Marc Kent - Diners Club Winemaker of the Year 2007
Dinners Club Winemaker of the Year 2007
The 2007 Diners Club Winemaker of the Year is one of the country's most passionate - and consistent - Shiraz aficionados: Marc Kent, for the Boekenhoutskloof Syrah 2005.It's a gloriously sunny Spring morning at Boekenhoutskloof in Franschhoek. A few metres away Marc Kent's wife Brigitte is seated on a large blanket spread out on the lawn under a shady oak tree where five-month-old twins Drew and Carter gurgle happily with their toys.
This picture of domestic bliss is far removed from the image anyone would have had of Kent nine years ago, when he was a finalist in the 1998 Diners Club Winemaker of the Year competition - also for Shiraz. He admits to being embarrassed by the widely held perception of him as an "angry young man" but concedes that he used to shoot his mouth off first - and regret it - later. "Years ago I was more outspoken and less sensible. I guess I had too much energy and no place to vent it. I like to believe that I've softened and that life experience has changed me."
There's no doubt that he's mellowed over the years, perhaps as a result of having his achievements recognized by his peers and the rest of the world - yet acclaim has never been his motivation. Kent has always been focused on one thing and one thing only - wine quality, specifically for Boekenhoutskloof Syrah.
"Look at this picture," he says showing a photo of the 1998 Diners Club Winemaker of the Year finalists that's been stuck on his office wall for nearly 10 years; "I was the youngest guy there by a long shot." He's part of an elite group ranked alongside the 1998 winner Danie Malan of Allesverloren: Johan Malan of Simonsig, Ross Gower, then of Klein Constantia, Pieter Ferreira of Graham Beck, Carl Schultz of Hartenberg and Chris Kelly who was with Stellenbosch Vineyards at the time.
Kent also points out that that was probably the last time he wore a tuxedo… "It's one of only three competitions that Boekenhouts has ever entered." He's proud of that fact, especially since the wine that was one of the finalists then was the 1997 Boekenhouts-kloof Syrah, the first ever from the Franschhoek cellar.
Apart from these two Diners Club competitions, the 1998 Veritas Awards is all that Boekenhoutskloof has participated in.
So why now? "Well, Tim (Rands, one of Kent's partners in Boekenhoutskloof) said if I make myself out to be one of South Africa's top producers of Shiraz I mustn't run scared - I must prove it." That he's done - and won himself a return airfare to any wine country in the world, along with R15 000 for travelling expenses.
Although pleased to have won, Kent really doesn't need to prove himself or Boekenhoutskloof Syrah one of the country's best. The wine is already considered a South African icon, occupying number one spot in WINE magazine's annual classification of top Shiraz producers on the basis of it's performance in WINE tastings over the past five years, one of only 23 wines rated 5 Stars in the magazine (twice) and with no fewer than six 5 Star ratings in the annual Platter guide.
Boekenhoutskloof has never taken out an advert, never issued a press release and never hosted a media launch. "Everything we've achieved has been through one-on-one marketing, word of mouth or third party endorsements from individuals such as Jancis Robinson, Robert Parker, or publications like Platter, Wine Spectator and WINE magazine. It's the wine that speaks for itself, not PR or publicity."
And since Boekenhoutskloof was established in 1996, production has risen from a 6 000 bottles of wine a year to an astounding 1.7 million! That includes the Porcupine Ridge range, the Wolf Trap and the immensely popular Shiraz-driven blend The Chocolate Block.
"My partners have never interfered - they've allowed me to do what I do best. And it's important that they have faith in me," Kent says. "It's been a good trot..."
"Winning the Diners Club Award is not only a fantastic achievement for me and Boekenhoutskloof but also for Franschhoek - especially since Gottfried (Mocke of Chamonix) won last year. Franschhoek's been good to me and it's important that I'm a good ambassador. It's exciting for the valley - and such a beautiful place to live!"
Kent is undoubtedly a classicist, using the Old World as a template. "I think if you compare the 1998 edition of this competition and this year's wines, you'll see a huge departure in style. Winemakers used to use a lot of American oak or finished their ferments in American oak. Nowadays that's not the case. American oak is used very sparingly - if at all. Even back then we (Boekenhouts) were saying that old French oak is the way to go."
But then his favourite Shiraz wines are from Cornas in the northern Rhône, France. "I love the rusticity and the individuality of the wines. That's what we try to do with our Syrah. It's not about the wine being squeaky clean, technically correct or linear fruit bombs. For me it's all about spicy aromatic fruit supported by great structure. I've never acidified at Boekenhoutskloof - and that's something I'm proud of."
He may make out that he keeps things as simple and classic as possible but don't let anyone be fooled: Kent is a winemaker who thinks deeply about what he does. As a result there are a number of firsts for Boekenhoutskloof. The winery was the first to use a sorting table to hand select fruit - in 1997. It was also the first to use a computer-controlled pneumatic basket press five years ago, something other wineries have only installed in the last two or three.
Strangely enough, Kent has also never worked a harvest overseas. "In the days when I would have been happy to work in France, I couldn't because I was virtually the only guy on the farm! Now? Well, I'd far rather visit for a week or two, taste at a number of top wineries and ask lots of questions about what they do. I don't need to do pumpovers or punchdowns to learn."
So what is the secret to the 2005 Syrah's success?
Firstly, it's from a single vineyard block on Schalk Burger's Wellington wine farm, Welbedacht. "I've worked with Schalk since 1998. I've tried many other vineyards but that's the best."
The fruit is picked in four to five different batches providing a total crop of between four and five tons. It's then trucked through to Franschhoek where it spends time in a cold room to chill the grapes down. The amount of time varies: the first batch might spend a day or two, another batch up to a week.
After that it's off to the destemmer, sorting table and then into either stainless steel tank or old wooden barrels for a natural fermentation. Finally it's into old French barriques for 18 months of maturation before its first racking (drawing the wine off its sediment).
"I don't distinguish between second- and third-fill barrels, they're purely vehicles for oxidation and maturation."
Ever the traditionalist, Kent is not a fan of filtration either. After 18 months on the gross lees (sediment from grape skins and yeast cells) it is racked for the first time. It's also given an egg-white fining (to adsorb any remaining particles) and spends a further nine months in wood before being bottled.
Kent is particularly proud of his achievements since he is not from a traditional winemaking or agricultural background. He was born in KwaZulu-Natal and grew up on the South Coast before he and his single-parent dad moved to the Cape. "My father had a huge influence on my life - as did Gerald (Ludwinsky)."
It was while working as a waiter in what was Ludwinsky's restaurant (the Black Marlin outside Simon's Town) that the love of wine began. Ludwinsky, a Cape Wine Master, mentored Kent, teaching him to appreciate some of the best wines in the world, something Kent as chairman of the Vignerons de Franschhoek now does with fellow vignerons.
"We taste together once a month. There will always be a First Growth wine, a Grand Cru Burgundy, Super Tuscan or whatever. It's an indictment on young wine-makers that they come to these tastings having studied winemaking for three years, been put in charge of a cellar - and they've never tasted a great wine like an Yquem and don't know what great wine is all about."
He talks about marriage and fatherhood having calmed him down… 24 hours after arriving home from four days in London on business and 24 hours before jetting off to Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore and Mumbai! Then it'll be home for three days before flying off to the United States. It's this level of effort and devotion to Boekenhoutskloof that lies behind the label's success, but, looking over at his wife and children on the blanket in the shade of an oak tree, it's plain to see that Kent would prefer to spend more time at home.
2007 DINERS CLUB WINEMAKER OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Marc Kent of Boekenhoutskloof for Boekenhoutskloof Syrah 2005
Other TOP-RATED WINES (alphabetical order):
- Black Pearl Shiraz 2006 (Marylou Nash)
- Boschendal Reserve Collection Shiraz 2004 (James Farquharson)
- Fort Simon Shiraz 2003 (Marinus Bredell)
- Groot Constantia Shiraz 2005 (Boela Gerber)
- Hartenberg The Stork Shiraz 2004 (Carl Schultz)
- La Motte Pierneef Shiraz Viognier 2005 (Edmund Terblanche)
- Rijk's Shiraz 2004 (Pierre Wahl)
- Spier Shiraz 2006 (Kobie Viljoen)
- Stellenzicht Golden Triangle Shiraz 2004 (Guy Webber)
- Tamboerskloof Syrah 2005 (Willem Grobbelaar of Kleinood)
- Thelema Shiraz 2004 (Gyles Webb)
- Vergelegen Shiraz 2005 (André van Rensburg)
