Are South Africa's white wines better than the reds? Christian Eedes

More and more opinion makers rate SA white wines ahead of its reds. Christian Eedes asks why.Are South Africa's white wines better than its reds? When supertaster Jancis Robinson MW visited in May to judge the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show, she said it was more the whites than the reds that "turned her on" (whites picking up 13 gold medals compared to eight for red, one for natural sweet, one for Noble Late Harvest and one for Port). "You've got a lot of pale-skinned vines, some with age, which makes for very characterful wines," she observed. "Such an asset. Please don't overlook them."

The debate heated up when Tim Atkin MW proclaimed in the July edition of UK magazine Wine & Spirit that South Africa's white wines are currently "vastly superior" to its reds adding that "for reds, South Africa is the worst of the major New World wine-producing nations".

Atkin pulled no punches when articulating what he finds so off-putting about South Africa reds, writing that "the basic problem is that too many of them achieve the unusual distinction of being both green and baked at the same time, with sugar ripeness out-pacing phenolic ripeness. That's how South Africa sometimes ends up with reds that have 14.5% alcohol or more, but still taste green and unripe".

There will be those who rush to make the argument that comparing South African whites to reds is flawed in principle in that the terms of the debate are so
broad as to make any definite conclusions impossible.

For one thing, it requires generalisations about wines produced across 102 146ha of vineyard. Nobody would attempt such an exercise in the case of Australia, for instance, given that the various wine regions are simply too divergent.

In addition, how to allow for value? Does Bordeaux-style red blend Ernie Els 2004 at R500 a bottle offer a better or worse price to quality ratio than Alexanderfontein Sauvignon Blanc 2007 at R30?

That the comparison is difficult to make does not make it immaterial, especially in terms of the revolution that South African viticulture has undergone in the last 17 years. 11 February 1990 was the date Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and as Atkin suggests in his article, this might as well mark the beginning of the modern era of the South African wine industry. Back then, white varieties made up 84% of the national vineyard - the über co-operative KWV still held sway and it ensured much of production vanished into brandy spirit and grape juice concentrate.

Transformation would see the waning of the KWV's powers bringing about a fundamental restructuring of viticultural activities. Without minimum wine price support and statutory surplus removal, growers were compelled to plant premium red varieties in order to make a product that had some chance of commercial viability. Overall plantings of white varieties dropped steadily reaching an all-time low of 54.3% in 2005.

It is worrying that the quality of South African reds taken as a whole is so unconvincing given how heavily the industry has invested in establishing red wine vineyards in recent times. However, it is impossible to deny that at the start of the 1990s, the skew towards white wine presented a strategic weakness in terms of being globally competitive and correction was desperately needed. The argument can be made that what's required now is more time for newer red wine vineyards to mature and producers to gain more experience making red wines.

Further, it appears that the national vineyard has arrived at some equilibrium, with 2006 seeing the decline in overall white wine plantings reversed for the first time since 1990 - white varieties had risen to 55.1% of the national vineyard by the end of last year.

That's the background. What do South Africa's best winemakers think? Firstly, there's no avoiding the issue of leaf roll virus, with this detracting much more from red than white wine quality. Carl van der Merwe of Quoin Rock in Stellenbosch says: "My experience is that while it is possible to produce acceptable to very good white wines from older vines which are moderately virused, the same is not possible for reds." Red varieties tend to ripen later, and because virus-infected vines perform below potential, full physiological ripeness is often never attained.

A primary cause of green or herbaceous characters on a wine are unripe grapes and while both South Africa's whites and reds often show this, Van der Merwe points out that many critics find it more acceptable in the former than the latter.
Optimal ripeness is not unattainable as South Africa has what Van der Merwe describes as "a very favourable and relatively low risk climate" for viticulture. As such, it would be "unfair" to write off South Africa's reds, but he does feel that white wines are often "more unique and individual". That's because local reds are too "big and bold" with any expression of site obscured by standardised viticulture and heavy-handed winemaking. "Deep colour, dollops of fruit and lots of tannin are pretty easy to achieve in South Africa. As a consequence, our reds often appear overdone." White wines, meanwhile, are often "less adulterated" - they are picked less ripe, are not subjected to heavy acid additions and receive less wood treatment...

Before anybody gets too excited about South African white wines, Johan Malan, cellarmaster of Simonsig in Stellenbosch makes the point that "the market is very small for high-end white wines". Red wines are viewed as "more serious" by consumers and hence are capable of demanding more of a premium. Conversely, South African whites benefit from "freshness and fruit forwardness" which makes them instantly appealing but they are consequently considered more or less frivolous.

Malan points out that the local winelands possess a variety of soils, altitude and aspects that makes for distinctive red wines when utilised to best advantage. "There is no need for the sameness that you find in 'valley floor' regions such as Barossa or Napa." The greatest challenge to uplifting red wine quality remains planting material. "Our young virus-free vineyards become reinfected far too quickly. This means we're always working with unripe fruit and there's an absence of old vines."

Chris Mullineux, previously of Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards and now running his own négociant business, feels that local whites are more "interesting, characterful and original" than reds, something that he also puts down to vineyard age. "I drive around the Cape to visit vineyards quite a bit and I've seen many 40-year-old white variety vineyards but few quality red variety vineyards at even half that age." The statistics bear him out - 41.8% of all white varieties planted are over 15 years old while this is only 12.7% in the case of red varieties.

Mullineux also feels that top-end reds are being overworked. Young vines result in insubstantial fruit compelling winemakers to "pull out all the stops" in the vineyard and cellar - delayed picking, concentration of the must, heavy extraction via multiple pump-overs and punch-downs. This makes for wines of power and weight rather than elegance. "The whites sometimes squeeze through the cellar without being as badly pimped," he observes.

Teddy Hall, previously of Kanu in Stellenbosch and now making his wines under his own Rudera label is pragmatic in his response to how local whites compared to reds. He points out that if we are trying to ascertain what is performing best in the market, then Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz and Cap Classique are currently the most successful categories. However, the question for him should rather be "What do we do that is outstanding?" in the sense of what wines does South Africa produce that are among the leading examples of wines in their class from around the world. According to him, Sauvignon Blanc cannot compete with the best of the Loire or New Zealand, and only occasionally does local Shiraz come close to that of the Rhône. "In one sentence, we are quality leaders in Chenin Blanc and Pinotage" he says. "Our Chenin can rival the best of the Loire has to offer and is a lot better than the rest of the world. We lead the way with Pinotage, even if this is by default."

Johan Kruger, winemaker at Sterhuis in Stellenbosch, is also inclined to view the issue in terms of how South African wines are placed in the global context. "Our whites have unique character - they are not really southern or northern hemisphere. They have New World fruit, but also Old World minerality."

Kruger feels that on the whole local whites are better than reds, in large part because of more proficient winemaking in the case of the former. "There are some great individual reds, but take any red wine class as a whole and you'll find quite a big percentage showing winemaking faults and errors of judgement - bacterial spoilage, volatile acidity, excessive acid additions or unnecessary oaking."

Anthony Hamilton-Russell, owner of Hamilton Russell Vineyards in Walker Bay says his overall impression is that there are currently "more exciting" whites than reds around. According to him, the greatest strength of the top whites is their "European restraint and acid line" versus many of their New World competitors. "A good number of our Sauvignon Blancs are much closer to the Loire in character than New Zealand, while remaining distinctly South African."

Nevertheless, Hamilton-Russell observes that very few cellars put "heart and soul" into their whites, with red wines often being the main focus of their quality effort and investment. "Imagine the results if for five years the CWG members could only submit white wines."

Hamilton-Russell feels that what generally scuppers South Africa's reds is a combination of a misguided stylistic approach on the one hand and an inappropriate climate on the other. Talking stylistics, he says he encounters too many red wines that are "floppy, round, sweet, soft, alcoholic and lacking any sense of life". He has no time for such wines and suggests that while the may appeal to someone "who needs to be persuaded away from beer", there is the danger of alienating more sophisticated wine consumers.

Then there is the issue of growing conditions. Most of the South African winelands are warm. When it comes to whites, the worst of the summer can be avoided by picking early before flavour development is compromised by too much heat. "Several of the best known Sauvignon Blancs are routinely picked under-ripe and then adjusted in the cellar," points out Hamilton-Russell.

With reds, meanwhile, any under ripe flavours are not to be tolerated but obtaining full ripeness often corresponds to a lack of finesse. "If SA reds were once criticized for being thin, lean and under ripe - then we seem to have over-compensated way too much".

While Chris Williams, winemaker at Meerlust in Stellenbosch, agrees that there is more good white than red "litre for litre", he is less inclined to dismiss local reds outright. "The greatest strength of our best reds is that in addition to fruit, they posses what some observers have called 'earthiness' but what in effect are more 'savoury' or 'umami' characteristics," he says.

According to Williams, this quality could be South Africa's trump card. "We are only now learning how to take advantage of the marriage between clean, pure fruit expression and a more complex, savoury dimension to the palate."

This extra complexity is also described by Williams as a minerality, which he sees applying not only to reds but whites as well, and something that for him can only be a function of terroir. "Once we as winemakers have mastered the expression of this, we'll have come of age. In the end it will be a uniquely 'South African' taste that will distinguish South Africa's top wines, whether they be red or white."

Duncan Savage, winemaker at Cape Point Vineyards and responsible for some of the most distinctive wines around in the form of his Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and white blend called Isliedh, concurs with Williams. "A big negative for both reds and whites is that we are too obsessed with producing Bordeaux, Burgundy or Rhône styles and I believe we need to work hard to find our own path. We need to strive for global benchmarks."

And perhaps that's the most fundamental point of all. White rather than red variety vineyard might currently provide better raw material to work with, but ultimately local winemakers must have the confidence and composure to come up with wines that are not derivative but express their origins in a compelling way.