Blue Creek, Stellenbosch

Blue Creek Wines

Piet Smal knows a thing or two about roots and mouthfeel - he's a dentist, after all. But was it a case of too much laughing gas when he decided to start Blue Creek Wines 10 years ago? Joanne Simon goes for anything but a routine appointment.

Tasting almost 100 Cabs may be all in a day's work for WINE magazine's panellists, but it's not a pretty sight. The problem is those black teeth and purple gums - apparently the result of hydrogen sulphide in the wine reacting with iron in our saliva. And let's not even think about the long-term damage to our not-so-pearly whites...
Is there anything quick and painless (and cheap) that red wine lovers can do about it?

I pose this question to Stellenbosch dentist Piet Smal while interviewing him about his Blue Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, a regular 4 Star wine in WINE magazine's blind tastings since the 1998 vintage was rated in 2001. "It's actually very simple," he smiles wickedly. "If you drink a lot of red wine, you must neutralise it by drinking a lot of white wine! This is a far more relaxed way to deal with stained teeth than going to the dentist."

Unfortunately you won't find any white wine at Blue Creek Wines. For that matter, you won't find anything except Cabernet Sauvignon. And you can forget about finding anything at all of the current 2003 vintage (which scores a solid 3 Stars in this month's category review on page 70). When I visited, there were precisely four bottles left out of a total annual production of 2 000 cases. "Johan keeps telling me that I should keep a few cases, but if people want to buy my wine, I will happily sell it to them."

The Johan in question is Johan Malan of Simonsig, a man credited with launching the careers of any number of top South African winemakers. In Smal's case, however, theirs is a friendship that dates back to Sub A - and all the way through school and their studies at the University of Stellenbosch, where Malan followed in father Frans's viticulture and oenology footsteps and Smal, whose own father worked in the university's admin department, decided to become a dentist.

Despite having always grown grapes on their Blaauwklippen Valley farm, the Smals never considered making their own wine - not until Smal Jnr spent a few years working in the UK, that is. "I travelled to a lot of European wine areas and just loved these little one- and two-hectare places in France and especially Germany, along the Mosel, where they made their own wines. When I got back to SA I told my dad I thought it was a good idea, even though we didn't know the first thing about making wine."

Smal did his homework, setting up appointments with a number of winemakers. "And nine out of 10 of them said as long as we had good grapes, we could do it."

He was finally convinced after chatting to his cousin, Jan du Preez of Leidersburg Vineyards in Paarl, who said that if he owned their prime land, he would have started making wine years ago. "Maybe it does all boil down to that word I hate to use - terroir - but I do believe that this triangle is one of the best areas in the country for red grapes," says Smal. "We're wedged in between the Helderberg and Stellenbosch mountains, so we don't get the southeaster. What we do get is the southwester in the afternoon - from about 4 until 8.30pm - which cools things down."

Smal made wine for the first time in 1996, learning as he went along. "The grapes had already come in before I managed to get hold of the university winemaking notes and started reading! But the great thing about Stellenbosch is that there's so much knowledge around - on the farms, at [research institute] Nietvoorbij, at the university. You simply have to pick up the phone and everyone is happy to give advice. Maybe they won't share their ultimate secret, but they'll help you get 98% of the way there..."
Malan, Du Preez and Louis Roos of Mooiplaas are given special credit. "I get by with a little help from my friends," laughs Smal. "And the amazing thing is that we are still friends! There's no professional jealousy whatsoever. If one of our wines does well, we immediately phone to congratulate each other. Of course, I now joke that if they ever want to know anything about Cab, they can call me..."

The obvious question, first of all, is why Cabernet Sauvignon? "When we started out, our oldest and biggest block on the farm was Cab. They were simply the right grapes at the right time!"

The next question is how Smal, without a winemaking background or any formal training, consistently manages to make wines that do better than many better-known brands. "In the cellar, I interfere as little as possible," he insists. "The most important thing is the vines and the grapes, so I put a lot of energy into vineyard management. We do whatever we think is necessary for optimal quality, from thinning the bunches to using the bare minimum of pesticides."

With regular input from viticultural consultant Johan Smit, yields are restricted to around eight tons per hectare and grapes are picked at an average ripeness of 24-24,5° Balling. "It's a little lower than that when we start picking and a little higher when we finish because the whole process takes quite a few days."

This may seem surprising, given that they only have to harvest seven hectares in total. "In this business, it's important to do things in a relaxed way," insists Smal, "so every morning during the harvest, we light a fire. When our 200 small lug boxes are full, we stop for the day, usually around 11am, and by then the fire is ready for a braai. We take our time; we drink a few nice cold beers; we take it easy. That's the way we make wine here."

Alas, the day job does get in the way... "During harvest, I leave the surgery an hour or two earlier than usual and work till 8 or 9. And I'm in the cellar again by 6. But, Jissus, I really love this! One day I'd love to be able to do dentistry in the mornings, or one day a week, and spend the rest of my time in the cellar. If I have to choose what to fill - glasses of wine or holes in teeth - I definitely prefer filling glasses!"

In the meantime, Smal simply takes things as they come, whether out of necessity or simply having the right attitude. "If you can't destem everything tonight, start again tomorrow! If you don't have a press available, wait another day!"

In fact, he says he stumbled on his winning formula of longer-than-average skin contact one year when his wine was theoretically ready to come off its skins, only for him to be told that the press would not be arriving for another three weeks. "We just had to leave it all, and luckily it seemed to work well, so to this day we do cold maceration before fermentation, and after fermentation we basically close the tank and walk away for a few days..."

Apart from that, Smal says the winemaking process is "plain-sailing" with the wine eventually going into French oak barrels for 14-16 months. And he does everything himself, except for the bottling and labelling which is outsourced. "Marketing is the one area where I'm still lacking a bit - I don't have the time to go out and sell my wines."

Perhaps that's why Blue Creek has been dubbed "the best Cab you've never heard of". But Smal's not worried. "I sell 80% of my wine directly to the public, even though we don't have a lot of passing traffic here! It's very much word of mouth and I'm just grateful to those people who come back for more, year after year."

Visitors are always welcome by appointment, with tastings currently taking place in the actual working cellar, surrounded by tanks and barrels. But once this year's harvest is over ("It's looking good!"), Smal plans to complete a simple tasting room next to the cellar, consisting of benches around a big table where "people can sit and taste our wine - as much as they want and in their own time".

As he wryly observes: "I've met many people who hate visiting my surgery, but I've never come across anyone who hates visiting my cellar..."