Brandy
But, nowadays it is no longer just the common man's (or woman's) tot. It hasn't escaped the same fate as chocolate, water and even dog food - the global phenomenon called "premiumisation", a lip smacking neologism that is all about the growing desire for brands with cachet. Think Lindt, Perrier and Hills Science Diet.
Premiumisation has been driving the entire spirits category worldwide, with premium vodka and whisky at the forefront of alcoholic luxury status. Behind the scenes, growth in premium liquor brands have caused a few major transactions - such as French liquor company Pernod Ricard buying out its bigger rival Allied Domecq to take second place in the global spirits ranking. The UK based company, Diageo, is the world's biggest owner of premium liquor brands - which, not surprisingly, means that its shareholders shared in dividend payouts of a healthy £864 million this year.
What lies behind this lucrative trend toward premiumisation? Retailers are pushing the trend because for them it's all about "getting consumers to trade up and spend more". But for consumers, there are much deeper triggers. One of these is consumers' reaction against what Carolo Bernasconi, CEO of the Nuance Group Europe, calls the "Age of Cheap". People are looking for value and meaning on all levels of their lives. They are searching for qualities that they perceive as disappearing - and thus are prepared to pay for something unique and authentic.
Fortunately for the brandy distillers of today, premium brandies offer exactly what affluent igniters are searching for: hand crafted products, slowly matured, natural and with secret recipes that go back generations of distillers.
The first distiller of brandy on South African soil was none other than a Dutch chef, who started the tradition in 1672. Today, South Africans drink 43.6 million litres of brandy every year.
This is more or less in line with levels of consumption seven years ago (there has been a slow dip in favour of white spirits and whisky in between). However, there has been growth in the premium brandy sector. South Africans are not only starting to drink more brandy, they're also drinking more expensive brandies.
AC Nielsen, the world leader when it comes to market research and sales statistics states "the current shift towards premium products is certainly emerging as key to all sectors of the liquor industry".
Who are the winners in the premium category?
According to Nielsen, KWV has been the top growth performer in brandy over the last year. Among the warring brands, however, Klipdrift Premium conquered all - up from third position a year earlier, when Martell VO was still South Africa's favourite premium brandy brand. Oude Meester, which was in second place, was dethroned by Flight of the Fish Eagle.
These powerful brands are like celebrities - glossy photographs in every magazine, talked about and recognised… but they represent a rather stylised and sometimes conventional picture of what is happening in the world of brandy.
Off the pages and into the cellars, you find a lively, young and innovative attitude to brandy making. Take, for example, the estate brandies in South Africa. With the rigorous legislation that controls the production of these small volume brandies, they can rightfully be compared to single malt whiskies.
As with single malts, estate brandies originate from a very specific area - an estate - which is home to the grapes, the copper pot still, maturation vats, blending and bottling facilities. These brandies truly reflect their origin - exactly what an international panel of spirits connoisseurs would be looking for.
This is according to KWV Brandy Master, Kobus Gelderblom, who has been a judge
for the International Spirits Challenge since 2001. Every year he joins half
a dozen experts from around the globe to compare and evaluate about 600 samples
of the best that is on offer from the world's distillers.
"In a brandy, you are looking for complexity and balance between wood and
fruit," Gelderblom explains. "Colour is not that important. You want
to find authenticity, and a sense of origin."
Gelderblom emphasizes that South African brandies should not aspire to "be
like Cognac". South African brandies are made in the same style, and according
to the same strict regulations, but they are essentially different. Local grape
varieties are different, water sources and climatic influences are different
- and the people who add their signature to South African brandies are different!
Van Ryn's 12 and 15 Year Old brandies have kept South African brandy's name
high in international competitions over the past few years. Conceived and nurtured
by Caroline Snyman, Distell's spirits director, the Van Ryn brandies have set
out to drive the luxury message in brandy.
Snyman's take on the successful premiumisation of brandy involves a variety
of factors, including the link between top-end brandies and urban black music.
She compares local trends to what has been happening in the US market: "According
to the US Distilled Spirits Market: Impact Databank Review and Forecast report
for 2005, Cognac sales reached a record $1.25 billion last year, despite a marginal
decrease in total brandy sales. Some
observers attribute the increase to the adoption of famous French brands by
rap artists and hip hop stars. They have taken luxury brandies out of the leather
armchair environment of the oak-paneled gentleman's club into the world of style
bars and clubs and turned them into fashion accessories."
But, Snyman cautions against assumptions and preconceived ideas about those
who regard brandy as a "fashion accessory". The hand that pours the
gold in all probability belongs to someone who is informed, and is very particular
about the quality and value of the product. "Consumers of premium products
want to know about provenance, about specialist skills and ingredients that
impact on what they are buying," Snyman explains.
Here, premium brandies once again challenge single malt whisky on even footing.
According to Snyman, "the process of distilling gives a brandy or whisky
maker a high degree of control over the eventual outcome of their products,
particularly the capacity to retain the aromatic congeners that impart unique
characteristics and flavours".
Brandy has the fingerprint of luxury. It is a product on the rise in premiumisation
stakes. It tends to still find itself in the shadow of Cognac - but newly proud
South Africans are quickly catching on to the quality and status of some of
our trophy products.
What's in a word?
We all know them: people who claim to only drink Cognac, who frown at the offer
of a good brandy after a well-appreciated meal. Next time, you can inform them
in a very loud whisper that South African brandies are made in the true Cognac
style - and our best versions often leave the French speechless.
As is the case with Champagne - and soon with Port and Sherry - South African
producers are not allowed to name their brandies after the famous geographical
area in France where Cognac originates. South Africa had to settle for the term
"brandy", even though the country adheres to similar regulations.
What complicates the terminology, however, is the fact that other countries,
such as the USA, do not have the same quality definition for brandy. Hence the
perception sometimes that brandy is a roughshod spirit coloured with tea leaves!
In South Africa the term brandy may only be used if there is at least 30% pot
still brandy in the bottle. Premium brandies, however, all have a pot still
content of at least 90%, matured for at least three years in small French oak
barrels.
The pot still process is a much more expensive and time-consuming process than that involving column stills, which is used for the more "industrial" approach to distillation. Made from copper, pot stills (with their signature swanlike design) require constant loving attention and almost fingertip control of its heat during a double batch distilling process.
Been there, done that…
Go put your ear to the belly of a copper pot still… The Western Cape Brandy
Route offers opportunities not only to taste some of South Africa's best premium
brandies, but also to see the process in action, talk to distillers and smell
the perfume of a small maturation cellar. Members of the route include Van Ryn's
Brandy Distillery, Avontuur wine estate, Louiesenhof (all in Stellenbosch),
Backsberg and Laborie (Paarl), Cabriére (Franschhoek), Oude Wellington
(from the town by that name) and last, but definitely not least, the KWV House
of Brandy in Worcester. This brandy cellar is the largest of its kind in the
world and houses an incredible 120 copper pot stills.
On the tip of your tongue
Pot still brandies have an alcohol content of only 38%, compared to blended
brandies that are usually 43%. This means the alcohol is less of a barrier in
tasting the more subtle, fruit flavours of a really good brandy. Next time you
cradle a glass, try to find some dried apricots, prunes, nuts, caramel and vanilla
aromas on both the nose and palate. Some of the richer, fuller brandies offer
coffee and chocolate associations - which make for a perfect pairing of exactly
those food items with brandy.
At the KWV Wine Emporium in Paarl, you can experience a chocolate and brandy
tasting (for R25 per person) that highlights a variety of tastes and textures.
Four brandies - the KWV 5 Year Old, KWV 10 Year Old, Imoya VSOP and KWV 20 Year
Old pot still brandy - are paired with Belgian chocolate creations from the
two famous Franschhoek chocolatier entrepreneurs, Huguenot Fine Chocolates.
The chocolate softens and coats your palate to such an extent that the brandies
become even rounder, richer and smoother! (For information and reservations
phone 021 807 3007)
Van Ryn's Brandy Distillery is in the process of developing a similar tasting
for the public, based on their recommended matches:
o Van Ryn's 12 Year Old brandy with Lindor Dark (truffles) and Lindt Cognac
or Lindt Coffee Intense
o Van Ryn's 15 Year Old brandy with Lindt Excellence Dark Orange and Lindt Excellence
Dark Pear
o Van Ryn's 20 Year Old brandy with Lindt Excellence Café Latte, Lindt
Coffee Intense and Lindt Excellence 70% Cacao
