The Vineyard Hotel in Newlands Cape Town has long been a home away from home for me. Nestled facing Table Mountain it is a hotel that combines the old with the new. It was one of the first hotels built in Cape Town, designed by Herbet Baker. The staff has been very good, and caring to me. Plus they possess one of the finest wine collections in Cape Town. Their wines also combine the Old World and the New but with the emphasis on South Africa. Most importantly, their cellar keeps the wines in pristine condition.
This point is in of great relevance to this piece. Hugh Johnson once said that “there are no great wines in this world only great bottles of wine.” What he implies by this is that a great wine in poor condition is poor and a cheap wine in pristine condition tastes great. The wines at the Vineyard Hotel are all in pristine condition which meant that when I first discovered Hartenberg Riesling I was blown away by it. That vintage was the 2007. It had a beautiful jasmine aroma or should I say fragrance with a high acidity balanced by a fat sweetness. The fat sweetness is derived by its being off dry an important factor in quality SA Rieslings and in my view often essential in South Africa due to our high acid soils.
I then met one of the owners of the hotel (a well known and loved Greek family) at a party at their home and by chance the 2004 vintage was being served. Once again incredible concentration, the typical entrancing jasmine aromas, the sweet fatness but obviously deeper gold in colour. I was so impressed with their Riesling that I decided to write a piece on the subject.
Through serendipity I received a number of press releases communicating that Hartenberg Riesling had garnered numerous awards and ratings, both locally and internationally. This confirmed my opinion that Hartenberg produces fine Riesling. So I gave the pr company a call asking if they could send me a few sample bottles of their older Rieslings as I wanted to see how they developed with age. Guess what? They sent me the 2007, 2004 and the 2002! Having never tasted the 2002 I excitedly opened it. It had an extraordinary jasmine aroma combined with tremendous power, the typical sweet fatness balanced by a high but integrated acidity. Hartenberg Rieslings always show elegance but they also possess great and an underestimated longevity. I give the 2002 a 25 year life span.
Don’t make the mistake I made of pouring it into a Riedel decanter. It is too aromatic and went flat quite rapidly. Luckily, I anticipated it and saved some for the fridge. Those interested in reading my article on SA Riesling in general can view it on Grape.
