It seems I’m destined never to finish Eric Newby’s comedic masterpiece masquerading as a travelogue, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, published over 50 years ago. Copy #1, ordered from Abebooks, was left in the economy class seat pocket of an Emirates flight to Singapore while its replacement from Kalahari.net was left in Phil’s taxi this morning to Jo’burg airport. Which is a pity, as I’d wanted to quote the section on the vineyards of Kafiristan which backs up Saxenburg winemaker Nico van der Merwe and his anecdote about Wellington viticulturalist Christo Wiese (as opposed to Clifton retail mogul Christo Wiese) selling grape vines to Afghanistan.

I was flying Capeside for a vertical tasting of Fleur du Cap Noble Late Harvest wines at Coopmanhuijs Boutique Hotel in the middle of Stellenbosch, presented by FDC white winemaker Pieter Badenhorst. Pieter believes in the ageability of his product to such an extent, he collects the stuff as a 21st birthday present for his son, who was born in 2007. Good luck Pieter Jnr. as the way social control of behavior goes, NLH will likely be illegal by the time you get the key to the door. Not because alcohol consumption will have gone the way of social smoking (although there is an outside chance of that), but because it will probably be illegal to make wine with a residual sugar level of 250 g/l, which is the case with your pa’s 2008 vintage.

Vertical FDC NLH

The first thing that strikes about the Coopmanshuijs hotel is that they spell Koopman with a “C” which to my Anglicized eye looks like Co-op, which is sort of what these wines are, being made from bought-in grapes. A United Nations of cultivars for 2005, Riesling in the case of vintages 2006-2008 and Chenin for the 2009, after the Riesling vineyard was grubbed up as being economically non-viable. If it wasn’t for the colour differences, I would have sworn that the 2009 is also made from Riesling, such is the similarity of young, high acid SA Chenin to Riesling to my palate.

Greg Landman camping it up at the Coopmanhuijs

I’d been pleasantly seduced by a glass of Perdeberg Chenin 2009 on Monday returning to Jo’burg in Business Class (involuntary upgrade) on BA and pondered how similar it tasted to the 2007 Andre Ostertag Riesling Grand Cru Muenchberg enjoyed for lunch with a Strega pizza at Posticino in Sea Point, as we roared over the Karoo at 35 000 feet. The Ostertag was a glorious autumnal yellow in the glass, orange blossom and minerals on the nose, delicate mango and peach flavours in the mouth with a lingering aftertaste. The vinous double of the Perdeberg in everything except price. Ostertag Riesling retails in Alsace at around €35 a bottle, while Lawrence Jones, now nicknamed the Dirty Harry of the Troyeville Hotel after he found a magnum hidden behind the bath, tells me Perdeberg Chenin is on special at Checkers at R22.

Pieter Badenhorst and some spectacularly embossed wallpaper

The Good Value Guru presently guzzling oysters in France, we made a quick substitution, with a taster from The People’s Guide appearing in GVG strip. The Fleur du Cap 2009 NLH emerged as favourite in Pieter’s five vintage line-up and is the GVG’s first pick of the 2010 campaign. While the 2006 is arguably drinking better now, the 2009 is taking baby steps, but the terrific balance between acid and residual sugar indicates a glorious future for this wine. No wonder Nederburg Cellarmaster Razvan Macici, who this year will make 50 000 litres of NLH from 100 tons of botrytis infected grapes, hailed the 2009 as “the best NLH yet made at FDC.” Strong praise indeed, as Razvan has forgotten more things about NLH wines than most winos will ever learn.

Related posts:

1. Superlative Chenin @ Spier The parking lots and manicured lawns of Spier were buzzing...
2. Chenin: “a game changer for SA” says Charles Banks Charles Banks, who used to manage the money of basketball...
3. Nederburg Pumps @ the Taj Today’s Cape Times offers Nederburg Baronne for R35 a bottle...
4. 100 Women – the Wines Well the 100 ladies have spoken and here are 100...
5. Lessons from Majestic A sparkling set of results from UK wine merchant Majestic...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.