Cape rhythms

Knowing the South African winemakers Gary and Kathy Jordan, it’s a fair bet that when their new London eatery, High Timber, open its doors close to the Millennium Bridge this month, it will have a good chance of succeeding even in these tough times. The Jordans are the likeable and self-evidently courageous couple behind Jordan Estate in Stellenbosch, which achieves the distinction of making both succulent reds and mouthwatering whites. Their 2006 Jordan Chameleon Cabernet Merlot, £10, Jeroboams shops, is a succulently juicy Margaux-meet-the-Cape blend of blackcurrant with a capsicum whiff, the 2004 Jordan Cobblers Hill, £17.95 - £19.99, Jeroboams, Ex Cellar, Surrey (01372 275247), Flying Corkscrew (01442 412312), sawinesonline.co.uk, one of the Cape’s most stylish aromatically rich and complex, cassis-centred bordeaux-style blends.

The Jordan whites include one of the Cape’s benchmark chardonnays, the 2007 Jordan Nine Yards Chardonnay, £18.49 - £19.10, sawwinesonline.com, Jeroboams, but the wine that struck me recently was their 2008 Jordan Chameleon White, £8.55 - £8.99, Jeroboams, Quaff Wines, Brighton (01273 820320), a refreshingly food-friendly, new vintage blend of mainly sauvignon blanc with chardonnay, whose herbal aromatic notes are rounded out by the richly buttery qualities of the chardonnay. It’s no secret that the Cape’s dry white wines have made great strides in the decade. But instead of sticking to the tried and tested varietal path of chenin blanc, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc on their own, the more adventurous wine producers are trying out combinations of the aromatic and textural qualities of different grape varieties in blends.

Bags of variety

At its simplest, the result is wines like the 2008 Flagstone Noon Gun, £8.99, buy 3 = £5.99, Thresher, a refreshingly unoaked, peardroppy glugger. A step up, Bouchard Finlayson’s spritz-fresh and zingy 2008 Blanc de Mer, £8.40 - £8.99, Lea & Sandeman shops, Great Grog, Edinburgh (0131 555 0222), Swig, sawinesonline.co.uk, a fruit salad blend of riesling, viognier, chenin and the rest, delivers fish-friendly, lemony flavours in spades, while the 2007 Vondeling Petit Blanc, around £7.95, Swig, sawinesonline.co.uk, is another tropically juicy fresh stonefruity blend from Voor-Paardeberg in Paarl in this instance based on the chenin blanc and viognier grapes.

Based on aromatic freshness and the zing of sauvignon blanc, the Bordeaux white Graves style is becoming a feature of Cape blends. Zevenwacht’s Tin Mine White, £9.29 - £9.79, Cooden Cellars (01323 649663), sawinesonline.co.uk, a blend of sauvignon with chardonnay and viognier, delivers a delicious mouthful of tropical fruit flavours backed up by smoky oak. Nederberg’s Ingenuity White, £15.99, sawwinesonline.com, is an eight-way blend in which sauvignon and chardonnay are the dominant varieties, bringing a touch of aromatic herb and vanilla to the big, bold, Cape-meets-Graves flavours, while the 2006 Tokara White, £16.50 - £20.95, Swig, winedirect.co.uk, Harrogate Fine Wine Company (01423 522270), Noel Young (01223 566744), sawinesonline.co.uk, is the ultimate Cape expression of the style, a thoroughly stylish blend in which herbal, lemony notes underpin a dry white of opulent, textured fruitiness.

White Blends In

Another of the Cape’s great white hopes draws on its heritage of old bush vine chenin blanc vines. Such is the case with the 2007 Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards White, around £13.99, Delilah Fine Foods, Nottingham (0115 9484461), Swig, a powerful chenin blend with clairette and viognier which bring peach and honeyed characters to this delicious food wine. Similarly, Vondeling’s 2006 Babiana, around £10, Swig, staubynwines.com, bring viognier and chardonnay together in this liquid stonefruit and honeyed classic. Not for the faint-hearted, the 2006 Lammershoek Roulette Blanc, around £10.25-£11.99, The Butlers Wine Cellar, Brighton (01273 698 724), Bentley’s Wines, Ludlow (01584 875 520), The Vineking, Reigate (0870 850 8997), Luvians Bottle Shop, St.Andrews (01334 477752), WoodWinters, Bridge of Allan (01786 834 894 and 0131 667 2760), deFine Food and Wine, Cheshire (01606 882101), is an impressively rich blend whose undertones of cinnamon spice make this unconventional, opulent dry white a food wine for those prepared to try out daring matches.

Sawinesonline.co.uk (0845 456 2365): 12 bottles delivery charge £6.99, or £7.49 for 2 or 6 bottles.
Swig (freephone 08000 272 272; www.swig.co.uk): order 6 bottles delivery charge £9.50.

Something For the Weekend 7 March 2009

Under a Fiver

2007 Falanghina Feudi di San Gregorio. Even £6.99 was frankly cheap for this really stylish dry southern Italian white from Campania, whose richly yet refreshing stonefruit flavours and refreshing zing are not a million miles from chablis, but the bin-end price is a go-for-it must. £4.89, down from £6.99, bin-end, Oddbins.

Under a Tenner.

2008 Freeman’s Bay Winemaker’s Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough. All you could ask for, and more, from a Kiwi sauvignon blanc at this price: passion fruit and elderflower mingling on the nose, mouthwateringly crisp and juicy passion fruit flavours topped off by a grapefruit zesty, citrusy dry aftertaste. £5.99, Aldi.

Splash Out

2005 Orovela Saperavi, Georgia. If £16.99 sounds an awful lot for a wine from Georgia, you in fact get an awful lot for your money. Never mind the Mondavi-lookalike label or heavy bottle, the wine inside is delicious: a vivid, modern, well-crafted, lightly oaked red made from Georgia’s quality grape variety, the saperavi, and chock-full of approachably juicy mulberry fruit. £16.99, Waitrose, 6 branches and Waitrose Wine Direct.