Wine of the week: two ground-breaking South African creations

published 20 September 2019

2018 Jessica Saurwein, Chi Riesling, Elgin, South Africa

The South African wine tasting was nothing short of eye-opening this year. All too often the annual show is a predictable mish-mash of heroes and villains, but the title of this year's event, "New Wave", was accurate wineries showed their best wares and nobody dropped the ball. The wine-makers knew it, too. Their time had come and the air crackled with as much energy as the vitality displayed in their wines.

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I have a battery of recommendations for you, but rather than trotting out a shopping list I have narrowed down my selection to just two wines from one winemaker. Jessica Saurwein's creations summed up the mood at this ground-breaking event and my featured '18 Chi Riesling (and the '19 sample which I also tasted and which will follow on soon) is a veritable citrus lightning strike on your senses. With as much freshness as elite Aussie Eden Valley wine and with an even more slender chassis, this is the most invigorating dry riesling I have tasted from the Cape.

Balancing this balletic wine is 2018 Nom Pinot Noir (£45, Swig), one of the most refined and floral pinots I have tasted from South Africa. Nom stands for nombulelo, an expression of gratitude in Xhosa, and also Nomkhubulwane, a forgotten African goddess of agriculture. This wine comes from the Kaaimansgat Vineyard in Elandskloof and Jessica captures the drama and poise of this celestial red grape.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (matthewjukes.com)

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.