South Africa 1999: Keep
A small crop. Pinotage performed well
Weather Conditions
An inauspicious start, with relatively warm winter, with early budding, but a cool snap during flowering cut yields in some varieties – notably pinotage – to concentrate fruit and raise quality. An intermittent, two-month heatwave just before harvest made for a second year of big reds, though 1999s less fruity and plump than 1998s.
Best Appellations
Coastal and ‘Mountain’ regions: Constantia, Helderberg, Durbanville, Walker Bay, Bot River, Simonsberg-Helshoogte-Stellenbosch, Elgin, Franschhoek and the ‘Atlantic Fringe’ along the West Coast (Darling, Swartland, Vredendal, Cederberg).
Best Producers
Vergelegen (Cabernet Sauvignon and estate Bordeaux blend and Syrah); Kanonkop (Pinotage and Paul Sauer estate Bordeaux blend,); Havana Hills (Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot); Grangehurst (Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot); Rust en Vrede (Estate Wine and Merlot); Thelema (Cabernet and Merlot); Vera Cruz (Shiraz); Veenwouden (‘Classic’ Bordeaux blend and Merlot); Cordoba (Crescendo – Merlot-Cabernet Franc blend); Spice Route (Merlot and Syrah); Le Riche (Reserve Cabernet); Morgenhof (Merlot and Premiere Selection, Bordeaux blend); Saxenberg (Private Collection Merlot, PC Syrah); Newton-Johnson (Pinot Noir); Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir; Neil Ellis (Reserve Cabernet and Shiraz); Boekenhoutskloof (Syrah and Cabernet); L’Avenir (Cabernet and Pinotage) Radford Dale (Merlot); Fairview Shiraz; Hidden Valley Pinotage; Kaapzicht Pinotage; Rustenberg (Peter Barlow Cab. Sauvignon and Rustenberg Estate Bordeaux blend); Stellenzicht Syrah; Steenberg Merlot; Graham Beck (The Ridge Shiraz and Old Road Pinotage); Waterford (Kevin Arnold Shiraz); Villiera (Shiraz and Cru Monro Bordeaux Blend); Welgemeend, Estate Bordeaux blend; De Trafford (Estate Reserve Bordeaux blend).
