Today marks the UK release of the 2023 vintage from Boekenhoutskloof, one of the rock-solid pillars of the new-wave movement that has shaped South Africa’s contemporary fine wine landscape. Boekenhoutskloof has been a constant through each of the chapters of my wine career – the places and people behind Boekenhoutskloof are close to my heart – and thus presenting my first offer on these always-brilliant wines to Society members is an important moment for me.
Order by midday on Thursday 12th February
At last year’s ten-year-on retrospective of South Africa’s new wave, where we reviewed the 2015 Cape vintage blind, the quartet of Boekenhoutskloof’s wines shone brightly; they were simply superb and still young at a decade old.
My hand-scribbled notes for the 2015 syrah end with ‘very pure and youthful,’ while I distinctly remember my colleague and predecessor Matthew Horsley punching the air when he tasted it blind; it was just SO delicious. For the semillon, I jotted down ‘no way would I think this was ten years’ old’; it was reverberating with vitality. For the Franschhoek cabernet, I commented on the firm yet fine structure, still tightly wound, and stunning aromatic profile; and for the Stellenbosch cabernet I remarked on the ‘power and gravitas’ at the core of the wine.
The point of me sharing these snippets of blind-tasting notes with you is to illustrate that you can buy Boekenhoutskloof with the complete confidence that these wines are going to mature in your Reserves both gracefully and excitingly. These latest releases are as accomplished as ever and promise to bring much drinking pleasure to your future self.
The vintage conditions
The 2023 Cape vintage cannot be generalised about as it was so distinct in different regions. Boekenhoutskloof’s head winemaker, Gottfried Mocke, describes it as an elegant vintage in the Swartland, for example, while it was more challenging elsewhere. As Gottfried oversees production in climates as diverse as the Swartland, Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, he is well placed to summarise.
2023 was a cooler vintage overall but the defining feature from a make-or-break perspective was the harvest rainfall in March. For many, the rains were not an issue as the picking was done, but for late-ripening varieties, such as cabernet sauvignon – in Stellenbosch and Franschhoek – it was undoubtedly tricky on some properties.
Marc Kent, the dynamo at the helm of the Boekenhoutskloof operation, and one of the most influential figures in the South African wine industry, reminded me that their Franschhoek estate is the wettest wine estate in the Western Cape, with annual rainfall of more than 2,500mm(!), and therefore his team were not fazed by the harvest rainfall and managed it adeptly.
There is no shortage of fruit in the 2023 Franschhoek cabernet, despite the vagaries of the vintage, showing Gottfried’s skill as a winemaker; after tasting, he explained to me that he used the saignée method, as well as warmer fermentation temperatures, to increase concentration. Meanwhile in the Stellenbosch cab, I find an expression I personally adore – intensely fragrant, fresh, nimble and energetic, an appetising style which can approached earlier.
As Boekenhoutskloof do not acidify, their wines perform especially well in cooler vintages like this one, which by their nature deliver more natural acidity.
Marc Kent: syrah legend
I couldn’t resist a quick note on Marc Kent and syrah here, as when I think about Boekenhoutskloof, I think about syrah first and foremost. Next year, Boekenhoutskloof will celebrate the 30th anniversary of their very first syrah vintage. That 1997 syrah is a now almost-mythical wine in the Cape context; it’s the bottle that launched South Africa’s new-wave syrah and redefined a category.
A committed disciple of the great reds of the northern Rhône, Marc proved that syrah – then universally known as shiraz in South Africa – didn’t have to be big, extracted, and cloaked in oak. It could be something else entirely: hauntingly perfumed, savoury and deeply structured, capable of long and profound ageing.
While that inaugural Boekenhoutskloof syrah came from a Stellenbosch vineyard that no longer exists, and the syrah we know and love today is from two Swartland farms, it’s a historic wine – worth pausing to think about when you next uncork a Boekenhoutskloof syrah.