For The Love Of Port

I holidayed in South Africa this summer and was going through the photos I took when I came across this tasting note I took when the extended family demolished a bottle of 15 year old vintage South African "port" one evening. I have to say, it was delicious but was distinctly different from a Portuguese VP.

Here's the tasting note:

Aug 05 - very watery look in the glass, but quite viscous and with plenty of legs. Colour was a very brown shade of red - reminded me of the colour of diluted plum cordial. On the nose was a wonderful boquet of walnuts and figs with hints of marmalade. In the mouth it was all dried figs and raisins - tasted like a tawny rather than a VP. Alcohol was well integrated and the finish was a decent length, but not as long as I would hope. Overall, a very enjoyable example of a first class South African VP. 91 points.

Alex,

Nice note. I spent a full day at Allesverloren with Danie Malan and his family. Great people. I was brought there by a winemaker friend in SA that I worked with to blend my own line of SA wines which I sold in the USA. He had been in touch with Danie and told him of my love of Port. Danie went out and purchased a vertical of his own vintage ports, as they did not have the older vintages in their library anymore. I got to try each and every one of their vintage and tawny ports, in addition to all of their red wines which is quite the handful. I was there from morning through the evening and we had an amazing braai in the Malan's backyard.

The Allesverloren Estate, is the oldest in the Riebeek Valley of the Swaartland region and is about 305 years old. They have a plethora of animals and birds in the back of the house in large cages. It is one of the great places to visit and Danie is quite the character and has 2 hollow legs to say the least.

Put on the spot to give a thorough run through of each and every Vp when we were done, I gave my impressions and then one major suggestion. I think at first Danie was taken aback that I brought this up, but ultimately I thought it was something that could make his ports even better. The aromatics were lackluster and really uninspiring in just about every one of the Vps. I explained that it was the mix of grapes used and gave specifics as to how he could improve the profile of his aromatics in the wines. I know that the guy I was with agreed with me and as a "flying winemaker" in SA, his opinion was very much respected by Danie who then seemed to soften and agree, saying, "I really have never paid much attention to that part of port winemaking."

I still have one small bottle of the 1991 Vp in my home, as that was by far the best of all their Vps that I tasted. Great stuff. Danie, like his father is willing to go out on the limb and experiment even though most believe that he is somewhat of a traditionalist. Not the case!

Roy

On my recent trip, I also managed to find three other bottles of South African "port" that I brought back with me. These are:
Boplaas 2002 (which Wine Spectator gives 86 points)
KWV 1999
KWV Diaz 1981

Do you have any experience with the wines listed above?

What struck me was that South Africa ports are remarkable value for money. I paid less than $35 dollars per bottle!

Alex

Alex,

I am biased as I love anything to do with the Western Cape of So. Africa. After Portugal it is my favorite place on earth. I have spent a good amount of time there, have made very good friends there and love the people, culture, food and wine.

I have extensively explored the ports from SA and have found that my preference tends towards SA Tawny ports rather than their VPs.

I have had "colheitas" or their "reserve tawnies" going back to 1924-'26 with '29 and '39 being amongst my favorites (both were KWV labels).

Boplass is a fine label for SA port production and the winemaker there ... unbeknownst to most ... also makes the VP at Quinta da Pacheca in Portugal. Amazing eh?

They have the raw goods (all key Port grapes) from Portuguese rootstock in the Cape, and 80+ years of history making the wine ... plus excellent stocks of brandy for fortification ... so there is no excuse not to make top notch port-styled wine.

That said, I have not had any of the specific port vintages you mentioned.

Roy,

I must admit that I and the rest of my family fell in love with the Western Cape - so much so that my 11 year old daughter is now working on a plan to get a career that will allow her to emigrate there.

Perhaps South Africa might feature one day in the schedules for your new travel company .... :)
Alex

Alex,

If I did not live on the W. Coast of the USA, I'd be visiting SA much more often. Unfortunately, the flight duration, connections required, plane changes and time changes ... make it a particularly grueling flight. It would be akin to you flying to the Southern tip of Argentina, but the time change is worse going East.