The great leap forward
The great leap
Though Stellenbosch winery De Toren has impressed since inception, it’s taken until now to pick up its first rating of 5 Stars for Fusion V 2007. Christian Eedes looks at how this came about.
It’s difficult to know what De Toren owner Emil den Dulk will make of the 2007 vintage of his flagship Bordeaux-style red Fusion V being rated 5 Stars in this issue as he’s been outspoken in recent times that local judges don’t have sufficient exposure to international benchmarks to be able to recognise what he is attempting to achieve.
Maiden vintage was 1999 and it quickly attracted a cult following. This was driven in part by bling packaging and sussed marketing (Fusion V, always available at consumer show WineX, poured from Riedel decanters by the suited-‘n-booted De Toren crew) but also by a product whose time had come. A decade ago, South Africa’s top-end reds picked up considerable criticism from international commentators for being thin and weedy, and Den Dulk, previously a Johannesburg-based direct-marketing whizz, astutely observed that there was a gap in the market for a wine that showed better fruit concentration.
And so was conceived Fusion V. A defining characteristic is that every vintage features the five classic varieties of Bordeaux (these being Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot) hence the Fusion V part of the name. ‘De Toren’, meanwhile, refers to a 4 000-litre pressure tank fitted into a lift shaft ensuring that the cellar can use the gentler force of gravity rather than pumping to transfer wine between tanks.
What wowed about the wine initially was indeed the intensity of fruit, but what’s now starting to emerge is real complexity, the 2006 being the first vintage to be rated 5 Stars in Platter’s and now the 2007 the first in WINE magazine (see pages 88 to 92).
This Den Dulk and winemaker Albie Koch put down to a more complete understanding of their vineyards, and it has to be said that together with viticulturist Ernest Manuel their approach is as thorough as anyone’s. The property consists of two vineyard blocks, one 17ha in size and the other 7ha. The larger block is west-facing and therefore attracts more sun than the smaller, south-facing one. Though Fusion V is intended to be open in structure, it is Cabernet Sauvignon driven, which can be quite austere, so it is the bigger block with a warmer aspect that supplies the grapes for it. Fruit from the smaller block, meanwhile, goes into the Z, which is Merlot driven and meant to be less full-bodied.
The vineyard blocks have been planted after the most rigorous soil analysis, each variety matched to the most appropriate soil type, the final layout being patchwork in nature. “Not only do we match cultivars to soil types, we match cultivars to rootstocks to soil types,” says Den Dulk. “And we have approximately 25 different clones across the five varieties,” adds Koch.
According to Den Dulk, viticulturist Manuel was appointed in 2003 with the brief of “taking us from 90 points to 93 points”, the wine having received high scores on the 100-point scale as used by the influential US magazines Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator but the objective being to rate even higher. In order to do this, Manuel says his approach has been to “let the terroir do the work”. Instead of artificial nutrient and fertiliser management to ensure plant health, his aim is to get the soil at its best by natural means – high organic matter means lots of microorganisms that help with the nitrogen cycle. He wants healthy soil, which will, in turn, make for a healthy plant that will produce optimal fruit. “You have a healthy vine, you ultimately have a more complex mouthfeel in the final wine,” he says.
Row direction runs northeastsouthwest as opposed to the conventional east-west to allow as much sun to penetrate the vineyard but also let the southwest wind that prevails in the lead-up to harvest to cool the fruit and provide a more gradual ripening.
Sorting of fruit quality begins before final harvest, with Manuel making five or six passes through the vineyard, dropping not just green bunches, but even unsatisfactory parts of bunches that are otherwise ripening well. About 40% of the crop is dispensed with in this way, while a further 10% is removed as it comes across the sorting table at the cellar after picking.
With the onset of harvest, the De Toren team uses aerial imaging to determine different ripeness levels and those sections that are ready for picking are marked off with hazard tape. “It’s micromanaging for excellence,” says Den Dulk. In the cellar, Den Dulk describes the approach as “softly, softly, gently, softly”. He refers to “push downs” rather than “punch downs” when it comes to breaking up the cap of skins during fermentation, while Koch reveals that postfermentation macerations are relatively short: three to five days for Merlot, seven days for Cabernet Sauvignon.
As for the oaking regime, Koch is adamant that this should not obscure the fruit. The 2007 was in barrel for 12 months, 50% new and 50% second-fill, mostly French, although the Malbec went into American. Intriguingly, he likes to use barrels from a Burgundian cooper for his Cabernet Sauvignon as he feels they afford more elegance. “Recipe winemaking doesn’t work,” he says of this departure from the norm.
Total production of Fusion V 2007 was 3 600 cases and it sells for R270 from the farm. It’s a world-class wine but don’t expect Den Dulk and co to rest on their laurels. “We got lucky, but the secret is to stay lucky,” says Den Dulk, who’s committed to a programme of continuous fine-tuning. “We’re chasing perfection knowing that we’ll never attain it.”
De Toren Private Cellar
Physical address: Polkadraai Road, Stellenbosch
gps coordinates: S 33° 57’ 34.5”
E 18° 45’ 7.5”
CONTACT: 021 881 3119
info@de-toren.com
www.de-toren.com
Sales: Monday to Friday 8:00 to 17:00
Tastings: No fee, but by
appointment only
Tours: By appointment
Established: 1994 (first bottling 1999)
Owner: Edenhall Trust (since 1998)
Winemaker: Albie Koch (since
September 1998)
Viticulturalist: Ernest Manuel
Under vine: 21ha (100% red)
Production: 150 tons pa
Wine Portfolio:
Red: Fusion V (2007 vintage: 55% Cabernet
Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, 15%
Malbec, 10% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot)
Z (2007 vintage: 47% Merlot, 29%
Cabernet Franc,10% Cabernet Sauvignon,
8% Malbec, 6% Petit Verdot)
WHERE TO DRINK DE TOREN FUSION V
Restaurants with chefs that Koch thinks truly appreciate the Fusion V style:
Reuben’s, 19 Huguenot Street,
Franschhoek. Tel 021 876 3772.
Terroir, Kleine Zalze, off R44,
Stellenbosch. Tel 021 880 8167.
The Tasting Room at LQF, Le
Quartier Français, Huguenot Street,
Franschhoek. Tel 021 876 2151.
