Waterford finds gold with its Bordeaux blend

Treasure hunting

Waterford Auction Reserve 2005 is rated 5 Stars in this issue, and remarkably was made as an afterthought once Flagship red blend The Jem had already been assembled, writes Christian Eedes.

 

Waterford’s Kevin Arnold has a fundamental aim that his wines should reflect the terroir of the property, its situation being at the foot of the Helderberg in Stellenbosch. Ordinarily this would not be considered the most startling revelation as most winemakers express at least superficial respect for terroir (or the notion that wines should taste of the place that they come from) but Arnold has a long and illustrious career fashioning wines that are more revealing of terroir than most.

From 1980 to 1987, Arnold worked at Delheim where he was a key figure in the conception of Grande Reserve, the property’s classically styled and highly age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignon-driven flagship wine. From there he moved to Rust en Vrede were he played a role in elevating the estate wine to near-icon status, his crucial contribution being to introduce Shiraz to what was originally conceptualised as a conventional Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blend.

The last harvest he was fully involved with at Rust en Vrede was 1997 before moving across to Waterford, a property acquired in partnership with Jeremy Ord of Dimension Data fame. “I wanted to take what I’d started at Delheim and Rust en Vrede to the next level. We’ve planted 11 different red varieties which will hopefully give us the best possible chance of expressing what this property is all about.”

Arnold and winemaker Francois Haasbroek incumbent since 2005 are convinced that blends give them the best chance of fully realising the property’s potential. “A blend opens up more doors. It’s naïve to believe that a single variety on a single site will deliver greatness. We haven’t come far enough yet to know if we’ve got each variety in exactly the right location, and besides, the vines are too young.” He makes the further point that the best wines of the Heldeberg area have always been blends, those serving as particular reference being Alto Rouge dating back decades and, more recently, Rust en Vrede and Cordoba Crescendo. “With our low-potential soils, it makes sense to have more varieties, which can serve as an insurance policy.”

Though the Waterford Cabernet Sauvignon and Kevin Arnold Shiraz are labelled as single varietal wines, they typically contain portions of other varieties (as permitted by law as long as additions do not exceed 15% of the final wine). Flagship wine The Jem meanwhile sees Arnold’s vision come to fruition. Maiden vintage being 2004, this is a multi-varietal blend which answers the brief he set himself of a wine that offers “refinement, finesse and texture”, the antithesis of the “blockbuster wines” that recently have been much celebrated but which he believes are now on the way out. Current release is the 2006 vintage, total production being 750 cases, the wine selling for R680 a bottle from the farm.

Despite the fact that the composition of The Jem is inevitably different every year, it always has Cabernet Sauvignon in a leading role with the so-called ‘Mediterranean’ varieties (Shiraz, Mourvèdre, Barbera and Sangiovese) introducing an element of spice, a general category of flavour Arnold believes is increasingly in favour with discerning consumers. “It’s driven by the rise of the Italian kitchen. Italian wine, being medium-bodied and not heavily oaked, lends itself to this kind of food.”

Ultimately, though, The Jem is not intended to be derivative of anything and those experiencing it “need to put on a different cap” according to Arnold. “We’re trying to hone it into something that has its own unique flavour profile but is still competitive at the highest level anywhere in the world.”

“Quality is not negotiable, but what we are attempting to achieve is a wine that offers the widest possible flavour spectrum but is also lighter and more ethereal [than what is commonly thought to constitute great wine],” chips in Haasbroek. “We’re looking for length of flavour without the wine being big in structure. Few South African wines provide this,” says Arnold. “It’s tricky because as soon as professional tasters encounter something they’re unfamiliar with, they tend to go on the defensive.”

Arnold is a member of the Cape Winemakers Guild and he has used this organisation’s annual auction to make wines available that are part of the ongoing process of exploring new ideas. “We would never put a barrel selection of our standard offering up for sale,” he says. It is one of these wines that come to the fore in this issue’s Bordeaux-style red blend tasting, the Waterford Auction Reserve 2005 collecting the magazine’s ultimate accolade of 5 Stars (see pages 88 to 92).

“2005 was such a good vintage that after we’d made The Jem, we decided to put together a Bordeaux-style blend for the auction,” says Arnold, it being a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Malbec and 10% Merlot. Out of a total production of 100 cases, 70 were sold at last year’s auction, fetching an average price of R460 a bottle; at the time of writing, there was no indication whether or not the remainder had been selected for sale this year.

The wine spent 23 months in 100% new French oak and shows great fruit expression, fresh acidity and firm but fine tannins. Most definitely built for the long haul, Arnold says, “It’s sad to think that a lot of it has already been drunk at certain outlets in Johannesburg…”

WATERFORD WINES SOLD AT THE
CAPE WINEMAKERS GUILD AUCTION
2004
Waterford Auction Reserve 2003
40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Shiraz,
12% Mourvèdre, 10% Merlot, 6%
Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot,
2% Malbec
Number of cases sold: 100 (6x750ml)
Highest: R1 850 Lowest: R1 550
Average: R1 724
2005
Waterford Auction Reserve 2003
Number of cases sold: 100 (6x750ml)
Highest: R2 000 Lowest: R1 900
Average: R1 947
2007
Waterford Auction Reserve 2004
(Bordeaux-style)
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Cabernet
Franc, 5% Malbec, 5% Merlot,
5% Petit Verdot
Number of cases sold: 100 (6x750ml)
Highest: R2 200 Lowest: R1 900
Average: R2 022
2008
Waterford Auction Reserve 2004
(Mediterranean)
50% Shiraz, 35% Mourvèdre, 10% Petit
Verdot, 5% Barbera
Number of cases sold: 100 (6x750ml)
Highest: R2 700 Lowest: R2 100
Average: R2 300
2009
Waterford Auction Reserve 2005
80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Malbec,
10% Merlot
Number of cases sold: 70 (6x750ml)
Highest: R3 400 Lowest: R2 400
Average: R2 765.71

Waterford Estate
Physical address: Blaauwklippen
Road, Stellenbosch
gps coordinates: S 33°59'54.6"
E 018°52'12.7"
contact: 021 880 0496
info@waterfordestate.co.za
www.waterfordestate.co.za
Sales: Monday to Friday 10:00 to
17:00, Saturday 10:00 to 15:00
Tastings: fee of R30 to R100pp
Tours: by appointment
Established: 1998
Owner: Jeremy and Leigh Ord, and
Kevin Arnold (since 1998)
Winemaker: Francois Haasbroek (since
June 2004)
Viticulturalist: Lombard Loubser
(since December 2003)
Under vine: 50ha (70% red)
Production: 300 000 litres pa
Wine Portfolio:
Pecan Stream
White: Chenin Blanc; Sauvignon Blanc
Red: Pebble Hill (Shiraz, Mourvèdre)
Waterford
White: Sauvignon Blanc
Red: Kevin Arnold Shiraz (Shiraz,
Mourvèdre)
Sweet: Family Res Heatherleigh NV
(Muscat d’Alexandrie, Semillon)
Waterford Estate
White: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay
Rosé: Rose Mary (Grenache, Sangiovese,
Merlot, Shriaz, Barbera, Mourvèdre,
Malbec, Petit Verdot)
Red: Cabernet Sauvignon
The Jem

COMPOSITION OF THE JEM (From vintage to vintage)                                                                                                                  2004: 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24.5% Cabernet Franc, 15% Shiraz, 10.5% Mourvèdre, 6.5% Petit Verdot, 3.5% Malbec, 3.5% Merlot and 1.5% Barbera 2005: 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Shiraz, 11% Mourvèdre, 7% Malbec, 7% Merlot, 2% Sangiovese and 3% Barbera 2006: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Shiraz, 7.5% Cabernet Franc, 7.5% Malbec, 5% Mourvèdre, 2.5% Barbera and 2.5% Sangiovese