Lock, stock and wine barrel: Nederburg Noble Late Harvest

It’s quite fun to think about late harvest wines as something for the new year.

A new year usually starts with boring stats on how the previous year went in terms of viticulture, crops, wine sales and growth. It should actually start with robust wines that can stand the test of time, released the previous year.

Nederburg’s The Winemasters Noble Late Harvest 2017 is one wine that immediately comes to mind.

The winery pioneered the style in 1969 when Günter Brözel, Nederburg cellarmaster from 1956 to 1989, made the first wine in South Africa with grapes affected by noble rot or Botrytis cinerea, the fungus attacking grapes under a very specific set of climatic conditions to produce richly scented, honeyed, complex wine with longevity.

Since taking over as cellarmaster of Nederburg in 2015, Andrea Freeborough and her team have shown dexterity in making noble late harvest wines, augmenting the award-winning tradition created by Brözel, as well as Razvan Macici.

The latest release gets all the praise. It blends that knowledge with a certain kind of refinement that is fitting in the current state of people opening themselves to wine experiences.

It’s sweet, without being overpowering, lingering without being too dry and fruity without ever being one note.

Nederburg The Winemasters Noble Late Harvest 2017 is made from a blend of chenin blanc (48%), muscat de Frontignan (30%), gras de cotnari (18%) and Rhine riesling (4%) to create an aromatic, natural sweet wine with fragrances of pineapple, litchi, apricot, tangerine, honey and dried peach.

There’s a complete balance between sugar and acid – and that is what makes this something you need to scoop up now and keep to enjoy later.

As far as dessert wines go, this one is almost unbeatable. It is well-made and affordable at R110 per bottle.

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