- Chris Williams attended Elsenburg College with the likes of Eben Sadie (Sadie Family Wines) and Marc Kent (Boekenhoutskloof), arguably THE top three SA winemakers today, and went on to make wine at the historic Meerlust Wine Estate for over 16 years while making The Foundry Wines with English business partner James Reid (Accolade Wines SA) since 2001.
- The Foundry comprises five wines from Voor-Paardeberg grapes, focusing on Rh ne-style varieties like Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier (from Stellenbosch grapes), Grenache Noir, and Syrah.
- In 2008, James purchased the historic farm Staart van Paardeberg (the tail of Paardeberg) in the Voor-Paardeberg wine ward of Paarl. The Foundry has since found a home and cellar here, where Chris also produces his Geographica range of wines from Stellenbosch fruit.
As I drove to the Voor-Paardeberg farm, Staart of Paardeberg (tail of Paardeberg), a historic Paarl farm that in 1707 encompassed most of the area - and then systematically sold off over the generations now to represent only 35ha of its once grand expanse - I couldn't help but note the impressive palms lining the road leading up to it, in much the same way as the entrance to Meerlust.
Though Chris Williams says ou Oom Nico Myburgh always intended to remove the palms once the oak trees he'd planted had matured, he never did, and the strange pairing of vines and palms became an unintended trademark of the place. Which, given Chris's more than 20 years at the historic estate, must have felt faintly reminiscent of home.
Chris flies largely under the radar. He's one of those winemakers (if you know, you know) disinterested in the trappings of fame or fortune, and more interested in having the freedom to travel and make wine the way he wants. Though he's paid the school fees to do so, the wine benefits from this freedom, highlighting his seemingly insatiable appetite to learn and make beautifully lively, textured, and ultimately drinkable wines.
Chris comes from Johannesburg, but says he always wanted to live in the Cape. He eventually made the break and got an undergraduate degree in Law at UCT, before deciding to study winemaking and oenology at Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute in 1992, serendipitously with two winemakers who would come to define SA wine in later years: Marc Kent of Boekenhoutskloof and Eben Sadie of Sadie Family Wines.
He had been working at Klein Constantia under then-winemaker Ross Gower, who was to become one of his mentors and the reason he got into wine in the first place. While they entered Elsenburg before democracy truly came to South Africa, they left in 1994 to enter a whole new world. One in which South Africa was not only able to participate in, but for the first time, welcome.
He got his first job at the historic Meerlust Estate, working as assistant to Italian winemaker Giorgio Dalla Cia (credited for the Meerlust Rubicon blend) for six years. He then worked for the Boutinot family for two years and started making The Foundry wines as a side concern in 2001. From there, he spent a short period at Delaire Graff before Giorgio retired in 2003. Chris was invited to return to Meerlust as cellarmaster and stayed for 16 years on the condition that he continue making The Foundry wines there.
Meerlust never seems to let its chosen ones wander far. In 2020, Chris turned 50 and decided to pursue The Foundry wines full-time. The brand was named for what used to be a blacksmith studio on Tyrell Myburgh's Joostenberg farm, where he made his first vintages, the wines inspired by Rh ne-style varieties in direct contrast to the big, bold (beautiful) wines of Meerlust.
In 2008, business partner, Englishman James Reid (also general manager at Accolade Wines) purchased the historic 35ha Staart van Paardeberg farm in the Voor Paardeberg, as the name suggests, on the other side of the famous granitic outcrop that has become one of the pillars of fine Swartland wine and made a real home for The Foundry wines.
Though the cooler slopes (climactically) of the Voor-Paardeberg offer the same level of quality and expression as the Swartland side of the mountain, historically, the Paarl side had been considered less "cool" (as in trendy) than its Swartland neighbours (inexplicably). Chris's Rh ne-style wines, however, are quietly and confidently proving that no matter what side of the Paardeberg you find yourself on, "cool" is the prevailing sentiment here.
They renovated the little cellar on the farm in 2019, previously used by Eben Sadie, Adi Badenhorst and, more recently, Terracura wines when Ryan Mostert was still making the wine. The newly renovated cellar has been producing Foundry wines since 2020 and allows Chris to vinify his 11ha to vine on the farm, as well as the various parcels he buys in from neighbours in the area and Stellenbosch for his Geographica range (you couldn't expect Chris to abandon his Stellenbosch roots entirely).
The Foundry wines started off in 2001 with a Syrah, inspired by a trip to Hermitage (with Sadie and Kent) and the lavender, dark, floral fragrant perfume that Chris says reminded him of the opening scenes of Gladiator (the movie), with Russell Crowe walking through the lavender fields outside his home in Rome (Chris being just as obsessed with the Roman Empire as seemingly every OTHER man).
As such, his Syrah, planted in 2000, benefits from a touch of Rousanne and the Voor-Paardeberg terroir. Of the 2020 vintage (the 2021 vintage is his current), Tamlyn Currin of Jancis Robinson MW rated it 17.5 points (out of 20) and wrote: "A super-elegant Syrah. Pinot-like! Red fruit and not a trace of meat or leather. Pure transmission. Soaring. This is utterly stunning. Doesn't feel like 14%. So, so transparent. Well played, Chris Williams."
The perfect summary of his whole ethos, enamoured of fresh, lively wines as a testament to its terroir, with a touch of aromatics and crunchy texture. In 2018, he said he had a damascene moment while tasting the result of clay amphorae in Spain and Burgundy and started importing Amphorae from Spain in a dolium shape (like an olive, round at the top and tapered at the bottom), allowing the juice to heat and cool at a different rate and creating a natural stirring of the lees to create the texture and freshness he craved - his chosen Rh ne varieties imminently suited to the style.
It is his Grenache Blanc, 70% from his neighbour's farm in the Voor-Paardeberg, and 30% of his own grapes, split into three different batches, fermented and matured in barrel, terracotta, and stainless steel that currently makes up the bulk of his production, blended from 17 different component parts offering up a luxurious mouthfeel and silky tannins, all fairy dust and cashmere.
Tamlyn Currin rated the current 2022 vintage 17 points (again, out of 20) and wrote: "Dripping with juice and fruit. Peach, apple, pear and yellow cherry. Very faint hint of minty-breath freshness. Apple mint. So pretty. Very clear. Luminous opal-like finish. This tastes as if it's just getting into its stride."
Having just spent a week with Sarah Marsh MW, I'm tempted to quote her: "Terribly drinkable."
Roussane is another Rh ne-inspired white grape that he likens to a cross between Chardonnay and Gewurtztraminer, Chardonnay for its fruit purity, and Gewurtztraminer for its spicy notes. Its structural phenolics retain acidity in warmer climates like the Voor-Paardeberg, and the wine is at once mineral and glossy with a delicate, savoury weight.
Tamlyn says 16 points for the current 2021 vintage and writes: "Soft, cotton-wool texture - lacy, almost frothy in feel. Candied nuts and candied lemon peel. Very gentle, very soft, and all the fruit is on the mid palate. It starts to become a little savoury, with a hint of focaccia, which is rather yummy and brings a very interesting dimension to the wine. Then a very long, floral finish."
The Viognier is made from Stellenbosch grapes, Chris believing that this grape variety requires a cooler climate to retain its freshness and acidity. Something Tamlyn Currin seems to agree with at 17 points: "Cobnuts and rhubarb-lime candy. Daphne flowers and then a little note of Darjeeling tea. Pineapple. So much here! Flavours keep tripping over each other. Straw on the end. Bauble-shiny acidity. So, so different from bog-standard Viognier. This could convince me that all Viognier should be grown within reach of cold ocean winds."
Like the Syrah, Chris treats the Grenache noir like a Pinot Noir with a light touch. Planted in 2018, it is spicy, pretty, and light, with a vibrant purple fruit core wrapped in velvet tannins. Aged 30% in barrel and 70% in terracotta, it is linear, with crystalline purity and zing, purple fruit, Turkish delight, and pomegranate- this wine is the antithesis of the big, bold Stellenbosch reds, though not without complexity or seriousness - just plain LEKKER.
While I won't say too much on the Geographica wines, I WILL say that the Bonsai Chenin Blanc 2020 from vines planted in 1957 on Helderberg is the third to last vintage (last is 2022) from these vines before they were pulled out.
Their grand old age combined with Chris's deft touch offers up honeycomb, pineapple, and that gummy berry juice concentration you get from the tiny berries and low yields of significantly older vines, and is genuinely unique.
Tamlyn rated it 17.5 again and wrote: "An unusual nose. Lanolin. Soy wax. Choisya. Honeyed sweetness and lemon marmalade. Great weight, silkiness and laminar flow. Opalescence. Rich and thrumming. This is a slow-swirling, unfolding beauty. Quietly magnificent."
It's definitely something I'd get my hands on while I still can.
The wines are available here via Exanimo and range from R250 a bottle for the whites to R360 for the reds, with a few library vintages available for the REAL aficionados.
