FRA_GG_N46-WEB

SOUTH AFRICA
– NEW VARIETIES –
The husband-and-wife winemaking team at Newton Johnson,
Gordon and Nadia Newton Johnson
Gary and Kathy Jordan plan to make their Assyrtiko in a fresh, focused,
mineral style, without any oak influence
grape perhaps most famous in Rioja. ‘We wanted something
to set us apart, so in 2010 we grafted Tempranillo onto a onehectare
block of Cabernet,’ says Philip van Staden. ‘It grew very
vigorously and the early wines were a bit green and extremely
tannic. We decided to use Smart-Dyson trellising to get more
sunlight into the bunches, which helped with the greenness,
and then we researched how they handle the wine in Spain
and realised that it needs much longer oak ageing. It now
spends one year in older French oak, one year in one-third
new American, and then goes back into French oak for about
44 months in total. You can’t be in a hurry with Tempranillo,
you have to be patient,’ he says, his patience now rewarded
with a 93-point rating.
More patience is still required for SA’s first Assyrtiko to bear
fruit. The drought- and wind-resistant grape from the Greek
island of Santorini, where vines planted in igneous soils are
famously trained in ‘koulara’ baskets, has found a new home
in SA thanks to Gary and Kathy Jordan of Jordan Wines in
Stellenbosch. In 2019 they planted vines on a stony hilltop
with a north-facing aspect, strong south-easterly winds, and
soil consisting of broken-up granite. ‘Assyrtiko must be planted
in sight of the sea – which ours is, overlooking False Bay – and
some of the vines will be trellised while the others will be
trained into baskets,’ says Jordan. ‘So far it’s looking good!’
120 WINTER 2021 GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE