Gyles Webb
Thelema has spearheaded the drive towards producing quality South African wines. Recognition for Gyles Webb's achievements was rewarded in both 1994 and 1996 when he was judged the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year. Fiona McDonald reports.
There's usually a twinkle in his eye and a quick, witty comment but this does nothing to disguise the fact that Gyles Webb is an astute winemaker. In the '80s he gained a reputation as the man who set trends that others followed.
One need look no further than the profusion of vineyards and cellars that have popped up in the Helshoogte Pass area since Thelema's arrival in 1983.
Gyles was working as the assistant winemaker at Neethlingshof when Thelema was purchased by his wife, Barbara's, family in July 1983.
"It was a fruit farm and when we arrived there was a bit of vineyard over the road at Delaire and a few other odd tatty bits of vineyard here and there.
"People around here laughed at me! They had two chuckles - the first at the price we paid (R1 million) and secondly because we pulled out all the fruit trees.
"But the wheel turns and now there are only a few fruit farms left." It was still a huge leap of faith for the family.
The story in a nutshell is that Gyles was educated at Michaelhouse and obtained his B.Comm at Natal University before qualifying as a chartered accountant. But he abandoned the profession in pursuit of his passion. "I suppose my brother in law started it all. He was keen on wine and used to buy decent wines - which I then drank. So I became interested initially as a consumer and afterward started reading and learning. I decided if I liked it so much I should learn more - so that's what I did." Those are the broad strokes of the story. What the spaces in between don't say is that Gyles obtained a further degree - a BSc in Agriculture from the University of Stellenbosch and spent time working in California gaining experience.
The startling thing is that in spite of his success he readily admits "there's no wine I've been truly happy with."
He concedes that the 1993 Reserve Chardonnay came close. "That one … maybe."
The 1994 Diners Club Winemaker of the Year category was Cabernet Sauvignon based blends and Gyles entered both the 1991 and 1992 Thelema Cabernet Sauvignon /Merlot.
"I actually thought the 1991 was better but the judges preferred the '92. I drank some of the '92 the other day and it was excellent.
"The idea was to make a lighter, more elegant, Bordeaux structured wine because the Cab was more New World - fruity and juicy."
The irony is that Thelema no longer makes this wine.
"We found that the three wines - the cab, merlot and the blend - ended up tasting very similar with only small textural differences between them.
"That was a bit ridiculous so we stopped making the blend - it just got too bloody confusing!"
The same wine - a 75/25 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot - was also ranked in the Wine Spectator's Top 100 wines in 1994 "so someone liked it!"
Two years later he did the same with Thelema's 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon which took the 1996 honours in the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year competition.
At the time Dave Hughes assessed the winner for WINE magazine. His notes read:
"Deep, opaque blue/black/purple colour, astonishing depth. The nose offers an almost confusing array of aromas, suggesting a wine of great proportions with extraordinary richness. Intense black fruits with cherry, plum, currant and mulberry prominent. Decided mint follows along with hints of violet. Mammoth mouthfeel with already complex character for such a young wine. Will obviously develop with time. A lot of extract, but the high alcohol gives a sensation of sweetness. Full but soft tannins with the oak only just apparent in the form of attractive vanilla. Beautifully balanced, the wine evolves in the glass. Long finish. A seductive succulent, gorgeous wine with great exuberant style."
Gyles at the time said that '94 was good for Cab.
"It was a very early hot vintage, with a small crop of healthy grapes, picked really ripe."
The wine was left in the fermenting tank for two-and-a-half weeks before pressing and spent two years in the barrel. There is also a smidgeon (15%) of Merlot in it.
"I think it's going through a bit of a quiet patch at the moment," Gyles says, "but I've had three overseas groups of wine people taste at Thelema recently and they all thought the '94 was best."
What did winning the accolade mean to Gyles?
"I don't enter a lot of competitions and Diners Club was the first ever so to win it was nice.
"It's a good feeling when something like Diners Club comes along and all the hard work pays off. So if someone says well done, I'll take it!" But recognition is due to the team effort of everyone involved at Thelema. Barbara, a former champion triathlete, does a sterling job on the marketing side while mum-in-law Edna (Ed) handles the tasting room. "We had an unexpected visitor a week ago…Cliff Richard stopped in and said he wanted to meet Ed. She was unfortunately at lunch, so he came back the next day! He said he's tasted our Ed's Reserve wine and wanted to meet Edna. He even signed a bottle for her."
"Maybe he's a distant cousin," Gyles quipped, " 'cos his name's Harry Webb!"
But at present there's no indication that Thelema is going to become a family dynasty. The Webb offspring, James (25), Thomas (24) and Caroline (21) "are not interested in wine" says Gyles.
"But that's fine," he says, "they must do their own thing. Anyway having them all involved would make things quite complicated."
And life is difficult enough running Thelema while maintaining his partnership in Tokara.
