly the most accessible of the premium reds, but in South Africa, wines from this variety far too often show dilute flavour and green tannins. Not so the Amani 2006 that offers sumptuous fruit and is very well balanced. Stevens explains that it contains 6% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Shiraz and spent 12 months in oak, only 20% new. It had not yet been released at the time of writing (late January) but was due to come available from the farm shortly thereafter, priced at R120 a bottle.

Though the farm is known for its Merlot, it is Shiraz that now makes up the biggest plantings, exceeding the former by 10ha to four. While the quality of Shiraz is promising, it is still debatable whether or not it is prudent to concentrate on making wines in a very overtraded category. “It may or may not turn out to be a good decision, but it was made before I got here,” says Myers frankly.

There are two examples of Shiraz in the range: the R120-a-bottle Forest Myers 2006, labelled such in memory of the Myers’ son who was killed in a car accident and the R95-a-bottle Pendana 2006 – here the name meaning “Love one another” in Swahili.

In addition to the emphasis on Shiraz, the Amani brains trust further believes that the Merlot is better used as a blending component than on its own with the result that quantities of the single-variety bottling will always be kept limited. “Blending is utilising South African Merlot to best advantage,” as Myers puts it.

The “i am 1” 2006 is a blend of 37% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc and 6% Shiraz. The name has no great significance other than being “kinda cute”. It has an idiosyncratic minty character but otherwise is a pretty decent red blend which is set for release later in the year at R120 a bottle.

The Cabernet Franc Merlot 2006 actually has 8% Cabernet Sauvignon in addition to 46% Cabernet Franc and 46% Merlot and is the more accomplished blend, at least to my mind. It will also be released later in the year at R120 a bottle.

As for whites, there’s a Sauvignon Blanc 2007 selling at R60 (rated 3 Stars in this issue) while the ’03, ’04 and ’05 vintages of Chardonnay are all still available – the 2003 which goes for R57.50 a bottle is apparently the leading selling vintage when visitors to the tasting room are shown all three.

Atkinson Ridge is an occasional label reserved for any batch deemed to be of particularly high quality and there is currently a Sauvignon Blanc 2007 with this designation selling at R90 a bottle (rated 3 Stars in the February issue). Look out for a particularly good Chardonnay from the 2006 vintage to be released later in the year at a price of around R140 a bottle.

Myers relates that the amount of grapes processed in the Amani cellar has grown from 55 tons in 2005 to around 150 tons now. About 20 to 30 tons of all varieties are bought in from other grape growers in an effort to find better quality than they can grow themselves, but most ends up being sold as bulk wine anyway. Only Sauvignon Blanc requires significant quantities from elsewhere and here Steven’s experience working on the big-volume Welmoed label comes in handy as she knows the greater Stellenbosch area well.

Myers is not one to be pre-occupied with terroir or a sense of place in his wines. “Even if we were getting better quality buying grapes in, and selling off our own, what difference does it make?” he asks rhetorically and points out that such high-profile wineries as Boekenhoutskloof and Flagstone are also inclined to source fruit from all over.

“In branding, you have to produce consistency as it’s consistency that buys you another year of sales,” he notes. Expect the Amani brand to go from strength to strength under the enthusiastic custodianship of Myers.