A drink with… Marc Kent, winemaker
Marc Kent trained to be a winemaker at Elsenburg Agricultural College in South Africa’s Western Cape. He graduated in 1994, the dawn of the post-apartheid era, and joined Boekenhoutskloof in Franschhoek. Driving its transformation from neglected farm to Cape superstar, he is now managing partner and technical director at the winery. Since 2017 he has also been making wine in Portugal with Rita Marques of Conceito. They launched Companhia de Vinhos Invencível in Casais do Douro in 2020.
‘South Africa has an Old Vine Project, but the Douro has much more old vine material. It’s wonderful stumbling across these utterly neglected old vineyards with tiny yields. You can make stunning wines.’
‘There’s a place in Cape Town for piri piri chicken, Dias Tavern. We call it the Portuguese Embassy. Lots of wine guys hang out there, glugging a bottle of Casal Garcia with their chicken. The world needs to wake up to Vinho Verde. I just want to glug gallons of it in summer.’
‘I always considered myself a better red winemaker. Syrah is the most forgiving grape.’
‘Post-apartheid, my generation could work abroad. I missed out, but in 2017 – late in my life – I decided to work in someone else’s cellar, with Rita Marques at Conceito. It’s been difficult… I’ve never taken easily to being told what to do. Luckily, I’m working in a great cellar with fantastic grapes.’
‘All of a sudden, whether in Oslo or New York wine bars, everyone wants a 10.5% alcohol red wine – whether it’s Cinsault, Trousseau or whatever. Our alcohols are coming down at Boekenhoutskloof, but it was never my thing. I like big ripe wines, though I did ask myself whether I was doing it all wrong! But you realise people buy into the Boekenhoutskloof style for a reason.
‘I love people’s energy in the Douro. Like South Africans, they have a lust for life and love of the sun. No one’s going to die of stress!’
‘At Boekenhoutskloof, my fixation is extraction. Douro old field blend tannins come so naturally. More tannin from less ripe grapes. Different varieties, different tannins. South Africa never planted field blends. Picking varieties at different ripeness gives a spectrum of flavours, tannin maturity and complexity. It’s cool to work with such a broad palette.’
‘When I fell in love with the Douro, starting Companhia de Vinhos Invencível with Rita in 2020 was an opportunity to invest my own money doing something I really wanted, not just paying bills.’
‘Invincible Red is my style – rustic, juicy, with nice tannins, palate weight and length. I love the Cima Corgo around Casais do Douro. We get Christmas pudding flavours, spice and generosity without being heavy or Porty.’
‘There are some very, very smart winemakers in Portugal taking old vine fruit and adapting traditional techniques to suit a modern palate.’
‘Good white winemakers are very good technicians and look after wines better in the cellar. I admire how Rita works with her top whites. It’s very, very difficult to get whites at that quality level. She studied in Bordeaux and worked in New Zealand and all over the place, picking up on the best of everything.’
‘I don’t know if I am a salesman, winemaker or what, but I love developing brands. It’s not about Marc Kent wines or 100-point wines. I like value propositions at all price points.’
Wines to try
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Companhia de Vinhos Invencível, Invincible Número Dois Branco, Douro, Douro Valley, Portugal, 2019
Deliciously tangy and textural. The 90-year-old plus, field blend vineyards bring intensity and layer. Fleshy apricot, with soft, nutty, creamy oak. Savoury (touch cheesy) lees and a lick of raw honeycomb flesh out a backbone of grapefruit acidity – the driver. Long and flavoursome, with judicious flinty, smoky reduction and a saline-edged finish, it's aged in used French oak barriques. Super smart wine; super smart buy.
2019
Companhia de Vinhos InvencívelDouro
Companhia de Vinhos Invencível, Natural Mystic, Vinho Verde, Vinho Verde, Portugal, 2020
Talc-edged, with lime flower and zesty lemon and lime aromatics. Ticking the classic boxes, it is (just) off-dry, with slight petillance. Deftly balanced residual sugar (4.4g/l) gently softens the edges, without detracting from its juiciness. Sourced from around Amarante, well inland, the fruit intensity (citrus with delicate nectarine bite) makes for a friendly style with a zippy finish. Still going strong on day two – a testament to quality fruit.
2020
Companhia de Vinhos InvencívelVinho Verde
Boekenhoutskloof, The Wolftrap White, Western Cape, Western Cape, South Africa, 2020
Green-edged, a touch hard, stone fruits and green pineapple to the attack and finish. Creamy apricot on the mid-palate, with pops of honeysuckle and fennel. A touch warm on the finish, it’s still knitting together but reflects the varieties well, whilst having interest. Mostly sourced from Swartland.
2020
BoekenhoutskloofWestern Cape
Boekenhoutskloof, The Chocolate Block, Swartland, Swartland, South Africa, 2020
Smoulders with smoked meat, fennel sausage, smooth dark chocolate and Kahlúa-nuanced blackcurrant, plus sweet, bright, red cherry conserve. Lightly mouth-coating tannins (attractive grip and texture) reinforce the dry, rustic, savoury profile. Sourced predominantly from Boekenhoutskloof’s Porseleinberg and Goldmine farms in Swartland. Syrah and Cinsault are aged in seasoned 2,500-litre French oak foudres and barriques; Grenache in seasoned 600-litre demi-muids and Cabernet Sauvignon (7%) in new French oak barrique. Total production of 2,982 barriques. Satisfying.
2020
BoekenhoutskloofSwartland
Boekenhoutskloof, The Wolftrap Red, Western Cape, Western Cape, South Africa, 2020
Initially a mite reductive, this Cape Rhône Ranger delivers a blast of flavours and great bang for buck. Rustic, savoury charcuterie and liquorice notes and tannins – a gentle grip – balance the spicy black, sweet red cherry preserve and blue fruits. Pure and juicy, the red fruit sings sweetly on day two (I would have sworn it was Grenache). Flavoursome but medium-bodied, it’s a brilliant summer and autumn red.
2020
BoekenhoutskloofWestern Cape
Companhia de Vinhos Invencível, Invincible Número Dois Tinto, Douro, Douro Valley, Portugal, 2018
Dark and spicy, with pronounced smoky clove and hints of orange peel to the dense weave of ripe fruit and tannin, the alcohol and acidity balanced. Brooding, building in soft layers, the tannins – an underlay – ground the red and black berry fruit, with juicier black plum and grainy blueberry fruit leather. This is a field blend from 50-year-old plus vineyards, aged in used French oak barriques.
2018
Companhia de Vinhos InvencívelDouro
