Drinking a sylvaner from 1975 is a most interesting experience. It flies in the face of the current opinion that our white wines do not age successfully, and it really makes one wonder about this strange grape.
Overgaauw is celebrating its centenary this year and it arranged a recent tasting of wines from the Seventies through to the latest releases. As it is the only producer in the country to bottle sylvaner, it started the tasting with three of these.
The first was the aforementioned 1975. Next was a 1982 and the last was the current 2005. What really struck me was that although the bouquet of the three wines was quite different - the wine develops honey and spice and apple aromas as it ages - the palate remains incredibly consistent.
Even the 30-year-old white had a firm, slightly creamy intensity, a wine of dense minerality and ending in incredible freshness. As they say, a food wine.
One could argue that the 1975 was fatigued on the evidence of the nose, which had a slightly off character, but the 1982 was a beautiful drinking experience. And that from a white wine all of 23 years old. Makes you realise that the 2005 will appreciate in time, though it drinks well now.
Later in the tasting, a 1976 port crossed our noses and the perfect balance that the wine was now in, supple and lively yet, was another timely reminder of the need to mature this style of wine.
Port finds itself in a strange position: we seem to lack a cultural environment for it, the late evening port usurped by fat and alcoholic reds that are porty enough themselves.
(A recent example is the Bilton shiraz 2002 and shiraz is particularly prone to being made into such unctuous elixirs, supposedly what the public wants).
From the Overgaauw reds, a more mixed message. Winemaker Chris Joubert talked about the wines being made in a "Cape European" style, which means that they are styled to age. He suggested that they would enter their peak period within three to five years and then last at this plateau for at least as long.
To my palate, the red wines from the Seventies, even the much vaunted 1974 vintage cabernet, were interesting, but certainly more of curiosities now than rewarding drinking.
From the Eighties, the 1982 cabernet developed well in the glass after a hard start; while the highlight of the tasting was the 1991 merlot. From a cooler year, it still shows great fruit and richness.
The later Nineties seemed to be less kind to the wines of this cellar, as they show some yeast spoilage, as do some of the young wines.