The Wise Man of Wine
The Wise Man of Wine
Some interesting observations and predictions at a Waterfront wine shop.
Forget about a pilgrimage to Delphi to consult an oracle. Vaughan Johnson performs the same function from behind a paper-strewn desk at the V&A Waterfront. Besides, having recently returned from a disappointing trip to Istanbul ("it was the end of Ramadan and the three best restaurants were fully booked so I had to settle for a G&T at the Kempinski"), the Sage of Sauvignon is briefing against exotic destinations: "It takes you two days to figure out where you are and then it's time to leave."
Kalmoesfontein kalander Adi Badenhorst is also a regular, for whenever I'm consulting the Clairvoyant of Chenin, Adi stops by. "I have a simple rule," announces the Seer of Shiraz. "I only buy wine from winemakers I like." A rule which has secured a listing for Adi at Harrod's in London - Al Fayed's wine manager used to work for the Guru of Grenache.
Forget about terroir or discounts; it's friendship that clinches the deal for this Mahatma of Merlot. I consulted the Pundit of Pinot on the eve of the Nederburg Auction and he was in a sombre mood - noir almost - rewriting his will. "I'm 59. Girlfriends come and go but I've got 20 couches to leave to someone so I've divided my friends into an A-list and a B-list. Presuming I have any assets left. The acid test is: would they leave me anything?"
On the subject of the economy, he was equally pessimistic. This Channeller of Chardonnay has been selling wine to the tourist market from his Waterfront berth since 1992 when the development opened. "I've never seen it this quiet and I'm dreading Christmas. I suspect all the tourists will pass and save up for a visit in 2010. We're going to start selling boerewors rolls." His forecast was correct with Nederburg takings down 16% - and on the day he left for the Bosporus, the heavens opened and Istanbul was deluged with floods.
Too early for lunch at Den Anker with Neleen Strauss, who was in town to buy wine at the Cape Winemakers Guild Auction for her High Timber Restaurant upstream from the Millennium Bridge in London (she was up Table Mountain with partners Gary and Kathy Jordan and her Italian-based PR bear), I stopped by for a consultation. "It's the weather!" beamed the sunny Savant of Semillon. "Cape Town turns on a tickie. The tourists are back..."
His prediction was spot on. The Cape Winemakers Guild Auction is now history and marked a definite turning point of sorts. Not that sales were up 5% on decreased volumes (down 10% on 2008) - all true and unexpected - but rather that terroir has been replaced by friendship in its most extreme form - celebrity worship.
How else do you explain the clamour to buy MCC at R500 a bottle before VAT, shipping and insurance? Or Syrah for R850 or half-bottles of Dave Trafford's Perspective 2007 Bordeaux-style blend for over R400 each?
As Alan Pick admitted, "Neil Ellis's Rodanos 2007 was wine of the Auction" - a sentiment shared by James "Poor Vaarterberg" Molesworth from Wine Spectator and Steve "the moustache" Tanzer, a Big Man on US blogs. Pick chased the price up to R480 a bottle (he bought 28 of the 80 cases), which is still less than 2/3 the price of Marc Kent's Syrah that he was grabbing like a Ballito housewife in a sardine run.
Pendock's Plonk: Louis Nel Neighbour's Wrath Cabernet Sauvignon 2007. Nel himself describes it as "a fruit loop - with plush tannins and a luxurious finish". Give him a Tin-Tin kuif and dress him in Xiaxuan Xu (the hot new Chinese designer in Kloof Street) and the wine will treble the R240 a bottle it averaged at the CWG Auction.
Neil Pendock is wine writer for the Sunday Times and Financial Mail.
