Boekenhoutskloof
The big friendly giant
First conceived in 2002, Boekenhoutskloof The Chocolate Block has grown its red blend market share every year since. By Christian Eedes.
Production of The Chocolate Block, the multi-regional red blend from acclaimed Franschhoek winery Boekenhoutskloof, has grown from 15 barrels of the maiden 2002 vintage to 888 of the current-release 2008. Convert that into cases, and it's gone from a cultstatus 325 to a substantial 22 200 in just seven years.
Consider that it has a cellar price of R150 a bottle in an ever-frugal domestic market, and winemaker Marc Kent's credentials as one of the smartest operators around are reinforced yet again. "How many SA brands are selling that volume at that price point?" he asks, before answering his own question: "Not many."
Is it a cash cow? "No one is going to get rich in the wine business but it's a fine way to stay poor," he observes. You suspect he's not exactly impecunious, though.
What's the story behind one of the coolest wine brands around? The name no doubt plays a role, with Kent acknowledging that "the world loves chocolate".
However, while The Chocolate Block was put together for the first time a vintage after Wellington winery Diemersfontein had come up with its crowd-pleasing and now widely copied chocolate Pinotage, the Boekenhoutskloof wine has never been quite as overtly flavoured, at least not to this taster. "When it comes to describing the taste profile of a wine, we're all so easily led," observes Kent.
How The Chocolate Block came to be known as such is in fact rather prosaic: Tony Allen, wine buyer for UK wine merchant Oddbins, requested an own-label bottling under the name after being impressed by the Boekenhoutskloof line-up at a 2001 tasting in London. Kent, who obviously knew a good thing when he saw it, explained that Boekenhoutskloof was not in the own-label business but gave Oddbins exclusivity on importing the first vintage in exchange for the name.
A memorable moniker secured, Kent gave the packaging brief to local design supremo Anthony Lane. The Super-Tuscan Tignanello with its white label on a tall bottle was the reference and Lane came up with a very contemporary piece of minimalism that Kent refers to simply as "genius".
Whereas the defining character of the other wines in the top-end Boekenhoutskloof range is one of finesse, the same cannot really be said of The Chocolate Block. The amount of chocolate-like character that the wine displays from year to year might be debatable, but on the whole it tends to be generous and expressive. Platter's 2008 describes the 2006 vintage, for instance, as "hedonistic; smouldering dark chocolate sheen, viscous texture to bold, ripe, polished [wine]" while the 2009 edition refers to the 2007 as a "set of juxtapositions under cork: sleekly modern yet Old World roots; lavishly fruited but tethered in formal frame".
Though The Chocolate Block has always been a firm favourite with Platter's - witness every vintage to date rating at least 4 Stars - the WINE magazine panel has been less readily seduced, the 2002 vintage rating 2½ Stars, the 2003 2½ Stars, the 2004 2 Stars, the 2005 3½ Stars, the 2006 3½ Stars and the 2007 2 Stars.
What is remarkable about The Chocolate Block, however, is that quality seems to be improving, contrary to the usual axiom that this suffers as volumes grow. When the WINE magazine panel recently assessed 128 current-release red blends, the 2008 emerged with a rating of 4½ Stars, proof that popular appeal need not be at the expense of greatness. In particular, Kent reveals that he has "taken on board" comments about the wine being unduly "showy" and has re-tooled it accordingly.
The inspiration for The Chocolate Block came from Kent's travels in the Mediterranean areas of Languedoc-Roussillon, France, and the Costa Brava, Spain. Here, Grenache-Syrah blends are the order of the day, and given broad climatic similarities to South Africa, he felt he had discovered something of a template he could apply at home. Intriguingly, however, he found that many of the wines included "bits and pieces" of Cabernet Sauvignon, not typically thought of as a warm-climate variety but included for the structure it delivered.
Upon his return, he started "playing around" in the cellar where he discovered that Cinsaut, because of its "voluminous" fruit, and Viognier, because of its perfume, could also play a useful role in the blend. All five varieties have appeared in varying quantities from vintage to vintage of The Chocolate Block, the 2008 consisting of 69% Syrah, 13% Grenache, 10% Cabernet, 7% Cinsaut and 2% Viognier.
The Chocolate Block is "not at all a terroir wine", according to Kent. The different parcels of grapes are widely sourced, and he sees it as a strategic strength that he is not "limited by geography".
The Syrah comes from Malmesbury, the Grenache from Piekenierskloof near Citrusdal, the Cabernet and Viognier from organically grown vineyards on Boekenhoutskloof and the Cinsaut from Wellington. With only 50% of what goes into barrel ending up in the final blend (the rest ending up in lesser wines in the range), Kent notes that his major constraint is space for his barrels.
While the recent phenomenon of wines (usually Pinotage) showing pronounced coffee and chocolate flavours has no doubt broadened the market, they might equally be viewed as somewhat cynical efforts which pander to the lowest common denominator. Kent admits that The Chocolate Block has on occasion been "lumped together" with these but is irked by those "envious producers" who accuse him of using "barrique substitutes" (staves). "We never cut corners. We never compromise. We've built this brand on the quality in the bottle and good third party endorsement. "
All barrels used are French with the amount of new oak sometimes as high as 50% but typically around 30%, the different components spending more or less the same time in barrel, usually 16 months. Wine nerd alert: because of Grenache's high oxidation potential, it goes into specially ordered, large-format hogshead barrels along with a little Syrah press juice that together help prevent spoilage. "The type of oak you use is important; cellar practices are significant," says Kent, suggesting that The Chocolate Block is by no means made by rote.
Perhaps what is most remarkable about the wine is that it manages to be populist without resorting to dumbing down; aspirational but not out of reach. To provide some context, production of the currently available 2007 vintage of the much vaunted Boekenhoutskloof Syrah was only 1 300 cases. There's even less of the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, rated 5 Stars in Platter's 2010: under 1 000 cases.
The wines are long since sold out from the farm and if you manage to hunt one down in retail, look to pay in the vicinity of R300 a bottle. As for getting your hands on one of the 900 bottles of Cab-Cab Franc blend The Journeyman 2007, this will only be available in yet-to-be released special mixed packs.
Below The Chocolate Block sits the Porcupine Ridge tier of wines, and here we are in altogether different territory, with volumes approaching two million bottles a year. Half of this is Sauvignon Blanc, the 2009 vintage having rated a creditable 3 Stars in our November 2009 issue and selling for R40 a bottle from the farm.
There's also entry-level red blend The Wolftrap, a wine that is typically made in volumes of between 35 000 to 40 000 cases. The 2008, which is a blend of 68 % Syrah, 30% Mourvèdre and 2% Viognier and sells for R30 a bottle from the farm, rated 3 Stars in this month's category tasting (see p. 82).
Despite six of the ten 5 Star ratings that Boekenhoutskloof has achieved in Platter's since its maiden 1996 vintage being awarded to the Cabernet Sauvignon, Kent insists that the farm's fundamental positioning is that of a leading South African producer of Syrah and Syrah-based blends - and clearly The Chocolate Block has a key role to play in entrenching this.
He describes the wine as "consistent with the house style" which he elaborates as "aromatic, spicy, almost unpolished, possessing interest" and it could be argued that the reason the 2008 finds so much favour with the WINE magazine panel is that it comes closest to the Boekenhoutskloof standard manner of expression as articulated by Kent. The winery, he insists, is "pretty artisanal", especially compared to some of the big-budget operations over the Helshoogte Pass in Stellenbosch.
The rise and rise of Chocolate Block has been fascinating to watch, and it has to be said that while part of its success has been due to Kent's understanding of the trend towards a fruitier wine style with softer tannins, he and the rest of the Boekenhoutskloof brains trust (which includes Tim Rands, CEO of wine distribution company Vinimark, and Reg Lascaris and John Hunt of advertising group TBWA) also grasped the gap in the market for a wine brand communicated with flair and panache.
Kent, for instance, relates that some 300 bottles of The Chocolate Block were served free of charge over the weekend of last year's Franschhoek Uncorked festival while guests enjoyed a barbecue prepared by top chef and Kent business partner Reuben Riffel and listened to the sounds of the Kitchen Jamming Blues Band. Going forward, this occasion will always mark the launch of the new vintage.
Some happy punters post-Franschhoek Uncorked, for sure, but The Chocolate Block is starting to approach the volumes that can make an impression globally. "SA needs brands that sell internationally at meaningful price points in meaningful volumes," observes Kent, who reveals that 70% of Chocolate Block is exported (selling for £15 to £20 a bottle in the UK and $35 a bottle in the States).
This might seem very satisfactory, but not for Kent who feels that there are too few local red wines at the crucial $100-abottle price point, and those that are there have yet to deliver. "We need statement wines; wines that [influential US critic Robert] Parker rates 96 to 100."
Will Chocolate Block be among them? Not impossible if you consider how far it has come in so short a space of time.
Where to drink The Chocolate Block, as recommended by Marc Kent
"I'd never order my own wine in a restaurant unless at the insistence of a fellow dining guest. Wang Thai takes an allocation and it's amazing how much we sell through the Col'Cacchio pizzeria chain."
Wang Thai, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. Tel 021 421 8702.
Wang Thai, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton. Tel 011 784 8484.
Col'Cacchio, www.colcacchio.co.za.
