The Best of The Best

The Editor enjoys a Feast of Shiraz at Hartenberg | The Month June 2012

At the most recent Syrah du Monde competition in France, Hartenberg Estate’s The Stork Shiraz took the honours as the world’s best Shiraz. No wonder the folks at Hartenberg are on top of the world and what better time than now to host their fabulous Feast of Shiraz and Charcuterie, where some of the finest flagship local Syrahs from leading cellars are paired with superb artisanal fare?

Aware that some may read through the pages of this particular mag after the 2nd of June festival date, and unable to report on the festival itself for the purposes of this edition, I sought out Hartenberg’s legendary winemaker, Carl Schultz, to chat about the state of South African Shiraz.

Carl was the top of his graduating class at Elsenberg in the late ‘90s and joined Hartenberg as winemaker in 1994 before being appointed Estate Director a couple of years later. He was invited to join the Cape Winemakers Guild in ’96 and such was his reputation that he was soon asked to serve as the Guild’s
Chairman. It’s a reputation that has continued to grow yet the  widely travelled and extremely knowledgeable, Carl comes across as a humble man who loves wine as much as he does life and who never seems to tire of sharing his passion for all things vinous - particularly Shiraz.

After dealing with my introductory questions about the nature of the 2012 harvest and the likely quality of the resultant wines – both of which Carl is positive about, thanks to the exceptional fruit quality this year, despite the slightly lower-than-average yield – Carl turned his attention to five bottles of Shiraz from a number of producers on show at the Festival. I commented that he hadn’t included anything from Hartenberg (hoping he’d see past my veiled comment and reach for a hidden bottle of The Stork – which he didn’t) and asked about the wisdom of hosting a festival in which ‘the competition’ was given a chance to compete for Hartenberg’s client-base.

Carl’s forthright answer says a lot about his belief in the quality of the Estate’s offering and that of the better Shiraz producers in the country – he’s proud of South African Shiraz, believes in its inherent value and acknowledges the massive variety the grape displays once the winemakers’ have done their thing. As South African wines go, both the domestic and international markets have proven that it’s a varietal wine of choice and sales are consistently on the up. Hartenberg’s Shiraz Festival is about celebrating the significance of Shiraz, and Carl is particularly happy to be in the kind of position that allows him to show off the best of the best, and not just the Estate. Adding Charcuterie and some artisanal fare to the mix turns it into a true festival and a day of celebration for visiting families, the Estate staff and Carl himself.

Tasting through the five Shiraz wines on offer it was immediately evident that Carl’s intimate knowledge of the products of a large number of producers has allowed him to fully refine and carefully justify his own approach to producing Hartenberg’s offering. Yet he does this without ever doing anything less than comfortably highlighting the best aspects of ‘the competition’. Descriptors such as fruit-driven; savoury; elegant; almost austere; French Oak; American Oak; longevity; bright; Forest-floor and caramel all made their way into my notebook – though not all for the same wine! Shiraz truly offers something for everyone and I found myself easily matching each wine to a different occasion and would happily have bought a bottle of each had they been on offer.

I said as much and got a naughty grin from Carl, “See you on the second then!” he beamed before we raised our glasses again in salute of the success of Shiraz.

Visit www.hartenbergestate.com for more on the Bottelary estate or see our What’s On? Pages for more on the Hartenberg Shiraz and Charcuterie Festival.