Gemoedsrus launch and a vertical expression…

This was to be a vertical tasting. I wondered whether I had to stand throughout, and whether I could, knowing my inclination not to spit. In addition to which there were eight reds and a fortified wine to explore.

Now if you are at all like me, you know that dooswyn burns a bit at first and that wine over R20 a bottle is smoother. But I am a willing student, and at this event I was all ears. Luckily I was sitting next to some very well informed people who didn’t look at me too sympathetically when I revealed my ignorance, and turned out to be jolly good company to boot.

We have all heard about the desiccation process that Mark Solms resuscitated in his determination to see everything with a fresh eye and avoid the ‘normal’ way of going about things. You clamp the stem of the bunch of grapes, effectively cutting off its food supply, and leave it hanging in the sun and in the warm breeze for a few weeks. This concentrates the flavour, and increases the tannin and the alcohol, both of which enhance the preservative quality of the wine. Greg Landman said that he could taste in the Hiervandaan 2004 that the tannins had dropped back, and that the acids were well controlled. ‘I could easily throw back a bottle’ he added, which is more the kind of talk I can relate to. Hilko, the Solms-Delta winemaker responsible for all the wines we were tasting, said it was likely that the ancient Greeks realised that wines that kept better had been made from grapes that had been left to dry on the vine for a while before harvesting.

I sat across the table from Jos Baker, food and wine critic and a national treasure by all accounts, and discussed the medicinal value of wine. Michael Olivier, another wine and food guru at the table, told us about a winemaker who lived to a vast age by drinking half a glass of vodka with orange juice with her lunch and supper. It seemed a little abstruse of her. Mike Bampfield-Duggan (Wine Concepts and GrapeFuel) said he could taste cranberry, plum, fruity, spiciness and almonds in the Hiervandaan 2005. Wow! The consensus was that the Hiervandaan 2006 went best with the veldkool (wild spinach) and lentil soup of Fyndraai magician culinaire Shaun Schoeman. It was creamy, peppery and delicately flavoured.

I’m totally amazed by the ‘notes’ wine boffins find in the glass. Ingrid Motteux, who writes for the John Platter guide, said it is simply a case of deciding whether the wine you are drinking is integrated, balanced, and has depth and complexity. I think I could probably work out the last two. She made me feel more hopeful of getting somewhere with my wine education. The next course (ostrich pie or risotto) followed the tasting of the previous four vintages of my personal favourite, Africana. Hilko explained the more technical details of this wine but I just know that Africana is smooth and soft and round and full. Those are my wine words for all four vintages, straight up!

Finally we got to the main event. The launch of Gemoedsrus. It is very simply unique because it is a fortified shiraz, and a ‘nie-poort’, according to Mark Solms, who may just be an anarchist at heart. It was perfectly paired with a cheese platter and he declared this wine to be Hilko’s masterpiece. ‘I don’t know where he can go from here’ he said. ‘This is the epitome of all our endeavours’.

And then he told us that this wine had just been laid down when Alex van Heerden died, and everyone wanted to do something in memory of Solms-Delta’s resident musician.  Alex had just finished recording an album called Gemoedsrus, so this gave the wine its name. The wonderful thing is that Les Javan, who wrote the song, is now resident musician at Solms-Delta, and along with a team of musicians has nurtured the talents that Alex identified on the farm, and recorded the old local songs. Les and the Delta Soetstemme sang Gemoedsrus for us. It has a lilting rhythm and a plaintive melody and tells a sad story about a love that was lost to death. ‘’n Tranetrekker van lief en leed’ said Toast Coetzer. Like the wine, it has a lingering memory.

Mark Solms had the most to say about this wine. It is not a Port, he emphasized, because it does not use a Portuguese varietal. It is a  Shiraz. Moreover, the Shiraz is desiccated. It is not fortified with brandy but with grappa. What fascinated me was that the bits of grape that made the grappa that fortified this nie-poort, are usually tossed out. They are not even put on the vines as compost because ‘you don’t want to make the grapes too happy’. I don’t know if this was the wine talking at this stage.

Gemoedsrus is yummy sweet and it could be divine over crushed ice, but it is not as sweet as Port normally is. I learned today that at 88 grams per liter it is just under the 90-120 grams per liter norm. Holiha. The fundis told me you would taste immediately that it wasn’t a port, but it is dressed like a port, it is presented like a port and it is sweet and red like a port …

All of which goes to show that you can expect something new out of Solms-Delta when you get invited to a tasting, and no, you don’t have to stand through it.

Patty Kolbe (Solms-Delta)

Have a look at photos from the launch on our Facebook fan page.