Post House Penny Black 2007
Mixed Marriage
White meets red to satisfactory effect in the Post House Penny Black 2007.
Amstel Adams and I wake in Somerset West with glorious French hangovers.
It started off innocently enough on a lazy, hazy Thursday with a "let's have a quick drink after work" at maze in the One&Only. We started with a glass of Domaine le Clos du Caillou 2007 and hop-scotched from Côtes du Rhône to a "why the hell not" bottle of 2005 Bourgogne Pinot Noir, and before we knew it, it was dusk, and we were leaping off the rocks then floating on our backs, kicking our feet to the evening skies off Hermanus with tooting whales as we merrily sipped our lovely local Hamilton Russell Vineyards Pinot Noir 2004.
The next day we were marooned on the sun-soaked veranda of the Post House wine farm with a dozing Rottweiler, a Boxer, a Boerboel and an impressive Bonsai tree selection. Yes, in Camps Bay they collect Bonsais; in the winelands they grow them.
We were here to meet the man who makes the delish Penny Black, Nick Gebers, he with piercing Terence Hill blue eyes and a shock of Shane Warne blond hair. Nick is a gentle, mild-mannered man, and refreshingly low-key. He is so wonderfully low-key he doesn't even have a front gate. "I'll put up gates sometime, but never imposing gates with eagles, no, no, never," he laughs.
I like that he runs a small vineyard making handcrafted, unfiltered wine using natural yeasts, and that his spicy and savoury Penny Black 2007 reminds me of Springbok herds trampling across the Singita plains. "Enjoyable company, this wine - like a distant family member you meet for the first time and get along with like a house happily on wild fire."
"Smooth and rounded like a metre maid's calf muscles," says Amstel all misty eyed.
"Mmm, nice to clash with a William Burroughs under the shade of an ancient oak." "So you like the idea of adding 5% Chenin Blanc?" asks Nick. "M'mmm. Yes, it does add a unique character to the wine."
And as I say this, I think what the hell am I talking about, what do I know about the effect of a slither of moon white blended with a hearty red? So I ask God, which is to say I twitter Anthony Rose (of The Independent and www.thewinegang. com, the UK's leading wine recommendation website) and I ask what the hell he thinks about the idea of blending Shiraz, Merlot and Petit Verdot with 5% Chenin.
"There are many precedents for winemakers using white grapes in a red wine blend," responds Anthony. He tells me it's fashionable with Australian winemakers, and traditional vineyards like Priorat in Spain have for years seen white grapes planted among their reds as part of a field blend. "The aim in each case varies, but bringing extra softness, acidity and aroma are just some of the reasons. I look forward to trying the Penny Black," he signs off.
Nicks says telling the public he'd bunged 5% Chenin into a red was a lot like coming out of the closet. "I was anxious as to what people would say. Was I being too experimental?
But respected international sommelier Stephen Towler, who set up One&Only's wine collection (so exquisite it won Diners Club's Best Winelist Award), twittered simply: "This practice is quite traditional."
Nick's Penny Black 2006 is now "the coveted Penny Black 2006", as six of the last cases have disappeared. Oh heavy hour. But did I tell you about Nick's Shiraz 2006? It's like a beautiful wealthy widow, and her mustiness grows on you like ripe Christmas cake.
