Ivy du Toit - Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year 2003
Ivy du Toit of Rawsonville winery Jason's Hill is the third Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year. Christian Eedes interviewed her.
Ivy du Toit of Rawsonville winery Jason's Hill attended the 2003 Veritas Awards ceremony alone. Though usually entirely supportive of their daughter's winemaking efforts, her mum and dad thought it so unlikely that any of her wines would be recognised, that they opted not to accompany her. Du Toit went by herself, hoping that her Sauvignon Blanc 2003 might get a gold medal at best.
The announcement of Veritas winners occurs alphabetically, those receiving gold being read out first. This year, as the master of ceremonies got closer and closer to wineries falling under the letter "J", Du Toit found herself in an unbearable state of suspense. And then, no mention of Jason's Hill.
Convinced her wine stood no chance of any higher honours, she paid little attention to further proceedings. Suddenly, however, she noticed Jason's Hill emblazoned on the presentation screen, as the announcement was made that her Sauvignon Blanc had won double gold.
And now to add to her achievement at Veritas, the 23-year-old Du Toit is the 2003 Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year, her Sauvignon Blanc '03 gaining a 4 Star rating and overcoming all opposition in this year's competition.
Judges described the wine as having a vibrant, grassy, coriander-and-melon nose, with hints of gooseberry, echoed on the palate, with crisp, supply body and an emphatic, minerally finish.
They commented that the wine's voluptuous, almost showy character begs to be enjoyed now, but will develop over the next 18 months.
Runners-up included the 4 Star Cape Point Semillon 2003 (not in the main line-up due to limited production), as well as Bellingham Spitz Chardonnay 2002, Chamonix Char-donnay 2002 and Spier Private Collection Viognier 2003, which all rated 31/2 Stars.
A prodigious achievement for Du Toit, seeing that she is essentially self-taught as a winemaker. Until recently, the family farm Jasonsfontein near Rawsonsville grew grapes to supply Slanghoek Winery, the local co-operative.
"From about the age of twelve, I preferred to be in the vineyards rather than doing my homework. I used to spend as much time as I could at Slanghoek. I'm sure I just got in the way more than anything else," she recalls.
After school, she worked three harvests in Champagne and visited Washington State and Napa in the U.S. to investigate winemaking operations over there.
Come the 2001 harvest back home, and she convinced dad, Sakkie, to let her make a small quantity of Shiraz in a farm garage. Everything was done by hand: picking, de-stemming, crushing, punch down and bottling. "I'd never worked so hard in my life, but, as my dad always says, nobody ever died of hard work."
The experiment turned out just fine, and by October 2001, Du Toit's father began building a cellar. Thus was Jason's Hill born. Du Toit professes to be the fifth generation on the farm, Jason being an original inhabitant, although whether he was owner or worker remains unclear!
Jasonsfontein has 100ha under vine, most of the production going to Slanghoek, after the Du Toit family have made a selection for their own label. In 2002, they retained 180 tonnes, and in 2003, this was up to 470 tonnes.
"Until now Slanghoek got priority, but I think dad starting to feel I should get more consideration," smiles Du Toit.
Speak to Du Toit about her award-winning Sauvignon Blanc, and she is hazy about the details in the most charming way. She has to phone dad to confirm the aspect of the site on which the grapes grew - northwest-facing, as it so happens, enjoying morning sun and plenty of afternoon shade, ensuring conditions are much cooler than the Rawsonville/Worcester average.
Two harvests of the same vineyard were made, a week apart, ensuring two batches of fruit with significantly different ripeness. The first was picked at 18.4 Balling and the second at 24 Balling. These were fermented separately as Du Toit's basic approach is to handle the wine very reductively. "I didn't really know what I was doing. Luckily, I kept notes otherwise I wouldn't know how to do it again".
However imprecise her methods at this stage may be, it seems Du Toit has a winemaking talent that some are simply born with.
