Who? Where? What? I believe you may now be asking. Well read the following write up by Michael Fridjhon for Business Day and Financial Mail .....
It is too soon to say whether May de Lencquesaing's Glenelly estate in Stellenbosch is destined to join SA 's recognised pantheon of great wine properties. Certainly, the portents are all there. There are two very fine Chardonnays: the unwooded one is infinitely more interesting than most Sauvignon Blancs; and a wooded version, in which the creaminess of the mouth feel is more important than the fingerprint of the oak.
The two reds - a Bordeaux-type blend called Lady May and a Cabernet-Shiraz sold as "Grand Vin" - are both still in their infancy. However, everything about them suggests they will live up to the promise already evident in the whites.
The Grande Dame of Bordeaux (Madame de Lencquesaing is a former Grand Chancelier of the Académie du Vin de Bordeaux) began researching a vineyard acquisition in SA in the late 1990s. Unlike many newcomers, she had the history and the experience to traverse the learning curve by the shortest route. Her father's family were landowners in Bordeaux in the first half of the 20th century - not exactly the halcyon days of the Bordeaux trade. The Miailhes owned (or co-owned and managed) Chateaux Palmer, Pichon Lalande, Siran, Coufran, Avensan and Ducru Beaucaillou.
When she came into her inheritance in 1978, Chateau Pichon Lalande was technically insolvent. In little more than a decade, she transformed it into one of a handful of "Superseconds" in the Medoc. In 2006, she sold it to Champagne Louis Roederer, whose properties in the Medoc included Chateau de Pez. Now with the time to invest in her South African estate, she has done everything prudently possible to fast- track its establishment. Starting with the acquisition of a property bordering Rustenberg in historic Ida s Valley in Stellenbosch, to a complete replanting with properly sourced vineyard material, through to the construction of a functional cellar, it's all been very well done.
The employment of wine maker Luke O'Cuinneagain (who years before had worked at Rustenberg) seems particularly inspired. His unshowy but carefully crafted wines marry her French aesthetic with the reality of Stellenbosch fruit.
The only question that I believe now remains. Are you keen to try some?
