Ruth Penfold - Young Winemaker of the Year 2007

Semillon is her favourite white grape... Steenberg's Ruth Penfold is the 2007 Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year.

"Semillon combines both the best of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay for me. There's the minerality and freshness of Sauvignon Blanc without the vegetal elements that I don't like, while the Chardonnay features on the palate in terms of a lemongrass/citrus fullness of flavour. It's a richer wine that is just so suited to food - and I love food! I'm always eating..."

This slim, poised 20-something doesn't show any effects of her love of food. She's not unaware of the risks and has recently taken up rock climbing in addition to cycling and swimming to offset her indulgences.

"I find rock climbing so cathartic. When you're belaying someone you have to focus completely on what you're doing, ensuring that they're safe. There's no room for any other stray thoughts or stresses."

And Penfold certainly has those. Early in 2007, she took charge of the Steenberg cellar in Tokai on the Constantia wine route when predecessor John Loubser was promoted to general manager. At the time there were many observers who thought Penfold would merely be Loubser's second-in-command. That's not the case.

"John allows me total freedom in the cellar. I make my own decisions for Steenberg wines but consult him when I need to draw on his experience. I am honoured by this achievement because I want to be recognized for my own abilities and move out of John's not inconsiderable shadow, but for me the biggest endorsement came from my cellar team who have expressed their support for me as a winemaker."

Penfold has worked at Steenberg as Loubser's assistant since late 2003 - but they've traveled a long path together. They first met when Penfold worked her
student practical at the Graham Beck cellar in Robertson where Loubser was employed. "I was living with my parents in Bonnievale - and used to get a lift to work with John."

Penfold is a KwaZulu-Natalian by birth and matriculated in the province, but was "desperate" to study at Stellenbosch. Her prescient father suggested she consider winemaking… because he and his wife were looking to retire to a wine farm ultimately! That scenario has been realized and Penfold says her dream would be to make wine on the family farm - and has already begun to do so with Shiraz and Chardonnay.

"Fortunately the first year at Stellenbosch is basic science and it was only really in years two and three that the winemaking took on greater emphasis." She graduated in 2001 and then spent a few months in Distell's experimental winemaking lab and a further three months pruning and rehabilitating vines on the family farm before travelling for a year. She worked at a small operation in Bergerac, Bordeaux, before making her way via the UK, Spain, Italy, California and Singapore to the Antipodes, working at Orlando wines in Australia's Barossa valley. "That was extreme - going from a cellar of 100 tons to one which took in 18 000! It was good experience though, seeing the logistics of how a massive operation like that works, and I did a bit of everything - lab work, cellar work, time in the barrel cellar..."

 

Comparisons are odious - but unavoidable when her mentor himself won the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year in 2003 with Constantia Uitsig's Reserve Semillon 2002. So how was the winning wine made?

"2007 was a little daunting because it was the first time that I was in full charge of the harvest - but it was thrilling for the same reason," Penfold says.

She admits that getting Semillon to ripen at Steenberg was "a challenge" and that the wind played a major role. While it hammers the vines and strips foliage, it also means that there's no chance of rot developing, something Semillon is prone to.

"Our farm manager Johann de Swardt has been here for 10 years so knows what to expect. We tend to pick Semillon quite ripe and once in the cellar we try to treat it neither oxidatively nor reductively. We pressed the fruit after a few hours - and Semillon doesn't press well. It gets quite slimy so you have to turn it a lot. It also doesn't deliver much juice as a result - around 500l a ton versus 700l a ton on Sauvignon Blanc."

Penfold says in 2007 she used yeast nutrients for the first time. "Because if anything is going to develop a stuck fermentation, it's Semillon!". (When the alcoholic fermentation stops - or gets stuck - before it is supposed to, it puts the wine at risk of oxidation or bacterial spoilage.)

While fermentation took place in stainless steel tank, a portion of the wine was then put into barrel - all new - for three weeks with the lees stirred on a regular basis. After picking up just a light sheen of wooding, the wine is then transferred back into stainless steel tank for another few months before it's bottled.

"Unfortunately I think we release it too early. You get that slight smokiness showing... It takes time for the full Semillon fruit expression to happen."

Only 5000l of this wine was made and a mark of its popularity is that every year it's almost sold out before release! "People who know Semillon love it, and people who don't know Semillon really enjoy it when given the opportunity to taste it."

Penfold is already looking forward to the 2008 vintage - but with some trepidation. "This award - even though I've never placed much emphasis on achievements - is exciting but also daunting. The expectation and anticipation becomes that much higher."

2007 DINERS CLUB young WINEMAKER OF THE YEAR

WINNER: Ruth Frances Penfold for Steenberg Semillon 2007

Other TOP-RATED WINES (alphabetical order):

- Allée Bleue Starlette Blanc 2007 (white blend) (Michael Carl van Niekerk)
- Babylon's Peak Chenin Blanc 2007 (Stephan Basson)
- Cape Point Isliedh 2006 (white blend) (Duncan Savage)
- Le Grand Chasseur 1881 Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (Wickus Erasmus)
- Uva Mira Chardonnay 2004 (Matthew van Heerden)