Lukas van Loggerenberg: What's in a vertical?

• Lukas van Loggerenberg recently celebrated the release of his 2023 vintage wines (his eighth release) with his first vertical tasting, spanning three vintages and six wines.
• Tim Atkin MW's Young Winemaker of the Year in 2018, Lukas van Loggerenberg is one of SA's most celebrated young winemakers and a member of the maturing fraternity of winemakers credited with SA's evolution.
• His range of wines (there are now two ranges and 10 wines in total) remains a study in what it takes to be a winemaker in South Africa and a narrative on the exquisite struggle of it all, made from a selection of exceptional sites in Stellenbosch (70%) and the Swartland (30%).

"Is it yucky or yummy?" - Lukas van Loggerenberg. *Really all you should be asking yourself when tasting a wine.

As the name suggests, a vertical tasting is tasting the same wine from different years. It tells a story of the producer, the wine, and changing weather patterns. A horizontal tasting is wines from the same area and year but from different producers to add different producer styles and terroir to the story -which becomes a fascinating exercise once you get into it.

We recently sat down to Tim Atkin MW's Young Winemaker of the Year 2018, Lukas van Loggerenberg's first-ever vertical as introduction to his latest 2023 vintage wines (his eighth release to date), presenting three vintages of six of his wines (depending on available library stock).

Lukas van Loggerenberg Broke a Leg/knee (again) during the maiden harvest of Van Loggerenberg Wines in 2016. Like the opening night of a play, it was as if the incident took up all the bad luck, leaving space for a standing ovation.

Lukas is a good-natured guy with many friends, people like Eben Sadie, who offered him 10 barrels for his first vintage. He and his wife Roxanne lived on Danie Carinus' farm, Blue Gum Grove in the Polkadraai area, up until recently, and his roommate at Elsenburg, Reenen Borman of Boschkloof offered sage advice and help (and sometimes gunned him for access to a vineyard), among many others.

Lukas has always fostered and benefitted from a strong network of friends in the industry who have helped him build a world-class South African wine brand from humble beginnings (he often returns the favour). Their Kameraderie /Camaraderie is one of the marked characteristics of his range of wines, either having a hand in finding and securing exceptional vineyards (sometimes certifiably old), exposure to other producers, wines and styles, or plain old elbow grease. He also makes wine under the Carinus and Lowerland wine labels with, and for, his friends.

It may have been this network that allowed him to Trust his Gut and take a leap of faith (Geronimo) every time he decided to expand his range of South African wines, like adding an old vine Chenin Blanc blend of Stellenbosch and Swartland fruit or a single-varietal Cinsault before it was cool to do, from a site previously destined for Port and Brandy production. He says the perfect pairing with this Cinsault is a Boerewors roll with tomato smoor. The distinctive liquorice, cherry, and crunchy strawberry flavours (of 2023) reminded me of one of those old-time fruit sweets with the soft centre and metallic wrapping paper.

Or the Loire Cabernet Franc tasted on a trip to France, what they call a Breton there, that proved to be the real come-to-God moment and prompted Lukas to glance at his wife during the tasting and declare in Afrikaans among the French: "Ek gaan bedank wanneer ons huis toe gaan"/"I'm quitting my job when we get home." He returned home and started making a Stellenbosch Cab Franc in homage to the French wine they tasted, though quintessential Stellenbosch (think herbaceous with vibrant red and black fruit, black olive tapenade, tannins that leave your mouth dry at the first sip, and kind of makes you want to smack your lips together).

Another stint in hospital, this time facilitated by a hunting trip in Prieska, once again made him reach for something more. To build on the range's success and create a scalable wine uninhibited by old vines and limited fruit availability, he had High Hopes for his first Swartland Syrah Blend from shale soils, his only blend of differing varieties (Syrah, Grenache and sometimes Cinsault). He says the tannins are so fine it feels like your grandfather giving you a hug. *Remember tannins in reference to the fine residue of stalks, pips, and the grape skin that imbues the juice with structure and texture and offers that grainy feel when you run your tongue over your teeth. It seems to coat the inside of your mouth when drinking big red wines. The goal is a FINE, powdery tannin, like a grandfather's embrace...I imagine a bit of Old Spice.

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The overall quality of the wines is a tribute to the sheer Graft required to make it, arguably culminating in the Polkadraai (Karibib) Syrah, that Neal Martin of Vinous.com rated 97 points (for the 2022 vintage, his second highest rating for SA wine) and wrote: "This might be the finest wine that I have tasted from Lukas Van Loggerenberg (so far)."

Having finally moved into his own rented cellar space in Paarl in 2020, there seems to be no let-up to what Lukas can achieve, though given what I KNOW of Lukas, the fact that the brand is only eight vintages strong this year seems short in comparison to how much it has become a representation of what SA wine can be, outside the confines of a Bordeaux-style blend and Stellenbosch Cab (though we love them). And conversely, what it can still come to mean for SA wine.

The recent vertical tasting cemented the longevity of the wines, proving the confidence and quality in this new era in SA wine. Including two old vine Chenin Blancs, one Cinsault, one Cabernet Franc, one Syrah-led blend, and one Karibib Syrah, not to mention his put-your-kids-through-school Break a Leg range of wines (home of the first Ros to be nominated for a Platter's five-star rating, and named for his left knee). The Trust your Gut Stellenbosch-Swartland Chenin blanc (he says it's like a blend of Batman and Spiderman); the Kameraderie from two old Swartland Chenin vines (oldest 1966); the Geronimo Cinsault from Firgrove and the farm of Bernhard Bredell (Sons of Sinai) proving the seriousness of Cinsault with its salinity and ageing potential; the Breton in Stellenbosch, a Stellenbosch blend of Cabernet Franc proving that slight herbaceousness in Cab Franc a sign of elegance; the High Hopes Syrah-led blend, with a little less Cinsault every year ensuring the concentration of the blend, and the Karibib, pedigreed Syrah; the Graft, at the pinnacle of his production, benefitting from the first new oak barrel he could afford back in 2019, now a blend of old oak and concrete maturation regimes.

Main takeaways from the vertical were:

• The 2023 releases are vibrant and beautifully accessible in their youth, unlike the recently tasted Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-style blends that, in most cases, should be left to lie for at least 10 more years. There's ageing potential here, too, as proven by the older vintages, just earlier enjoyable and made in smaller quantities. Lukas is making wines to be enjoyed.
• Old Vine Chenin Blanc shows more of its site than varietal character when living in one place for more than 35 years, making for wildly different expressions from place to place, and explains why Lukas didn't NEED any more white wines in his range given the breadth of expression in his two blended old vine Chenin Blancs (the first Swartland x Stellenbosch, and the second a selection of Swartland vines).
• In red wine, when people refer to a GREEN character, they're usually indicating that the grapes were picked too early, meant as a negative comment. Still, a slight herbaceous twang, when combined with fruit vibrance, spice and salinity, is very representative of Loire-style Cabernet Franc and can be considered quite elegant, crunchy and delicious. Like the Breton Cab Franc, Steven Spurrier (see the Judgment of Paris) himself took Lukas aside to say he thought the Breton tasted like the grand Loire wines of the 70s - a career-making comment, to be sure.
• Cinsault is serious and can be made into port and brandy - something made more evident in the older vintages of the Geronimo wine. Seriously - Cinsault.
• Karibib Syrah, buy it however you can get it, cellar it, or drink it, it will be worth it.
• Because Lukas does not own any vineyards yet, the wines' composition is subject to change, if only marginally, year on year, though given what he's done, they are only set to become more textured, detailed, and focused.

Shop Lukas van Loggerenberg's latest 2023 vintages via ExAnimo here.

Of the vintages tasted, they were:

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