Jordan, Stellenbosch
Its slopes face every which way, giving this family-oriented winery a myriad planting options. All have been exercised wisely but wouldn't you expect that from a trained geologist? Fiona McDonald looks at what makes Jordan such a success.t was 10 years ago that Gary and Kathy Jordan returned from a two-year stint in California to build a brand new cellar and make wines on the family farm in the Stellenboschkloof."In hindsight we now realise the magnitude of the task that we tackled as young, inexperienced winemakers!" admits Gary, one half of the winemaking team for the past decade.
"If you think about it, we were quite daring. We had one practical harvest behind us and we went ahead and did our own thing," counters wife and partner Kathy. "Naturally when things went wrong - as they do in all new wine cellars - we had to come up with creative alternatives."
That they not only figured out workable solutions but enjoyed unqualified success from day one is a tribute to this low-key couple. The past year has seen them reach international heights - not with a single, flash-in-the-pan prize but with multiple high-profile awards.
Their Cobblers Hill 1999 was the first South African wine ever to be awarded a Grand Gold medal - one of only 24 Grand Golds awarded worldwide - at the prestigious Concours Mondial in Brussels in April, along with a gold medal for the 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon. This after winning the trophy for the best Cabernet Sauvignon at the International Wine Challenge in 2001 for their 1998 vintage, and the Chardonnay of the same vintage was one of Wine Enthusiast's top 100 wines of 2001.
"We've been lucky in that our growth has been steady - and our agents and clients have grown with us.
"When we started out we found people who were prepared to grow with us. It was a mutual relationship where we were upfront about only being able to supply 75 cases in year one but were determined to grow and be able to do larger volumes over a few years - and our agents were in it for the long haul too. We now have the type of relationship with our agents that we don't even need to send them samples - but we do - because they know what to expect from us in terms of quality."
That mutual trust alone speaks volumes.
But 10 years on Gary and Kathy have both acknowledged that they can no longer do it all. They've promoted assistants Johan Kruger to handle winemaking, Sjaak Nelson as wine manager and Hettie Sutherland to handle marketing and are now weaning themselves off the day-to-day operation of the winery.
"We need to take a strategic view and are now more invol- ved on the business side of things - looking at where Jordan will be in the next 10 years. It's no longer necessary for us to physically do everything, turn on valves and pump wine." Obviously they're still very hands-on - Gary spends a great deal of his time in the vineyards - at pruning, suckering and harvest time.
"I would slit my throat rather than see the grapes at the tip for the first time," Gary says. Harvest sees everyone pulling their weight in the cellar and the vineyards. "And someone has to hold the torch at the end of each row when (dad) Ted is driving the mechanical harvester at 3am," Gary joked.
That's the here and now. What about where it all started?
For Gary it was on his grandparents' grape farm in Welling- ton - now home to Linton Park. His predecessors bought the farm in the 1880s when Jordan, the family shoe business, was first established in Wellington.
Every spare moment of Gary's childhood was spent on the farm. He tells tales of himself and playmate Francois van der Walt cycling from their homes in Durbanville to Wellington to spend weekends running free: "There was one spot that was very sandy and difficult to cycle. My gran used to meet us there and take us the rest of the way."
Gary still bears the scars of one of those youthful adventures, nonchalantly recounting a mishap with a chainsaw which could have seen him lose a leg. "It seems to run in the family," he jokes. "My dad has pro-bably destroyed about six pairs of jeans by getting tangled up with chainsaws."
With "rocks in his head from an early age" geology was a natural progression that saw him study the subject at the University of Cape Town. "But hobbies don't necessarily translate into good careers," says Gary wryly.
He and Kathy met when she was still at Rustenburg Girl's High in 1982 - the same year that Gary's father Ted bought the farm (then called Kanonkop) in the Stellenboschkloof. National service followed and after Gary klaared out in 1985, he assisted in the planting of vines on the farm.
By that time Kathy had completed her commerce degree - also at UCT - and had about a year in commerce as a merchandiser. But she had also had a taste of the wine farming life-style, having spent weekends and vacations at Jordan. The turning point was in August 1988 when the newly married Jordans were accepted into an oenology masters programme at the University of California, Davis, under Professor Ough, one of the top wine professors in the world.
"He really stuck his neck out by offering me a position at UC Davis because it was at the height of the apartheid era. Studying at UC Davis was excellent. It was among the best in the world at the time - and to have the opportunity of being lectured by some of the people who actually wrote the textbooks on winemaking was very special. We learned so much."
Being overseas offered the Jordans great opportunities. They worked a harvest at Iron Horse vineyards in the Alexander Valley … and named their firstborn son Alexander in honour of the place. "We lived wine. We'd go to three or four tastings a week - with fellow students and friends from Germany and elsewhere in the world. There'd only be about 10 wines, but we'd spend three hours talking about fruit structure, mouthfeel … really analysing the wines to death," Kathy recalls.
And so it was that in 1990 the Jordans returned, designed and built a practical cellar and crushed their first grapes in 1993. "We've never had to use the services of an architect," Gary says. All plans were thoroughly thought through before a draughtsman friend drew them up. Their cellar is a marvel of simplicity with overhead tanks enabling a press to be wheeled around underneath - hence gravity flow from tank to press.
Initially designed to cater for 20 000 cases it has since had to be expanded to cope with the current 48 000-case production. And plans have once again been drawn up to allow for more red wine production, maturation and a larger storage area.
"The thing I'm most proud of is that as we've got bigger, we've got better," says Gary.
Over the years more land has been purchased so that Jordan now stands at 146 hectares in total. Plantings are complete and with the usual Jordan attention to detail the right grapes have been matched to the right soils and aspects. "We planted the farm according to the soils we have rather than dictating what we wanted."
Something the rock hound is happy about is that there are north-, south-, east- and west-facing slopes on Jordan. It gives them so many options in terms of plantings. Soil pre-paration is critical - as is the use of supplementary irrigation to prevent stress at crucial times.
"With this year's plantings we are now at the limit of what we can handle. We like to think we are more of an estate than most estates. We won't buy in grapes. What goes into the bottle - even in the Bradgate range - is 100% Jordan.
"We're focused on taking Jordan to the next level. We're at 50 000 cases and are struggling to keep up with the demand. It's been fantastic for us as we've been able to grow with the market - looking after both loyal local customers and the overseas market.
"Ultimately, we'd like to treat people as we'd like to be treated.
"We could sell more overseas but we believe the local market is important so there are strict allocations - both locally and overseas."
The consistency of quality has long been a feature of Jordan - that reliability on them producing good quality wine year after year.
"I would hate to be a farm which see-saws between being a top winery one year, then down to 20th place and then back up to spot number five the next year." There's no fear of that - as a recent in-house tasting of some of their older vintages showed.
"We tasted our 1993 wines - our first harvest - when we only did 100 tons. And they were still tasting really good," says Kathy modestly.
While they now produce 60% red and 40% white, she admits to a fondness for Chardonnay which has been a consistent top performer, notching up regular 4 Star ratings in WINE and the Platter guide, and winning gold medals galore at local and international competitions.
"Any award is great when you win - they enable you to market your wines more effectively because people are im-pressed by medals and ratings," said Kathy. "The recognition is a bonus because your wines are invariably competing against so many others - and among them the best in the world."
Both Gary and Kathy acknowledge that their experience with Bradgate, a second label, has been an interesting exercise.
"Jordan started off so small and was placed in niche venues such as restaurants. Bradgate has been quite the opposite. It's been volume from day one. We've been selling to markets in Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
"We've been forced to think like businessmen not winemakers with Bradgate - and our Dutch agent tells us we still haven't got it right. He grumbles that the wines are too serious and the quality is higher than the price point!"
They've both matured along with their plantings - and learned lessons along the way. They're poised on the threshold of another decade, keen to take Jordan "to the next level" with plans to extend the winery, be less hands on but more focussed on their strategy.
One thing is for sure, quality and consistency will remain their motto.
FACT FILE
PO Box 12592, Die Boord 7613
Tel: (021) 881 3441
Fax: (021) 881 3426
E-mail: info@jordanwines.com
Website: www.jordanwines.com
Size: 146 hectares
Grapes planted: Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Rhine Riesling.
Wines: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cobblers Hill, Merlot, Blanc Fumé, Chardonnay, Rhine Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chameleon Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot, Chameleon Sauvignon Blanc/Chardonnay, Bradgate Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot, Bradgate Chenin Blanc/Sauvignon Blanc.
Recent achievements: Gold medals at Fairbairn Capital SA Trophy Wine Show 2002 for Jordan Chardonnay 2001, Jordan Blanc Fumé 2001 and Jordan Chenin Blanc 2001.
Chardonnay 2001 and Merlot 1999 received gold medals at the 2002 Juliet Cullinan Wine Masters Awards.
Jordan Cobblers Hill 1999 awarded a Grand Gold medal - one of only 24
- at 2002 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles in April. Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 awarded a gold medal at the same competition.
Trophy for the best Bordeaux Cabernet Sauvignon at the International Wine Challenge in 2001 for Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon 1998. Jordan 1998 Chardonnay one of Wine Enthusiast's top 100 wines of 2001.
