Chenin Blanc challenage: Perdeberg Winery
"It’s actually a mistake. We probably went off half-cocked in our enthusiasm,” says Perdeberg cellarmaster Albertus Louw.
He’s talking about the Rex Equus range of wines produced by the former co-operative cellar located in the Voor-Paardeberg area between Paarl and Malmesbury, in one of the hottest/coolest vine-growing areas in the country. It’s hot in terms of summertime temperatures but very cool in terms of fashionable addresses to have right now, with Scali and Vondeling just two of their acclaimed neighbours.
Louw explains that Perdeberg Winery really only began establishing its own brand of wines in 2007 – and the inaugural range of Rex Equus Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon won’t be repeated. “The wines were very well received but there was a bit of confusion with the Reserve range so we decided that Rex Equus should be just one wine: the best wine in the cellar. Going forward, it’ll always be a red blend and, while the components might well vary from year to year, it will be the best of the best.”
It’s a bit of a pity really, because the Rex Equus wines created an instant impact and went quite a way to making people sit up and take notice of this lowkey, humble operation which has a rocksolid reputation for producing great-value wines. In 2009, the Rex Equus Shiraz 2007 was awarded a trophy for the best South African red Rhône varietal over £10 at the Decanter World Wine Awards. The Rex Equus Sauvignon Blanc 2007 rated 4.5 Stars in Platter’s and the counterpart Chenin Blanc 2008 4 Stars. And that same 2008 Chenin is the most recent winner of Wine magazine’s 16th annual Chenin Blanc Challenge.
Simplicity is what the team are after, so Perdeberg’s Chenin Blanc Reserve is now the top-tier offering and is treated exactly the same as the Rex Equus would have been. Already the Rex Equus successor, the Chenin Blanc Reserve 2009 is showing its mettle: it was the only Chenin to get double gold at the 2010 Veritas Awards.
The Chenin Blanc Association has done a great job raising the profile of the grape over the past two decades, but in the minds of the consumer it’s still seen as a bit of a bargain-bin cheapie. Louw admires the chutzpah of fellow Chenin producers such as Ken Forrester and Rudera that have succeeded in the premium pricing of their product.
The issue of pricing gets Louw a touch animated, since he and the team frequently do benchmark tastings against competitors’ wines. “People are happy to pay R50 for a bottle of very average Sauvignon Blanc, but there’s still a perception that Chenin Blanc should automatically be cheaper.” The Perdeberg team believe their wines sometimes suffer, being viewed as too cheap. “Much of our wine is sold on Pick n Pay and Shoprite Checkers’ shelves and it happens that when people pick up a bottle of our Chenin and compare it to the other wines on the shelf there’s a good few rands’ difference. And then people think there must be something wrong with it... because it’s too cheap!”
Nonetheless, Louw is grateful for the track record that Perdeberg – and Chenin Blanc in particular – has developed over the years, as a solid value-for-money wine, but says it’s made it difficult to ratchet the price up a bit. “There’s no doubt in our minds that our wines are over-delivering on quality at their price points but it’s really difficult to get people to see that we can make wines which are more than equal to other higher profile brands and labels – and for us to charge accordingly.”
The proof is in the pudding... The winning Rex Equus Chenin Blanc sells for R36! It’s ridiculous value and only R10 more expensive than the standard Chenin Blanc which last year once again found a slot in Wine magazine’s annual Best Value Wine Guide to wines under R60. And yet that too is no surprise since it’s been awarded Veritas Gold in 2001/2/4 and 2005, along with Bronze at the 2008 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Awards among other accolades. Even before the Rex Equus 2008 won the Chenin Challenge, it had been decided to raise the prices so fans should expect to pay a bit more from 2011.
Pricing and value aside, what’s the Perdeberg story? It was formed in 1942 as a co-operative winery catering to grape growers in the Agter-Paarl and Voor-Paardeberg area. Naturally, the wine they made reflected the plantings at the time – and Chenin Blanc was chief among them. With the sea change experienced by the South African wine industry post-1994, it switched to become a commercial winery and now has 30 active members or shareholders.
“We’re very blessed that we are able to source grapes from 3 000 hectares – and that they come from a wide geographical area. That means a range of different soils and micro-climates, too,” Louw said. Perdeberg Winery’s catchment area extends from Malmesbury, to Paarl and all the way to Durbanville.
Success lies in the dirt, maintains Louw, and two types predominate – Malmesbury shale and sandy granitederived soils. “With our vineyards being unirrigated, it’s interesting to see – particularly on the Chenin Blanc – how they perform from year to year. In drier years the vines on one soil type handle the conditions better while those on the other soil are more suited to the wetter years!”
The grapes for the winning Rex Equus 2008 came from two farms specifically. They’ve been identified as top-performing blocks, so much so that they’re the source of top Chenin Blanc for a number of different wine labels – among them Graham Beck, Bellingham, Boschendal and Spier, and all renowned for the quality of their Chenin. The first farm, Middelburg, is in the Voor-Paardeberg area and is owned by Paul Dreyer. The second, belonging to farmer Erhard Louw is Fisantekraal, near Durbanville, and is the source of Graham Beck’s renowned Pheasants’ Run Sauvignon Blanc!
“The 22-year-old vines on Middelburg give us that typical Paardeberg richness and rounded fullness,” Louw says. “We pick the grapes quite ripe because then we have an abundance of apricot and peachy fruit flavour.” Fisantekraal’s vines are 27 years old and as a consequence of being in a cooler area contribute minerality and fresher acids with a leaner fruit core. Yields on both farms are in the region of six to seven tonnes per hectare.
When it comes to winemaking the process is fairly simple. “We’ve got a great team,” Louw says, paying credit to viticulturist Callie Coetzee who burns up the miles visiting farms and checking on vineyard blocks. In the cellar Louw is assisted by winemaker Riaan Möller who handles the red winemaking and assistant winemaker Carla Herbst who brings her deft touch to bear on the whites.
“We don’t believe in over complicating anything – so no fieterjasies for us.” The grapes are picked early while it’s still cool and are transported to the cellar before mid-morning. The most they get is a bit of sulphur in the vineyards to protect against oxidation. Louw says there’s “a bit of skin contact, only the free-run juice is used, settled overnight which gives us nice clean juice – and then we inoculate with commercial yeast and put it into barrel.” (For the anoraks out there, the yeast is Lallemand’s CY3079...)
The Perdeberg winemaking team are fans of larger-format barrels, preferring the 500-litre vats for Chenin – and a combination of new and used oak. “Never more than 25% new wood,” Louw says. “New wood’s expensive and it’s not our style to have heavily oaked wines. We’ll never go to 50 or 60% new oak.” And then the yeast does its thing – fermenting the available grape sugars slowly. “That’s one of the reasons we use that particular yeast, it’s a slow fermenter so the Chenin takes about a month to reach the point that we’re happy with it. We do a bit of lees stirring from time to time – not much. Then we sulphur it up and leave it in barrel for eight to 10 months before bottling it.”
Chenin Blanc is undoubtedly Perdeberg winery’s most important varietal: about one quarter of total production – or 5 000 tonnes annually. The 2011 harvest is estimated at 20 000 tonnes – which is not insubstantial in anyone’s terms!
The decision to establish a strong Perdeberg wine brand rather than maintain its primary focus purely on bulk wine production was taken in the mid-2000s. Until then, Perdeberg was well known among fellow wine producers as a great source of wine – which was then snapped up and bottled under other well-known brands and labels. The winery’s ad campaign was a notable success and Louw says they still have visitors asking if this was “the winery with the zebra”.
Perdeberg’s continued solid year-onyear growth means that this is a winery that’s going places. From those humble beginnings in 2007, it now produces around 150 000 cases by six – or just shy of a million bottles – annually. That’s just their own brand: the winery is also responsible for the production of a range of wines for SAAM, an export label in partnership with Bibendum Wine Ltd – the star of which is the Platter’s Guide 4.5-Star Middelburg Chenin Blanc... Then there’s the wine range Perderberg makes for MAN Vintners and all the bulk wine that is sold off to other labels such as Spier, Graham Beck, Bellingham, Leopard’s Leap, the company of wine people and Boschendal!
They may have chosen a zebra as their logo because of the historical association with these wilde paarden which once roamed free on the nearby mountain slopes, but things are not purely black and white for Perdeberg. There are also sorts of shades of grey... own brand, bulk wine, contract winemaking. This is a winery which has taken huge strides in a very short space of time and one which deserves to be known as more than just a source of cheap and cheerful quaffing wine.
THE FACTS
PERDEBERG REX EQUUS 2008
Winemakers: Albertus Louw, Riaan Möller and Carla Herbst
Variety: Chenin Blanc
Yield: 6/7 tonnes per hectare.
Alc 14.2 RS 5.5 PH 3.42 TA 6.2
The wine was fermented in 25% new oak, in a combination of 500- and 300-litre barrels with periodic lees stirring. It was then aged for between eight and 10 months before bottling.
PERDEBERG WINERY
Physical address: Vryguns Farm, Windmeul, Paarl
GPS: S33°39.496` E018°49.625`
Tasting and sales: Monday to Friday 08:00 to 17:00, Saturday and public holidays 09:30 to 14:30 Contact:
Tel: 021 869 8244/8112
Email: info@perdeberg.co.za
www.perdeberg.co.za
WHAT TO EAT
Enjoy the Rex Equus Chenin Blanc with linefish, sushi, shellfish, poultry, pasta, home-made chicken pie, carpaccio and cheese.
BUY IT HERE
If you’re not able to make the scenic 30- to 40-minute drive to the Voor-Paardeberg from Cape Town, source a bottle from your local Pick n Pay or Shoprite Checkers. Perdeberg also has a stake in a distribution company so can guarantee good supplies to retailers.
WINE MAGAZINE
Chenin Blanc Challenge roll of honour
2011 Perdeberg Rex Equus 2008
2010 Kleine Zalze Vineyard Selection Barrel Fermented 2008
2009 Mooiplaas Bush Vine 2008
2008 Jean Daneel Director’s Signature 2006
2007 KWV Val du Chêne 2004
2006 Spier Private Collection 2004
2005 Rudera Robusto 2004
2004 Kanu Wooded 2002
2003 Jean Daneel 2001
2002 De Trafford Keermont 2001and Kanu Wooded 2000
2001 Kanu Wooded 1999
2000 De Trafford 1999
1999 Villiera 1996
1998 L’Avenir 1997
1997 Morgenhof Private Bin 210 1996
1996 Boschendal Jean le Long 1993
OUT AND ABOUT
in Voor-Paardeberg
Do a cheese tasting at The Goatshedat Fairview. It’s also a great source of freshly baked ciabatta, panini and other specialist breads. Or simply stay for a tasty meal.
Tel: 021 863 3609,
www.goatshed.co.za
At the four-way stop between Wellington, Paarl and Malmesbury, where the R44 and the R45 intersect, you’ll nd the Florida Farm Stall. Not only does it have fantastic mosbolletjies, freshly baked loaves of bread and stunning venison pies, kids will love the fact that they can feed the chickens, geese, pot-bellied pigs and even the donkies.
Tel: 021 873 7437
Turn off the R44 and pay a visit to Vesuvio Estates to pick up a bottle of olive oil. Open Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 16:00.
Tel: 021 869 8571,
www.vesuvioestates.co.za
