Morgenster

Morgenster Estate

With Pierre Lurton of the great French château Cheval Blanc as consultant, Morgenster is making wines of finesse and texture. Christian Eedes reports.

It has been said that the difference between the Bordeaux appellations of Saint-Emillion and Pomerol is like the difference between silk and velvet. The quality is similar but the texture is not.

 

How then to appreciate Château Cheval Blanc? Though technically the property falls within Saint-Émilion, it is situated right up against the border of Pomerol. Also, it has around 60% of its vineyard planted to Cabernet Franc, whereas it is Merlot that generally dominates in this part of the world.

Cheval Blanc manager Pierre Lurton was attempting to articulate the unique character of the wine to a visitor one day, and found himself suggesting that it possessed "cashmere tannins". This analogy made perfect sense to the man who was listening - he was Giulio Bertrand, an Italian who originally made his money as the manufacturer of luxury fabrics before acquiring Somerset West olive and wine farm Morgenster in 1992.

A residence in South Africa was "a dream" for Bertrand. He'd got to know the country well after building two textile factories in the Eastern Cape during the 1970s and had always been impressed by the "open spaces, the natural beauty and the humanity of people". After retirement from the textile business in 1990, Bertrand began scouting the winelands for a suitable property, being particularly enamoured with Cape Dutch architecture. When the Morgenster homestead came on the market, he didn't hesitate in buying it along with 200ha of land.

Originally Morgenster was intended as a holiday house, with Bertrand having no thoughts of producing olive oil and wine. This soon changed however. "For an entrepreneur, it's very difficult to retire. Farming gave me something to do," he says.

Today, Bertrand has 25 000 olive trees covering 45ha of the property and the extra virgin olive oil that is pressed on site has been highly decorated around the world. Related products include lemon-infused olive oil, white truffle oil and olive pastes, not to mention table olives.

He is equally serious about wine production and now has 40ha under vine, 100% red varieties. Having hit it off with Lurton during his visit to Cheval Blanc, Bertrand invited the Frenchman to be Morgenster's consultant winemaker.

Bear in mind that Lurton is held in such high standing that since 2004 he has run not only Cheval Blanc but also Château d'Yquem in Sauternes, one of the world's greatest sweet wine producers. He wouldn't have got involved in a start-up project in faraway South Africa if he didn't think it had merit.

Lurton accepted Bertrand's offer: "It's very easy to make wine in paradise. Cheval Blanc is my first paradise, Yquem my second and Morgenster my third."

Necessarily, the notion of terroir is raised. Lurton points out that Bordeaux lies next to the Atlantic Ocean and this maritime influence facilitates a generally slow ripening, which in turn makes for "more interesting tannins" in the end wine. That Morgenster is situated closer to False Bay than most Stellenbosch properties excites him. "The cooling influence of the sea makes for a slow and subtle ripening of the grapes". Lurton insists that he is not trying to make wine that apes Bordeaux but rather "great South African wine with a French touch."

The range currently consists of three blends, each at different price points. The longest lived of these is the Lourens River Valley (LRV), first made in 1998. This, along with the 1999 and 2000 vintages was made at Lanzerac while the Morgenhof cellar was being built. The 2001 is the latest release, although a small quantity of the 2000 is still available - both selling for R95 a bottle from the farm.

Top of the range is the Morgenster Estate wine, with the 2001 currently available at R264 a bottle ex-cellar. This is a blend of 45% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon and 27% Cabernet Franc, significantly different from the maiden vintage for which no Merlot was used in a blend consisting of 51% Cabernet Franc and 49% Cabernet Sauvignon. Also of note is that production in 2001 amounted to 1 500 six-bottle cases, up from 750 the year before.

After climatic conditions during the 2002 vintage proved particularly difficult, it was decided not to bottle a flagship wine and keep the quantity of Lourens River Valley extremely small. Hence, onto the market came The Summer House, a third label selling for R53 a bottle.

In the short time that Morgenster wines have been around, they have attracted much critical acclaim, not least because of Lurton's involvement. Nevertheless, it's not unfair to suggest the property still struggles to gain wide appeal. A case in point is that at the recent Nederburg Auction, the 20 six-bottle cases of Morgenster 2000 up for sale fetched an average price of R185 a bottle, approximately 30% down on the original release price.

Marius Lategan, Morgenster's resident winemaker appears bemused about this. "Sometimes I'm not sure whether we're an olive oil estate that makes wine or a wine estate that makes olive oil." He concedes however that it is handy to "piggyback" of the farm's olive oil operations while he and Lurton explore where Morgenster sits best on the Bordeaux-style red blend spectrum.

So how should the wines of Morgenster be understood stylistically? Lategan suggests that they should be seen as possessing a mixture of European elegance and New World ripeness, richness and density. Regarding the Estate wine, he explains that its construction is "done with ageability in mind, even though the modern consumer demands earlier drinking". The trick therefore becomes one of arriving at a wine that is approachable when young but which will still cellar well.

This compares with the Merlot-dominated LRV, which Lategan describes as having "sweeter nuances" and being "easier on the palate". It represents "not so much a second label as a different philosophy," he says.

As for The Summer House, Lategan sees this as a label that will allow him to innovate. Recent plantings included a small amount of Italian varieties Sangiovese and Nebbiolo and it is thought that when they come on line they'll find a home under The Summer House label, initially at least. Bertrand, ever the businessman, says that it's meant to be "easy to understand" and have "mass market appeal".

Back to the Estate wine, Lurton is very clear on what aesthetics he prefers, even if the weighting given to the different varieties is still in question. "My ideal wine should be fresh and fruity. The tannins should be very round, neither aggressive and green, nor over-ripe. New wood should be kept to a minimum. Ultimately, the wine should be subtle and delicate."

Both Lategan and Lurton are adamant that the composition of the flagship from year to year is based on what climatic conditions dictate. Nevertheless, while the Merlot-free 2000 possesses a classy austerity, the 2001 which includes the varietal is more sumptuous and one suspects more commercially viable.

Lategan admits that Merlot is typically more "palate-friendly" at an earlier stage than either Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon, but pleads that he doesn't want Morgenster to be seen as a "recipe-following winery". As with most serious-wine makers, he'd prefer his product to be seen as an "expression of place". His wines show "elegance but also complexity," he suggests, and this is not something that is "forced" but a result of the natural attributes that Morgenster is "blessed with".

Immediately adjacent to Morgenster is the celebrated Vergelegen, and Lategan makes some interesting comparisons between the two properties. Both are situated on the northern escarpment of the Schapenberg, but differ in terms of the soil. The broken granite that features most on Vergelegen means wines with more obvious fruit and less minerality, says Lategan. This as opposed to the shale of Morgenster, which means more minerality and wines that consequently require a more "intellectual" approach when it comes to fully appreciating them.

Each of the three great Bordeaux varietals has its merits, feels Lurton. Cabernet Sauvignon serves as the backbone of the Estate wine and he's sure that it will always feature - it has a reputation in the area for producing very good quality. Cabernet Franc brings aromatic complexity and tannin structure well suited to ageing - given how prominently it features in Cheval Blanc, it is close to Lurton's heart and will no doubt play a prominent role in future incarnations of the flagship.

As for Merlot, when at its best, it brings "fruit, smoothness and fatness" to the wine, Lurton explains. However, he's not sure that the South African climate is particularly suited to the variety and worries that it is unduly susceptible to vintage variation. "To find Merlot in South Africa with the same freshness as Bordeaux is very rare."

It is asked of Bertrand and Lurton if they might dispense with Merlot in the Estate wine altogether at some point. One of the reasons that Cheval Blanc captures the imagination is the unusually high proportion of Cabernet Franc combined with Saint-Émilion's other great grape, namely Merlot. Why not Cabernet Franc combined with the pride of Stellenbosch, namely Cabernet Sauvignon for Morgenster?

Lurton likes the idea, commenting that this would make it even more of a "signature wine". Bertrand reveals that they have been talking about going this route for some time already, although a final decision has not been reached. "Running Morgenster is not the easiest way to make money but it's the most interesting," he says. Merlot or no Merlot, the Morgenster Estate wine is definitely one of South Africa's most carefully conceived.

MORGENSTER ESTATE BLEND

MORGENSTER TRACK RECORD