De Trafford Newsletter and New Releases: August 2011
2011 harvest seems such a long time ago now. A hot, dry and fast harvest. Starting quite early and finishing very early around mid- March, but although one of our shortest harvests, each block ripened after one another and enabled us to get everything into the cellar without too much panic. The earlier varieties performed better for us, Chenin Blanc and Merlot as well as Syrah in a very big, rich style, but the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot struggled a bit at the end of a long hot summer. We are still struggling to get some of the Cabernet Sauvignon to complete fermentation – one of the difficulties of using only natural occurring yeasts!
TRIP TO BELGIUM, GERMANY AND PORTUGAL – MAY/JUNE 2011
We had an intensely productive sales trip to Belgium and Germany as well as a highly informative and hugely enjoyable visit to the Duoro. See our report here. It’s probably too long for most to read, but scroll down and look at the photos and home in on the interesting bits!
WALDO VAN ZYL (Sijnn Assistant Winemaker)
We recently employed a young winemaker, having qualified at Elsenburg, to help us with our Sijnn wines. Waldo will not only be involved in every aspect of production, but also sales and marketing. He will be spending time in the market presenting and discussing these interesting wines with potential and existing customers.
Waldo has had excellent experience at prestigious cellars including Tokara, Waterford, Xanadu in Australia and Hartenberg and is already fitting in well and proving to be an asset. We’re just disappointed he didn't bring the Vintner’s Classic Surf Trophy back to the top of the Blaauwklip Valley – next year we’ll have to give him more time off to practice or maybe some of our customers could give him some tips!
XENIA DE VRIES (Administration, Sales and Marketing)
Nikki moved on a few months ago to an exciting new position at Val de Vie in Paarl. Although we had adequate notice, our trip to Belgium etc. delayed our recruitment by a month. Waldo ably stepped in to the admin. hot seat for the month of July, but still a huge backlog awaited young Xenia!
Xenia has an interesting CV, having studied Fine Art at U.C.T. for a year, followed by a few years of logistics co-ordination and more recently sales and marketing for a highly regarded wine and olive estate. She clearly has a strong creative side, while being extremely organised and efficient – the latter certainly lacking in the rest of us! Oh, and the other interesting thing about Xenia is that she’s a rock climber – so if she’s not in the office you know where to look!
CAPE WINEMAKERS GUILD AUCTION 2011
We are delighted to have two wines on Auction this year, to be held at Spier in the Stellenbosch on Saturday morning 1 October 2011. Anyone can participate, contact the CWG office to register kate@capewinemakersguild.com and they will explain the various bidding options if you cannot actually attend.
De Trafford Perspective 2008 (Cabernet Franc 50%; Merlot 25%; Cabernet Sauvignon 25%)
Available in 750ml as well as 375ml bottles. A selection of 3 new barrels from our “393” Mont Fleur vineyard.
Sijnn Touriga Nacional 2009 Our first Sijnn wine on Auction and the first Touriga Nacional on Auction. Exceptionally well received by the press and VIP guests at the Cape Town tasting a few days ago, but historically unusual varieties don't sell at high prices on the Auction, so it will be interesting to see how well this one does! Selected from a block on schist “soil” with ridiculously low yield and later blended with a portion from rolled stone “soil” to give aromatic lift and lightness. First year in 2 new 225L barrels and second year in an old 400L barrel.
Apart from our two wines, there is a great selection of wines on offer this year. Some other favourites include: Cape Point Barrel Fermented Sauvignon Blanc 2010; Bouchard Finlayson Pinot Noir 2009; Le Riche Cabernet Sauvignon Auction Reserve 2008; Rust en Vrede Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2009; Boekenhoutskloof Syrah Auction Reserve 2009 and Kanonkop CWG Pinotage 2009.
NEW
RELEASES
After a few delays, we finally have these exciting new wines available for sale:
De Trafford Chenin Blanc 2010
A small harvest of great intensity, rich and ripe, but restrained enough not to be overwhelming. Unusually for De Trafford this wine has a touch of sugar, 4 g/l sugar, though still technically dry, adds a nice soft, slightly sweet finish, better suited to slightly spicy Asian dishes, as well as full flavoured fish or shellfish.
De Trafford Merlot
2008
The lack of interest in Merlot continues in many markets. Ever heard of Pomerol; Petrus; Le Pin? Great Merlots at huge prices without mentioning the varietal on the label – perhaps it’s time to do the same? Just try this wine, although from a weaker vintage has tremendous complex flavours with many years of life ahead.
De Trafford Blueprint
Syrah 2009
This wine produced mostly from neighbouring vineyard and winery, Keermont has always been overshadowed by the high performing “estate” Syrah below, but has also not received a score lower than 90 from the Wine Spectator since the first vintage in 2003. We certainly seem to be in an enclave of Syrah excellence with nearby Waterford and Stellenzicht having excellent established reputations and more recently Tamboerskloof committing itself entirely to Syrah and Viognier, gaining a solid reputation too.
De Trafford Syrah 393
2009
The 2008 was rated “Red Wine of the Year” by the Platter Wine Guide and the 2007 was rated 95 points in the Wine Spectator, jointly the highest rating ever for a South African wine. 3 of the last 4 vintages were rated 5 stars by the Platter Guide and every vintage since the first in 1998 has been rated 90 points or more by the Wine Spectator. There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the great vineyards of the world and it is only time and our manmade limitations holding us back from getting to the next level.
2009 is considered by most fellow winemakers as the vintage of the decade. After 12 successful vintages we’ve decided to change the name to Syrah 393 to connect with our Elevation 393 from the same vineyard.
De Trafford Elevation
393 2007
Our flagship blend Elevation 393, always released a few years later to allow the all new French oak to integrate better and the wine to show something of its tremendous potential. Probably the most European styled vintage since 1997 and probably the best Elevation we’ve released to date. This year we included a little Cabernet Franc (13%) to accentuate the elegance of the vintage, but the core of the blend remains Cabernet Sauvignon (40%), Merlot (27%) and Syrah (20%).
Although this wine usually takes a little longer to sell than the Syrah, it is rightfully gaining a reputation as one of South Africa’s top reds and availability will be extremely limited.
De Trafford Straw Wine 2009 is now available after having some problems with getting the 375ml bottles from Italy. An excellent vintage – a serious dessert wine with 255g/l sugar.
Hope you don't miss the opportunity to stock up on some of these wines!
Best Regards
David, Rita, Hendry, Xenia, Waldo and the rest of the De Trafford team.