One of the major surprises at this year’s Trophy Wine Show was that there were not more golds among the 2009 whites. Does this mean the vintage has been over-estimated? Far from it.

In years past it was believed that South African white wines couldn’t hold beyond the following harvest, over the past ten years or so a whole range of varietals and blends have been deliberately made with maturation potential in mind. Chardonnay, riesling, chenin blanc, white blends – Bordeaux-style as well as our own individual concoctions, even sauvignon blanc as a straight varietal wine, have all proved their maturation bona fides.

Not only do wines of this sort not fall over after a year, they can and do easily go into hibernation (a different state from bottle shock) for a few years before emerging to show their true, great colours.

What actually happens chemically is not fully understood. As the Oxford Companion to Wine puts it in relation to stages of ageing: ‘Maturing fine wines go through a number of perceptibly different stages. Very young wines are usually delicious, full of fruit and vivacity, but slightly simple. At some (unpredictable) time after bottling, anything between a few months and a few years, fine wines can seem to close up, to become surly, to lose their aroma without having gained a bouquet. Their dimensions can be sensed but little else. A variable number of years afterwards, they begin to smell like wine again …’. This appears to be what is happening to our 2009 whites - the major 2009 reds have yet to be released – at least those that have been released, as many are also held back for a year or two.

We felt the Steenberg Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2009 was particularly reticent when we tasted it for Grape a short while ago. I asked Cellarmaster, John Loubser, what reasons could account for this. For a start, he recalls the vintage as being very cool and late, ‘Then the sauvignon blanc grapes had incredibly high natural acid – the highest I’ve seen in my eight vintages on the farm. The pH was also very low, enhancing the effectiveness of S02; all these factors resulted in wines that are initially lean and closed.’ He concludes that the sauvignons are not young show stoppers but will benefit from extended cellaring.

The phenomenon isn’t contained to whites, as we discovered with the 2007 Thelema Cabernet; a wine from a fine year but far from showing its potential. Gyles Webb acknowledges this is a common occurrence, as does Zelma Long, whose thoughts on the subject are, as always, thought-provoking.

Long maintains red wines go through many closed phases, starting with their malo-lactic fermentation. But a key element for her is free sulphur. ‘During ageing (in barrel), I like SO2 to fluctuate between 20 and 25 free.  Winemakers in South Africa seem to like much higher levels and this certainly closes down the wine,’ she believes. Similarly at bottling, Long likes to keep to low free sulphur levels: ‘I do not like, and do not think large amounts of SO2 at bottling are necessary. I prefer to bottle around 23 - 25 free, knowing the wine will likely drop over the first six weeks to the high teens.  At Simi (the Californian winery where Long used to work) for many years I experimented with bottling (the same) wine at different free SO2 levels - 15, 20, 25, 30 35. never higher. I found very consistently, red or white. that the higher the SO2 at bottling, the harder the mouth. And this was a lasting effect.’

Post bottling is another closed phase. Even after two years, she knows they will go through phases. ‘It’s the mystery and magic of wine. It may have something to do with storage...if storage temperatures vary, the wine will pull oxygen in via the cork more often.  Cool storage conditions (10C) will significantly slow down the evolution of the wine. My experience is that reds tighten up more readily than white wines.  In white wines, the free SO2 level at bottling has an effect, and one might wonder about this for riesling, since the Germans have, at least in the past, bottled with fairly high (30+) levels of free SO2.’

Riesling is a good example; the top German producers advice to drink them within the first two or three years, or leave them until the wines are ten years or older.

These thoughts came to mind as Tim James, Cathy van Zyl and our usual guest, Ingrid Motteux tasted some new releases earlier this week.

Peter Finlayson’s young duo - Bouchard Finlayson Kaaimansgat Chardonnay 2009 and Galpin Peak Pinot Noir 2009 – are certainly made with maturation in mind and are of a quality to do so. The chardonnay, from cool-climate Villiersdorp, seems to us all to be more classic, more restrained and less fruit driven than usual, though there’s a creaminess plumping out the cool intensity of citrus with its nutty hints. Classicism runs in its dry, lingering finish and it should evolve with interest over several years. No sense of closing down here, but worth putting away and a sound buy for R140 ex cellar. Worth its 17/20, though Ingrid would have liked a little more richness. The Galpin Peak achieved the same rating but definitely with a view to the future, but anyone spending R225 at the farm presumably understands the ageing required. I wonder at its very early release, as with all Peter Finlayson’s pinots, this is rather sombre with a firmer tannin structure than many others (more Pommard than Musigny). That said, it smells of quality and complexity with dark cherries and compatible oak and an incipient silkiness behind the tannic frame. Cathy and Ingrid are a little less forgiving of the wine’s youth.

Absolute youth is the time to open the 2009 quartet of David Frost Signature Series: Chenin Blanc, Soft Smooth Red, Shiraz and Classic Red are neither going to close down nor mature. I championed the chenin more than the others, loving its expressive honey, floral and greengage nose. It has enough fruit for both interest and accessibility, but my 14.5 was out of line with the 12 to 13 deemed fair by my colleagues. Consensus on the Soft, Smooth – and we have to add very sweet and ripe – Red, saw it score 11; there are better of this style. The Shiraz hides its soupcon of sugar much better, its simple spicy red fruits with bit of grip offering straightforward quaffability. Both this and the Classic Red (cab/merlot blend) rated 13, but there is less agreement about the blend. Its stalkiness and unbalanced acid are detractions for Tim and Ingrid, but I rather find ripe blackberry fruit in this simple yet honest wine. The chenin retails for around R35, the reds for around R37, which we feel leaves the Soft Smooth Red over priced.

Over priced is regrettably even more applicable to Allée Bleue Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2007 which sells for R72 ex cellar, so should rate much higher than the 13 we gave it. Its very much in the over-oaked, over-ripe style and unlikely to go anywhere.