Remembering Alto
Think Alto, and you think Alto Rouge. A wine many might regard as ‘frivolous’ – considering the latest ratings on the ’08 vintage (3 Stars in Wine magazine and 3½ Stars in Platter’s) – its recent reputation is perhaps best captured by the descriptor in the 2011 Platter’s Guide: “Straightforward and a touch less graciously harmonious than ’07, but many traditional, drinkable virtues.” It is a far cry from the wine that was once touted as being one of the ‘aristocrats’ of SA wines. But its legacy, and the legend of Piet du Toit, who was winemaker at Alto between 1959 and 1983, is not forgotten.
Photographs by Toby Murphy
The story of Alto dates back to 1919, when Manie Malan’s father started clearing ground against the slopes of the Helderberg and replanting the virgin soils with red wine cultivars. First was Hermitage, followed by plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Cinsaut and Pinot Noir (which was later uprooted). Pietman Retief, communications director for Distillers Corporation and who handled the publicity for Alto between 1975 and 1989, remembers “all those farms against the (Helderberg) crown only came much later. Alto produced wine there for decades and it was the only one”. Alto was also among the first farms to export a ruby red – a wine which would later become known as Alto Rouge. As early as 1923, a sample of Alto Rouge (then single-cultivar Hermitage) was sent to wine merchants Burgoyne in London, which subsequently signed a five-year contract with the farm for exports. This contract was later renewed for another 10 years.
When Du Toit took over responsibilities from Malan in 1959, his first intention was to ensure the ongoing quality of Alto Rouge and uplift the wine to icon status. As his apprentice, Du Toit had a large amount of respect for Malan, and in earlier interviews he praised his predecessor for his foresight and winemaking talent. “I’ve hardly changed a thing…” he said, adding, “Alto Rouge is much the same wine now as it was in the 1920s.” Du Toit didn’t come from a winemaking background per se; his father produced rebate wine on a farm in Worcester. “It wasn’t very good,” Du Toit admits. “But nonetheless he also produced the wine used for communion from a special block on the farm.”
In 1965, Du Toit started keeping Cabernet Sauvignon aside for single-varietal bottling. This wine (from vat number 10, he remembers) was only released in 1971 – an ageing regime which characterised Alto Cabernet. To this day, this maiden vintage Cabernet Sauvignon remains a remarkable wine. It is layered with savoury notes, lots of varietal perfume, pure fruit, (still) dusty tannins and delicate acidity. In contrast to Alto’s latest offering, the red blend MPHS 2007, the older Cabernets are distinctly more classical and reserved. The MPHS 2007 – the initials referring to winemakers over the generations, Manie Malan, Piet du Toit, Hempies du Toit and, presently, Schalk van der Westhuizen – is made in a much more voluptuous, almost bombastic style, and has an alcohol bylevel of 14.5%. The older Alto Cabernets hovered at around 12%.
Historically, care was taken at Alto to release wine only when it was deemed ready for consumption (although, evidently, it was made in a style that would age gracefully for years). Therefore, it was a rule not to release the Cabernet Sauvignon if it was younger than six years in age. These wines spent three years in 5 000-litre vats (some as old as 60 years) and were then aged in bottle for another three years. On occasion, the wine was kept for a further period after those six years if it wasn’t considered market- ready. Alto Rouge was kept in wood for a year and then spent another year in bottle before release. “There was an understanding that a red wine should age,” as Piet du Toit will tell you. Of course, these winemaking practices didn’t always contribute to high turnovers, but Du Toit’s belief, which he bestowed on his winemaker son Hempies, was that “pleasure compensates for [lack of] money”. “There were no shortcuts to achieve quality,” he adds.
Apart from leading the way on the red wine front, Alto also played an instrumental role in promoting the concept of an ‘estate wine’. Retief remembers: “Alto very much dictated the atmosphere for the adoption of the Wine of Origin system in 1973.” (Wines up to that point were treated as multi-regional branded wine.) Jokingly he adds that, apart from getting wines recognised as estate wines, the main challenge of that time was getting “Transvaal to drink wine. The breakthrough came when a regulation was passed in Pretoria forbidding people to build fireplaces in their homes. So instead they built cellars”.
Marketing was very much word of mouth. People loved Alto Rouge. “It was a wine you drank with your girlfriend to impress her,” recalls Hempies. “Still I am presented with empty bottles of Alto Rouge from those years,” he smiles. “People don’t have the heart to throw the empties away.”
It was certainly a visionary time for SA wines, recalls Oom Piet and Hempies in conversation at Annandale wine farm, where Du Toit junior started his own winemaking venture in 2000. Ironically, in comparison to Alto, Annandale has a more historical feel to it. Cobwebs – that special kind that seems indigenous to cellars – hang from corners and wooden beams; old wine presses stand in the overgrown garden which appears as forgotten as the palatial grounds of Miss Havisham’s in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. Even the buildings seem slanted by time.
In the tasting room stand pictures of Hempies on the rugby field – memories of his career as a Springbok rugby player before taking over duties at Alto in 1983 – a big, imposing front-row prop who is reduced to the gentlest creature in the company of his father. There’s a fond interaction between father and son which clearly illustrates the philosophy that had always underpinned Alto wines and its people. “It has always been about love,” says Hempies, rubbing his father’s shoulder.
I am reminded of a composed Hempies standing up to talk about Alto at the MPHS launch; only to choke up when talking about the years when his father was winemaker at the farm… Oom Piet’s character perhaps serves as a catharsis. Retief describes him as a “wonderful, hearty and hospitable person with a genuine interest in people”. As an ode to his responsible nature, Retief adds, “And he never drank wine after dinner.”
Oom Piet is now 90 years old, and the memories of the earlier Alto, by his own admission, are a bit blurred; the interview characterised by long silences and sudden sotto voce utterances that are soft and quick like birds. But every so often he utters a personal memory which gives form not only to Du Toit the winemaker, but also the man.
“Aim high. Aiming low is a crime,” he remembers his school principal in Villiersdorp telling him – a teaching that stuck with him throughout his winemaking career. He also remembers Malan with fondness. “He was a perfectionist; I couldn’t waste a drop of wine on the cellar floor. But he was a good teacher who taught me the importance of simplicity,” which leads us to talk about the changing wine scene where simplicity isn’t the goal anymore.
And, even though I know the answer, I ask from father and son, will we ever have wines like those old Alto Cabernets again? Hempies answers: “That was a noble era. An era that is now in the past, which is sad. It isn’t about love anymore.”
“Today it is all about pennies,” Oom Piet whispers… and then he sighs.
WHERE TO BUY
Not many of the older vintages of Alto Cabernet Sauvignon and Alto Rouge remain. If you want to buy some of these icon wines you can contact Hempies du Toit directly. Expect to pay close to R2 000 per bottle. If that doesn’t suit your pocket, consider trying Annandale’s Cabernet Sauvignon – winemaker Hempies du Toit applies the original Alto tradition to his wines, releasing it only after it has spent some . ve years in vat. The latest vintages (’02 and ’03) are available from the farm at R100 per bottle. Tel 021 881 3560; www.annandale.co.za
ALTO TODAY
In 2000, winemaker Schalk van der Westhuizen took over from Hempies du Toit, and has been at Alto for the past decade, producing Cabernet Sauvignon, the Alto Rouge, Shiraz and Port. Alto is situated on Annandale Road, off the R44 between Stellenbosch and Somerset West.
Tel 021 881 3884; www.alto.co.za
