Rainbows End Wine Tasting - Stellenbosch

What a great wine tasting. Ann, the proprieteuse of Summerwood arranged for us to visit Rainbows End on the side of the Simonsberg Mountains, the 43 hectare wine estate of the Malan family.

To get there we had to be picked up in another winery on the side of R310 and Aton Malan would pick us up. He arrived on time in his solid well used Isuzu truck. we jumped in as well as you can jump into anything when you are over the age of 60. We set off on mettalled roads which soon gave way to dirt roads which soon gave way to large boulder stroon roads which brought us to the estate entrance.

By this point we were well into the background and history of the estate. The estate had been bought by father Jacques, farmed by brother Francois and Anton our guide the wine maker, sales and marketing man. The estate was mostly vines but with a few cash crop fruit trees remaining from yesteryear.

We quickly got into Anton's philosophy which starts with Terroir, Terroir, Terroir. Sounded to me like I was back in France! Anton was the first person to mention the word since we arrived. This was quickly followed by the three longs; "Long on the vine, Long in the skins and Long in the barrel". Next we were introduced to the clones.

Now up to this point in my wine life my total exposure to clones had been when I asked a local french farmer who had half a hectare of vines, principally for personal use, what grapes he had planted and what was I drinking? I importantly asked him, undoubtedly in the manner of those terribly pretentious wine buffs. "No 267" he announced. This led to a long involved conversation which tested my french and beyond, but from which I learned that a farmer in France just has to get a soil sample, take it to the appropriate testing station and he will be told which clone will do best for him. Thats what he gets , thats what he grows and makes his wine from. The system clearly works as the wine drinks easily and quickly and only costs 50cts a litre!

Back to Anton, he had his terroir thoroughly tested and with help chose his varieties and clones. Actually, I had better start using the word that Anton uses which is "cultivars".

Anton then drove us around the estate, stopping now and then to adjust the four wheel drive and differentials, in and out of the rows of vines, right to the top of the estate, from where the views are spectacular. If I hadn't mentioned it already the wine country around Stellenbosch is spectacular and Rainbows End views are as spectacular as any!

Anton had decided only red wine and had planted in roughly equal proportions Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Shiraz and Merlot. He has been pretty comfortable with the results from the first three for some time now, but has only recently become happy with his Merlot. He figures that South Africa his really too hot for Merlot, so has solved the problem by planting his Merlot as high as possible where the air is coolest.

Incidentally, when I say Anton in the context of decisions taken relating to the long term startegy of the estate I should point out that Anton makes it quite clear that it is a family decision.

We eventually arrived at the winery part of the estate. We met both Jacques and Francois before seeing how the harvested grapes were managed and how the wine was made. Lets just say that this is far from the industrialized process one finds on the big estates. It is a very hands on process with meticulous attention to detail. As you might guess Anton picksas late as he can and leaves the grape flesh in contact with the skin as long as he can. He presses the skins. As you might imagine he gets good depth of colour and very good fruit on all his wines. He then leaves the the wine al long as possible in the barrel before bottling.

We then did a tasting of 2008 Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from the barrel. I was surprised by all three as too how smooth they were already. We actually tasted two different cultivars of the Cabernet Franc. The first had strong fruit on both the nose and the pallet. The second was more structures and what I classified as "spikey". Anton pushed me to say which I preferred and that was for me the second. However, he will blend them roughly 70/30% for the finished wine and I wouldn't mind betting that this wine will get Anton his third gold medal.

We the tasted his Merlot which I guess must have been 2007, followed by a tasting of his Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon followed by a 2004 blend called Complexite. All three were good. Marion really loved the Cabernet Sauvignon and it was probably the stand out wine of our seven tastings for her. However , much to Anton's chagrin I prefered the 2004 Complexite which believe it or not was not as mature as the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon in my view. I think this wine will last for some time and drink very well indeed from about 2 years time. Anton clearly does not agree with me because he is selling aat R60 a bottle which is a give away. The Merlot was for me OK/good but was the poorest of the wines I tasted.

Anton wants to stick with selling single varieties for the time being with the Cabernet Franc being his flagship product.

This was a great visit at which I learned a lot, got to spend a couple of hours with someone very passionate about what he does and willing to share that passion.