- DeMorgenzon announced this week the appointment of longtime junior winemaker Anthony Sanvido (since 2019) as head winemaker.
- Outgoing Alastair Rimmer, previously of Kleine Zalze, was appointed to the role in 2021 and will remain on as consultant cellarmaster for the foreseeable future.
- Announced at a (wine) star-studded event at the Appelbaum residence on the DeMorgenzon Estate, the announcement was celebrated with a 20-year vertical of their old vine Chenin Blanc Reserve and presided over by all (now) five winemakers in the estate's history.
There is something to be said for grandeur and the passion inherent to it.
This week, I was invited to an event by Wendy Appelbaum, chair of DeMorgenzon Estate; she also holds an impressive number of directorships and trusteeships and is a member of various organisations and charities in South Africa and abroad. As the daughter of Liberty Group founder Donald Gordon, you'll have heard whispers about the wealthiest woman in South Africa, though that distinction hangs heavy with responsibility, something she has shouldered fiercely, believing passion to be an integral requirement to any endeavour, and it shows.
Arriving at the estate, I was told to drive "up", though I didn't fully comprehend the meaning of "up". Up and up and up, onto the very crest of the Ribbokkop in the Stellenboschkloof Valley, overlooking, well, everything. From their vantage point, you can see False Bay, Table Mountain, Helderberg, and, I imagine, spy the Drakensberg in the distance. On arrival, the wine cognoscenti just kept arriving: Rosa Kruger, Fiona McDonald, Cathy van Zyl MW, Philip van Zyl (her husband and Platter's editor), Michael Fridjhon, Winnie Bowman, Christian Eedes, Helen Kock of Vinimark, and even Tim Atkin MW arrived a little late from his whirlwind tour of the Cape Winelands for his 2024 SA Report.
More interestingly, all the winemakers and viticulturists in the history of DeMorgenzon were present, from Teddy Hall to Carl van der Merwe (the longest-serving winemaker who was visiting South Africa for the first time in four years since he started work in Canada) to Adam Mason (who only made one vintage at DeMorgenzon in 2021), and Alastair Rimmer (who came over from Kleine Zalze in 2021). "There's no room for ego here," said Carl, to which Wendy, laughing, interjected: "Except for mine."
Though I'd wager the only "ego" under consideration is the custodianship of this 91ha "garden", as they call it, with its carefully tended 55ha vineyard, to which Hylton Appelbaum plays Baroque and classical music based on a scientific study that specific music is particularly beneficial to the vines - coupled with its 3.5ha 1972 planted Chenin block, that informs the estate's top Chenin blanc wines, and represents the DNA of this beautiful site.
Since the Appelbaums purchased the estate in 2003, it has been their priority to make some of the best South African wines there and, by all accounts, they have succeeded in this endeavour, hanging their proverbial hat on the reserve Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Syrah made here. Though given the 52-year-old parcel of Chenin Blanc and the track record of their Reserve Chenin Blanc, made since 2005, the 20-year vertical tasting stole the show on this particular day.
The wine offering up a unique commentary on the evolution of style since 2005. Perfectly interpreting the heavier, more oak-forward style that dominated in the early 2000s for which Cathy van Zyl MW awarded the maiden vintage a Platter's five-star right out of the gate. And the subsequent paring down of both oak (now using only up to 30% new oak) and the addition of other, younger grape parcels dotted around the estate. *The Diva Chenin Blanc was introduced in 2013, made exclusively, in minute quantities, of carefully selected vines in the old vine block, and only produced in 2013, 2017, and 2020 thus far. I was struck with the distinct difference between the Chenin made just on the other side of the koppie, at Kaapzicht estate (as per my visit only last week), as DeMorgenzon's Reserve Chenin offers a more robust yet perfectly balanced old-world character in comparison to the more hands-off approach of their neighbours.
It is a beautiful representation, once again, of the many faces of South African Chenin Blanc and how both have become critically acclaimed in their own right. The fact that there are 20 vintages of this wine (**technically 19 with 2024 still in barrel), and how they were all still very much alive, even the 2005 maiden vintage. The discernible style of the wine, a golden thread throughout, speaks of hard work and an almighty will to offer consistency as the sign of an ultra-premium wine. And the critics agree, with the likes of Neal Martin of Vinous.com, Jancis Robinson MW, and Tim Atkin MW consistently rating this wine as one of Stellenbosch's top Chenins.
While the announcement of Alastair Rimmer's departure after only about three years at the helm was a bit of a shock, though an amicable split by all accounts, the appointment of junior winemaker Anthony Sanvido to the position of head winemaker seems like it has been a long time in the making (well, at least since his appointment in 2019). Having studied at the University of Stellenbosch, worked at Boschendal, Guardian Peak, as well as Stonestreet Winery in California and Dr Konstantin Frank Winery in New York. Carl said Anthony was recommended to him by Carl Schultz of Hartenberg, whose only critique was: "The only problem with Anthony is, he'll be with you forever." And on further inspection, Carl found him to be a constant in the winery and "someone who doesn't jump if a bomb goes off next to him." Which they all jokingly say is a possibility.
What the Appelbaums have created here is a study in consistency and grandeur, a boon to the South African wine industry, and their 91ha "garden" on the slopes of the Ribbokkop in Stellenbosch Kloof. I like it when people care. The precision and care of it all speak of passion and a deep-seated will to produce only the best here. To the next 20 years.
Browse their wines here.
