The Wine Detective gets to grips with Luddite
Luddite
Niels Verburg is the affable winemaker behind Luddite and, having given up juggling his own project with winemaking responsibilities elsewhere, is loving doing his own thing and focusing on Shiraz. For his European tour he’s dug deep to demonstrate how the wine has evolved since the first 2000 vintage.
In overview, aside from vintage variation (odd years were cooler), the principal change has been the introduction of fruit from Luddite’s Bot River farm, which is owned by the Verburg and Meyer family. Bot River, a quite new ward in Walker Bay is located in a river valley, giving a choice of aspects (cool south eastern slopes for Luddite Shiraz) and, though hot in the daytime, by 4pm the vineyard has cooled down 5-6 degrees. When Niels spoke at the Cape Fair last year he explained that this makes for a longer hang time and helps him “nurse the wine into bottle without fiddling.” By the same token, shale on cool clay based soils retain sufficient moisture to obviate the need to irrigate, so no fiddling there either!
I certainly picked up an extra notch of brightness to the 2004 when Bot River fruit made its debut. In 2009, Luddite Shiraz comprised 100% estate fruit and Niels hopes to continue in this vein. He has also shifted towards a higher percentage of French oak which has increased since the advent of Bot River fruit from 70-75% to 80-95%.
Luddite Shiraz 2000 – garnet hue, with a smoky, spicy nose and palate with sweet plum,woodsmoke, liquorice and chocolate. Ripe but well-balanced – I reckon it may not develop much more complexity, but it will hold for some years yet. Good.
Luddite Shiraz 2001 – deep red hue, less developed looking than the 2000, this was my favourite of the line up. Very vinous in the mouth, the oak has integrated well yet the fruit remains bright with red and black berries and spicy carraway. Lovely length, persistence and minerality. Niels likens this vintage to the 2005. Terrific
Luddite Shiraz 2002 – a deeper colour with an opaque core. This was a difficult vintage, hit by mildew. Malmesbury fruit from drier, warmer Swartland entered the equation for the first time, as did (first and last time) a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon, which introduced a different green note (dried green peppercorn/herb sausage) and firmer tannins. Robust with smoky dark fruits, chocolate and warm earth.
Luddite Shiraz 2003 – a real depth of flavour/intensity to this textured wine, it’s broadand long, showing spicy red and black fruits, plum, chocolate, iron earth/blood. Very good.
Luddite Shiraz 2004 – crimson, opaque wine. A savoury, gamey nose and generous, yielding palate shows bright red fruits and fleshy plum with milk chocolate – less dark, more lifted. Good.
Luddite Shiraz 2005 – sinewy, persistent and long this shows lots of potential with its tight-knit fruit and mineral finish. Impressive.
Luddite Shiraz 2006 – deep crimson with youthful purple flashes. Broad fleshy plum and black cherryfruit backed by firm, supple tannins. A little dumb now – needs time to build in complexity though its quite approachable now.
Luddite Shiraz 2007 – bright crimson/purple, fresh and youthful in hue, nose and palate with a sheen of vanilla oak. Lovely freshness beneath with bright red and black fruits, this is finely structured with good persistence. Very promising.
Stockists (and distributors) - Les Caves de Pyrene.
Taken from Sarah Ahmed’s website: http://www.thewinedetective.co.uk/