I am in Genève, Switzerland for work, but of course there is wine to explore. Over the last couple of years I have been back and forth several times to Genève and each time I have tried to taste as many of the wines as possible. There are around 19,900 hectres of vineyards in Switzerland divided between thousands of full and part time growers. Production of wine is not huge in world terms and according to data from the Swiss Federal Office of Agriculture, production in 2009 was just over 1.1 million hectoliters, divided into 527,000 hl of white wine and 587,000 hl of red wine.
The Swiss tend to drink all their wine themselves with less than 2% being exported and that mainly goes to neighbouring Germany. The Swiss are the 6th highest per capita consumers of wine in the world at around 45 litres per person per year. Not surprising then given the Swiss’s love of wine and the sky high value of their Franc, that we do not see any Swiss wine on the shelves in Kenyan supermarkets or anywhere else for that matter.
You do not have to go far in Genève to find vineyards as there are dozens within 10 kilometres of the city centre. Crossing the Rhône River and heading west in the direction of the French border, there are lots of attractive villages such as Peissy, Satigny, Bourdigny, Choully and Russin. I am told that within the Genève canton there has been a significant revival of small family runs vineyards over the last ten years or so. This is surprising as the price of land is astronomical, which makes me wonder about the economic viability of these small, normally less than 4 hectres, vineyards. There are though very strict building regulations that prohibit the urban sprawl from swallowing the patchwork of vineyards, thank goodness.
Once a year about twenty-five vineyards in and around the village of Peissy open their doors to the public for a goûter (taste). The taste of Swiss wines is likened to the Alpine air fresh and clean. The famous grape varietal of Switzerland is Chasselas which produces a light, dry, spritzy, and delicate wine. Chasselas goes particularly well with fondue, a sort of gooey cheesy mixture that various bits of bread, fish, or meat are dipped into. Chasselas constitutes 40% of all vine plantings in Switzerland and like most grapes is known by different names in different places including Dorin in the Vaud region and Fendant in the Valais. Switzerland also has a long list of historic vine specialties such as Petite Arvine, Amigne, and Humagne Blanc for the whites. For reds, the Swiss love affair with Pinot Noir has seen a significant increase in plantings this vine often at the expense of Chasselas.
In general Genève winegrowers are in the process of downsizing Chasselas, formerly the most widely grown grape in the canton. The wines I found interesting and liked were made from the Gamaret grape. A red grape it is a cross between Gamay, (the famous grape of Beaujolais in France), and the white grape varietal Reichensteiner. Gamaret was developed for cultivation in French Switzerland, and is a sibling of Garanoir, which was intended for the German part of the country and was created by André Jaquinet at Station Fédérale de Recheres en Production Végétale de Changins in 1970. Total Swiss plantations of the variety in 2009 are small at 380 hectares (940 acres) and about 100 hectres are found in the Genève vineyards. Gamaret has good resistance to rot and ripens early. It gives dark purple wine with aromas of blackberries and spices and subtle tannin. In many ways the style is much more New World with up-front fruit, light tannins, and subtle (French) oaking that can be drunk a year or so after bottling.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Extreme Winemaking: Leleshwa Naivasha
Unsurprisingly I tend to love vineyards and over the years I have been fortunate to have visited a number of what could be called unusual vineyards. In the Karoo in South Africa it is not unusual to find a combination of a vineyard with Ostrich rearing. In the Douro Valley in Portugal the steepness of the vineyards, which rise almost vertically from the river, send anyone with a vertiginous sensitivity into apoplexy. This last weekend it was to another vineyard right here in Kenya that could be categorised as being at the extreme end of the winemaking scale.
The Great Rift Valley Winery is located in Naivasha about 90 kilometres west of Nairobi. The vineyard lies at about an altitude of 1,900 metres with about 35 to 40 hectres of vines and the farm is framed by hills all around that rise to over 2,500 metres. The brand of the vineyard is Leleshwa, which refers to the Masai name of trees with a distinctive white flower that are common to the area. The vineyard has been in existence since 1994 when the previous owner of the farm planted about 3 to 4 hectres of vines suitable for wine making.
The vineyard changed hands in the late 1990’s and now falls under the portfolio of the Kenya Nut Company owned by a prominent Kenyan businessman. For the last two-and-a-half years the viticulturalists, winemaker, and pretty well everything else, has been James Farquharson. James born in Kenya of Scottish ancestry spent time in the South Africa’s Cape first completing a BSc in Viticulture at Stellenbosch University before practicing his craft at a number of estates, including becoming the red winemaker at the prestigious Boschendal Estate not far from Franschhoek.
The biggest problem James has confronted is the low yields of the vines when he inherited the vineyard. Crop yields were as low as 1.5 tonnes per hectre, which makes commercial wine making economically unviable. For grapes such as Sauvignon Blanc for a commercial vineyard a minimum of 5 tonnes per hectre and hopefully more around the 8 to 9 tonnes per hectre is desirable. James is getting there in terms of increasing yields by applying techniques such as particular types of pruning. James has for example introduced a pruning system of 6 to 8 bud canes instead of the 2 bud spurs that was being used at the vineyard. This encourages fruit production although other problems include loss of grapes to birds and animals such as antelope and monkeys.
As mentioned in a previous blog, there are a number of challenges growing grapes and making wine bang on the equator. Vines perform best within a band of latitudes approximately between 30oN 50oN and the mirror image for the southern hemisphere, 30oS 50oS. Look at a map of the world and all the famous wine producing areas fall into these latitudes. The reason is partly climate as to produce grapes suitable for quality wine making it is generally agreed that vines require a period of dormancy. In the appropriate latitudes and the on-set of winter, cooler temperatures encourage the vine to shut down and the sap falls from the plant above ground to the roots. Vines perform best when they have long daylight periods particularly during the summer ripening period. In Europe the 14 to 18 hours of daylight in the summer enable the vine to produce quality fruit; the right balance between sugar and acid as well as other phenolics properties.
In Naivasha James cannot do much about the length of days as they are what they are about 12 hours a day all year around. To encourage dormancy James tries to starve the vines of water. Naivasha receives on average around 550mm of rainfall annually. This year rainfall patterns have been far from normal with to date over 750 mm. The other technique often used by grape growers in the tropics is to waken the vine from an induced dormancy period by applying hydrogen cyamide (Prussic acid) the commercial brand name in Kenya is Dormex. An advantage of this application is that as well as wakening the vine it also encourages the uniform setting of fruit.
Despite the challenges of growing vines on the equator James has in a very short period of time achieved considerable success. The Leleshwa brand currently produces a very good Sauvignon Blanc with bright fruit and a definite varietal character. A rosé wine is also produced and the next venture is to add a Shiraz to the brand line. Marketing wine is a major industry in itself and in Kenya there are additional challenges. James hopes that the country’s tourist industry will want to serve Leleshwa highlighting the fact that it is a unique Kenyan product and all things considered it should be a winner. James is philosophical when it comes to accepting that the specific challenges of Naivasha mean that his wines are not necessarily going to be challenging Burgundy Gran Cru’s or Bordeaux First Growths and that is in any case certainly not the objective. Good quality, technically sound wine at an affordable price (Leleshwa Sauvignon Blanc retails at about KSH550 (about $6.80) a bottle in Nairobi) and a unique Kenyan product makes more than enough sense.
The Great Rift Valley Winery is located in Naivasha about 90 kilometres west of Nairobi. The vineyard lies at about an altitude of 1,900 metres with about 35 to 40 hectres of vines and the farm is framed by hills all around that rise to over 2,500 metres. The brand of the vineyard is Leleshwa, which refers to the Masai name of trees with a distinctive white flower that are common to the area. The vineyard has been in existence since 1994 when the previous owner of the farm planted about 3 to 4 hectres of vines suitable for wine making.
The vineyard changed hands in the late 1990’s and now falls under the portfolio of the Kenya Nut Company owned by a prominent Kenyan businessman. For the last two-and-a-half years the viticulturalists, winemaker, and pretty well everything else, has been James Farquharson. James born in Kenya of Scottish ancestry spent time in the South Africa’s Cape first completing a BSc in Viticulture at Stellenbosch University before practicing his craft at a number of estates, including becoming the red winemaker at the prestigious Boschendal Estate not far from Franschhoek.
The biggest problem James has confronted is the low yields of the vines when he inherited the vineyard. Crop yields were as low as 1.5 tonnes per hectre, which makes commercial wine making economically unviable. For grapes such as Sauvignon Blanc for a commercial vineyard a minimum of 5 tonnes per hectre and hopefully more around the 8 to 9 tonnes per hectre is desirable. James is getting there in terms of increasing yields by applying techniques such as particular types of pruning. James has for example introduced a pruning system of 6 to 8 bud canes instead of the 2 bud spurs that was being used at the vineyard. This encourages fruit production although other problems include loss of grapes to birds and animals such as antelope and monkeys.
As mentioned in a previous blog, there are a number of challenges growing grapes and making wine bang on the equator. Vines perform best within a band of latitudes approximately between 30oN 50oN and the mirror image for the southern hemisphere, 30oS 50oS. Look at a map of the world and all the famous wine producing areas fall into these latitudes. The reason is partly climate as to produce grapes suitable for quality wine making it is generally agreed that vines require a period of dormancy. In the appropriate latitudes and the on-set of winter, cooler temperatures encourage the vine to shut down and the sap falls from the plant above ground to the roots. Vines perform best when they have long daylight periods particularly during the summer ripening period. In Europe the 14 to 18 hours of daylight in the summer enable the vine to produce quality fruit; the right balance between sugar and acid as well as other phenolics properties.
In Naivasha James cannot do much about the length of days as they are what they are about 12 hours a day all year around. To encourage dormancy James tries to starve the vines of water. Naivasha receives on average around 550mm of rainfall annually. This year rainfall patterns have been far from normal with to date over 750 mm. The other technique often used by grape growers in the tropics is to waken the vine from an induced dormancy period by applying hydrogen cyamide (Prussic acid) the commercial brand name in Kenya is Dormex. An advantage of this application is that as well as wakening the vine it also encourages the uniform setting of fruit.
Despite the challenges of growing vines on the equator James has in a very short period of time achieved considerable success. The Leleshwa brand currently produces a very good Sauvignon Blanc with bright fruit and a definite varietal character. A rosé wine is also produced and the next venture is to add a Shiraz to the brand line. Marketing wine is a major industry in itself and in Kenya there are additional challenges. James hopes that the country’s tourist industry will want to serve Leleshwa highlighting the fact that it is a unique Kenyan product and all things considered it should be a winner. James is philosophical when it comes to accepting that the specific challenges of Naivasha mean that his wines are not necessarily going to be challenging Burgundy Gran Cru’s or Bordeaux First Growths and that is in any case certainly not the objective. Good quality, technically sound wine at an affordable price (Leleshwa Sauvignon Blanc retails at about KSH550 (about $6.80) a bottle in Nairobi) and a unique Kenyan product makes more than enough sense.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
The Chocolate Block
Selling wine is a tough business. Annual consumption of fermented grape juice rises every year, but the picture is distorted by the Chinese and Indian markets, which along with other so called emerging economies, accounts for most the increased sales. In the traditional retail wine markets of Europe and North America the picture is very different. Here consumption of wine is at best stagnant and the supermarket shelves, where approximately nine out of every ten bottles are sold, groan with an ever expanding array of wines. In the traditional wine producing and consuming countries of Europe such as France, Italy, and Spain, the young increasingly drink beer or Alcopops and often view wine as distinctly un-hip, old fashioned and, heaven forbid, something their parents drink.
As mentioned in previous blogs, wine consumption in Kenya albeit at a low base level is increasing dramatically. For the lower price band of wine between $5 and $10 a bottle, promotion is largely confined to the handful of importing companies trumpeting their respective commercially successful brands, usually from South Africa or increasingly Chile. A typical promotion for these wines normally consists of a display in a local supermarket where (usually) young sales representatives try to tempt the shopper to sample and hopefully buy this week’s bargain.
The bargain more often than not is a commercial white, red and sometimes rosé, usually a single varietal, Sauvignon Blanc or Cabernet Sauvignon for example, that in wine speaking parlance is described as easy drinking; fruity with low tannins and at the higher end of dry, or, increasingly off-dry. These promotional campaigns, mostly through the supermarkets, are much the same as anywhere in the world, although we do not as yet have the three-for-two or the 10% discount offer if you buy a case.
For the mid price level for wine above $15, but below $30 a bottle, the choice is reasonably good in that quality examples can be found from the Old World, Italy, France, and Spain, and the New World, mostly South Africa and Chile. Much like anywhere in the world, consumers often bulk at paying a premium for these mid priced wines largely because they are not really sure what extra quality for their money they are getting. In addition for the consumer it is not helped by the absence of the promotion of these wines; the distributors perhaps believing that sales are relatively so small that there is little merit in investing in promotion.
Above the $30 a bottle price the wine market in Kenya is at best miniscule. In the wider world despite economic recession, the demand for so called fine wines seems to increase exponentially. Bordeaux first growths, Burgundy Gran Crus, and some flagship New World estates such as Screaming Eagle in California, can charge, and do, just about what they want. The need to promote these iconic wines is non existent as buyers already know that they are unique products and that the price is more a function of demand and supply rather than anything to do with the taste. Indeed, part of the attraction is that they are collectable, endowed with a caché that above all makes them a sound investment.
Against the promotional tide, there are occasionally in Nairobi promotions of wines that in some respects do not, from an economic perspective, seem to make sense. One example was an evening a week or so ago of an event promoting The Chocolate Block. The wine emanates from the Boekenhoutsklof Winery in Franschhoek, South Africa. A Shiraz led blend, (the 2008 vintage is a blend of 69% Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon and a dash of Cinsaut and Viognier[1]), the wine mimics to an extent a Rhône Valley wine from France; a quintessential so called “Rhône Ranger”, and the label has been a huge commercial hit in South Africa (current annual sales are around 180,000 cases). Also, the wine sales well in European markets in particular the UK. Boekenhoutsklof understands and exploit the fact that a wine with a discernibly taste, in this case chocolate, is both understandable and desirable for wine consumers who seek at the very least consistency. In other words, the label delivers what it says, chocolate.
The Market for The Chocolate Block is in Kenya at best is limited, not least because at a price tag of around KSH4,000 (about $50) a bottle it is not exactly going to fly off the shelves. Yet Boekenhoutsklof and Kafra[2], (the distributor here in Kenya), went to the expense of sending the marketing manager from South Africa to Nairobi (as well as Uganda, Nigeria coupled with a trip to the UK and Germany) to promote the wine, and I for one are more than grateful. Boekenhoutsklof as part of the larger Vinimark Company[3], (South Africa’s largest independent specialist wine wholesaling company), have the resources to warrant such “loss-leader” adventures into new markets. It underlines the fact that selling wine is a tough business and that it requires strong nerves to push the investment boat out, so to speak. As the saying goes the best way to make a small fortune in the wine industry is to start with a large one.
[1] The following are notes from Boekenhoutsklof. “The Syrah fruit comes from Malmesbury with its unique growing conditions and dryland farmed vineyards to ensure it deep-rooted vines and therefore optimal concentration of colour, flavour and tannin structure. The Grenache noir (from some of the oldest in the country) is sourced from Citrusdal with its very sandy soils and perfect terroir for ripening this grape varietal. This batch was matured in 600L barrels to retain the unmistakable fruit and freshness on the cultivar. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Viognier come from the organically farmed vineyards of Boekenhoutsklof and the Cinsault is from old bush vines on decomposed granite soils on Welbedacht in Wellington. The wine matures in 2nd and 3rd filled French oak barrels for 15 months before it gets a light egg-white fining.
The wine shows typical Malmesbury Syrah flavours on the nose with intense spicy notes which is supported by ripe plum, black fruit and violet aromas. The wine has a grippy acidity and well integrated tannins with a well textured and rounded mouth feel. The long, elegant and succulent finish with superb structure from the Cabernet Sauvignon leads us to believe that this wine has at least 8 years of aging potential”.
[2] The Chocolate Box is aavailable from Kafra Wines Kenya Limited, Kafrawines@nbi.ispkenya.com
[3] The labels under the Vinimark Company include Avondale, Fish Hoeh, Glen Carlou, Longridge, and South Africa’s only bio-dynamically certified estate Reyneke Wines.
As mentioned in previous blogs, wine consumption in Kenya albeit at a low base level is increasing dramatically. For the lower price band of wine between $5 and $10 a bottle, promotion is largely confined to the handful of importing companies trumpeting their respective commercially successful brands, usually from South Africa or increasingly Chile. A typical promotion for these wines normally consists of a display in a local supermarket where (usually) young sales representatives try to tempt the shopper to sample and hopefully buy this week’s bargain.
The bargain more often than not is a commercial white, red and sometimes rosé, usually a single varietal, Sauvignon Blanc or Cabernet Sauvignon for example, that in wine speaking parlance is described as easy drinking; fruity with low tannins and at the higher end of dry, or, increasingly off-dry. These promotional campaigns, mostly through the supermarkets, are much the same as anywhere in the world, although we do not as yet have the three-for-two or the 10% discount offer if you buy a case.
For the mid price level for wine above $15, but below $30 a bottle, the choice is reasonably good in that quality examples can be found from the Old World, Italy, France, and Spain, and the New World, mostly South Africa and Chile. Much like anywhere in the world, consumers often bulk at paying a premium for these mid priced wines largely because they are not really sure what extra quality for their money they are getting. In addition for the consumer it is not helped by the absence of the promotion of these wines; the distributors perhaps believing that sales are relatively so small that there is little merit in investing in promotion.
Above the $30 a bottle price the wine market in Kenya is at best miniscule. In the wider world despite economic recession, the demand for so called fine wines seems to increase exponentially. Bordeaux first growths, Burgundy Gran Crus, and some flagship New World estates such as Screaming Eagle in California, can charge, and do, just about what they want. The need to promote these iconic wines is non existent as buyers already know that they are unique products and that the price is more a function of demand and supply rather than anything to do with the taste. Indeed, part of the attraction is that they are collectable, endowed with a caché that above all makes them a sound investment.
Against the promotional tide, there are occasionally in Nairobi promotions of wines that in some respects do not, from an economic perspective, seem to make sense. One example was an evening a week or so ago of an event promoting The Chocolate Block. The wine emanates from the Boekenhoutsklof Winery in Franschhoek, South Africa. A Shiraz led blend, (the 2008 vintage is a blend of 69% Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon and a dash of Cinsaut and Viognier[1]), the wine mimics to an extent a Rhône Valley wine from France; a quintessential so called “Rhône Ranger”, and the label has been a huge commercial hit in South Africa (current annual sales are around 180,000 cases). Also, the wine sales well in European markets in particular the UK. Boekenhoutsklof understands and exploit the fact that a wine with a discernibly taste, in this case chocolate, is both understandable and desirable for wine consumers who seek at the very least consistency. In other words, the label delivers what it says, chocolate.
The Market for The Chocolate Block is in Kenya at best is limited, not least because at a price tag of around KSH4,000 (about $50) a bottle it is not exactly going to fly off the shelves. Yet Boekenhoutsklof and Kafra[2], (the distributor here in Kenya), went to the expense of sending the marketing manager from South Africa to Nairobi (as well as Uganda, Nigeria coupled with a trip to the UK and Germany) to promote the wine, and I for one are more than grateful. Boekenhoutsklof as part of the larger Vinimark Company[3], (South Africa’s largest independent specialist wine wholesaling company), have the resources to warrant such “loss-leader” adventures into new markets. It underlines the fact that selling wine is a tough business and that it requires strong nerves to push the investment boat out, so to speak. As the saying goes the best way to make a small fortune in the wine industry is to start with a large one.
[1] The following are notes from Boekenhoutsklof. “The Syrah fruit comes from Malmesbury with its unique growing conditions and dryland farmed vineyards to ensure it deep-rooted vines and therefore optimal concentration of colour, flavour and tannin structure. The Grenache noir (from some of the oldest in the country) is sourced from Citrusdal with its very sandy soils and perfect terroir for ripening this grape varietal. This batch was matured in 600L barrels to retain the unmistakable fruit and freshness on the cultivar. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Viognier come from the organically farmed vineyards of Boekenhoutsklof and the Cinsault is from old bush vines on decomposed granite soils on Welbedacht in Wellington. The wine matures in 2nd and 3rd filled French oak barrels for 15 months before it gets a light egg-white fining.
The wine shows typical Malmesbury Syrah flavours on the nose with intense spicy notes which is supported by ripe plum, black fruit and violet aromas. The wine has a grippy acidity and well integrated tannins with a well textured and rounded mouth feel. The long, elegant and succulent finish with superb structure from the Cabernet Sauvignon leads us to believe that this wine has at least 8 years of aging potential”.
[2] The Chocolate Box is aavailable from Kafra Wines Kenya Limited, Kafrawines@nbi.ispkenya.com
[3] The labels under the Vinimark Company include Avondale, Fish Hoeh, Glen Carlou, Longridge, and South Africa’s only bio-dynamically certified estate Reyneke Wines.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
“Ho Brion that hath a good and most particular taste I never met with”
Here in Nairobi the Diploma course of the Cape Wine Academy has started. I am teaching the course, which consists of four units lasting approximately six months each with assignments and an exam for each unit. Once the exams for each unit have all been passed, students can then embark upon the tasting exam. All-in-all quite an undertaking and a total of six students are signed up, primed, and ready to go.
Each lecture within each unit culminates in a wine tasting the wines reflecting the subject of the lecture. For example, lectures on the theme of organic, bio-dynamic, and environmentally sustainable wine making we taste wines that best reflect these principles and techniques. For lectures more country and region focussed, such as Bordeaux or Burgundy in France, or, Mosel in Germany, then the wines selected reflect the styles and diversity from these different regions.
Finding wines in Nairobi to match the themes and subjects covered in the lectures for the Diploma course is quite a challenge. The supermarkets and most wine suppliers in Nairobi, as I have mentioned in previous blogs, tend to mainly stock the generic and brand wines from South Africa, Chile, and some European countries. Wines that are more interesting, endowed with a sense of character, are generally not available. For example, the wines available from Bordeaux are at best the generic regional Appellations d'origine contrôlées such as Bordeaux Supérieur, rather than the famous individual appellations such as Médoc and Graves. Obtaining interesting wines requires lots of lateral thinking, begging, borrowing, although not yet stealing. As a group we are dependent on ourselves and soliciting the assistance of many and any a friend to bring back from travels the necessary precious bottles.
Bordeaux apart from the Diploma classes is also on my mind at present because the recently released en premeur offerings for the 2009 vintage are causing a bit of stir in the press of the fine wine world. The international wine critics have let the superlatives rip by describing the 2009 vintage as the best in a generation and some have gone as far as writing the best ever. The quality of the 2009 vintage is somewhat academic as most mere mortals will never get to taste the wines. Even with a deep interest in fine Claret the chances of also having deep pockets to buy an even moderate example of the 2009 vintage are unlikely.
To buy a case of any of the famous 2009 first growths, as they are called, such as Chateaux Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild, and Haut-Brion, (the famous Ho Brion of the title of this blog), will cost between Euro 5,000 to 10,000 a case, about Euro 400 to 800 a bottle. This is the en premeur price meaning that when you eventually take receipt of wines some two years hence you will have to add tax and shipping on top of the price, about another 25% to 100% depending where you live in the world. These are wines that have not even been bottled yet. They have been assessed by wine critics from samples straight from the barrel and yet such is the almost hysteria that has been created for the 2009 vintage, at least in some parts of the world and in particular China, allocations of the best wines are already sold.
At one level the price of a bottle of any given wine should be fairly straight forward. Like any other commodity the price of a bottle of wine reflects the costs of production. Surprisingly then the production costs of a bottle of wine from a vast agri-business enterprise somewhere in the world are not that different from that of the world’s most expensive wines. Now I am not being precise here, but say the production costs of a bottle of imaginary el-cheapo are roughly $3 to $5 a bottle. The production costs of a fine and even an iconic great wine may only be very roughly twice that of my el-cheapo bottle of wine.
The owners of first growth chateaux in Bordeaux would most likely disagree with this estimation of additional production costs. They are more likely to argue that their costs are much, much higher than those of my imaginary el-cheapo producer. They would point to the stratospheric costs of land, higher labour costs due to for example hand picking of grapes, the low yields of grapes per hectre necessary for really great wine production, and the use of the finest and therefore most expensive oak barrels. Let me be generous therefore and revise my estimation of the increased costs of a first growth bottle of wine by say 5 times. Yet the fine wines of Bordeaux first growths for example can sell for a 100 times or more a bottle than the price of my el-cheapo bottle.
If the high price of a bottle of first growth Bordeaux in comparison to el-cheapo is not entirely a function of production costs, then perhaps it is because it tastes better, even a 100 times better? If you read the tasting notes of the more prosaic wine tasters you may actually believe this to be true. In reality the price of a bottle of wine is established by a whole cornucopia of factors, perhaps the most important one being what any given individual will pay. The spectacular rise of the economies of the Far East, in particular China, coupled with a rapidly rising demand for the very best wines is a major factor in why the prices of Bordeaux wines has been rising almost exponentially over the last decade. For the Diploma students in Nairobi we will taste really interesting wines. Unfortunately it is unlikely they will be first growth Bordeaux unless someone out there would like to donate a few bottles of say 1990 Pétrus?
Each lecture within each unit culminates in a wine tasting the wines reflecting the subject of the lecture. For example, lectures on the theme of organic, bio-dynamic, and environmentally sustainable wine making we taste wines that best reflect these principles and techniques. For lectures more country and region focussed, such as Bordeaux or Burgundy in France, or, Mosel in Germany, then the wines selected reflect the styles and diversity from these different regions.
Finding wines in Nairobi to match the themes and subjects covered in the lectures for the Diploma course is quite a challenge. The supermarkets and most wine suppliers in Nairobi, as I have mentioned in previous blogs, tend to mainly stock the generic and brand wines from South Africa, Chile, and some European countries. Wines that are more interesting, endowed with a sense of character, are generally not available. For example, the wines available from Bordeaux are at best the generic regional Appellations d'origine contrôlées such as Bordeaux Supérieur, rather than the famous individual appellations such as Médoc and Graves. Obtaining interesting wines requires lots of lateral thinking, begging, borrowing, although not yet stealing. As a group we are dependent on ourselves and soliciting the assistance of many and any a friend to bring back from travels the necessary precious bottles.
Bordeaux apart from the Diploma classes is also on my mind at present because the recently released en premeur offerings for the 2009 vintage are causing a bit of stir in the press of the fine wine world. The international wine critics have let the superlatives rip by describing the 2009 vintage as the best in a generation and some have gone as far as writing the best ever. The quality of the 2009 vintage is somewhat academic as most mere mortals will never get to taste the wines. Even with a deep interest in fine Claret the chances of also having deep pockets to buy an even moderate example of the 2009 vintage are unlikely.
To buy a case of any of the famous 2009 first growths, as they are called, such as Chateaux Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Mouton-Rothschild, and Haut-Brion, (the famous Ho Brion of the title of this blog), will cost between Euro 5,000 to 10,000 a case, about Euro 400 to 800 a bottle. This is the en premeur price meaning that when you eventually take receipt of wines some two years hence you will have to add tax and shipping on top of the price, about another 25% to 100% depending where you live in the world. These are wines that have not even been bottled yet. They have been assessed by wine critics from samples straight from the barrel and yet such is the almost hysteria that has been created for the 2009 vintage, at least in some parts of the world and in particular China, allocations of the best wines are already sold.
At one level the price of a bottle of any given wine should be fairly straight forward. Like any other commodity the price of a bottle of wine reflects the costs of production. Surprisingly then the production costs of a bottle of wine from a vast agri-business enterprise somewhere in the world are not that different from that of the world’s most expensive wines. Now I am not being precise here, but say the production costs of a bottle of imaginary el-cheapo are roughly $3 to $5 a bottle. The production costs of a fine and even an iconic great wine may only be very roughly twice that of my el-cheapo bottle of wine.
The owners of first growth chateaux in Bordeaux would most likely disagree with this estimation of additional production costs. They are more likely to argue that their costs are much, much higher than those of my imaginary el-cheapo producer. They would point to the stratospheric costs of land, higher labour costs due to for example hand picking of grapes, the low yields of grapes per hectre necessary for really great wine production, and the use of the finest and therefore most expensive oak barrels. Let me be generous therefore and revise my estimation of the increased costs of a first growth bottle of wine by say 5 times. Yet the fine wines of Bordeaux first growths for example can sell for a 100 times or more a bottle than the price of my el-cheapo bottle.
If the high price of a bottle of first growth Bordeaux in comparison to el-cheapo is not entirely a function of production costs, then perhaps it is because it tastes better, even a 100 times better? If you read the tasting notes of the more prosaic wine tasters you may actually believe this to be true. In reality the price of a bottle of wine is established by a whole cornucopia of factors, perhaps the most important one being what any given individual will pay. The spectacular rise of the economies of the Far East, in particular China, coupled with a rapidly rising demand for the very best wines is a major factor in why the prices of Bordeaux wines has been rising almost exponentially over the last decade. For the Diploma students in Nairobi we will taste really interesting wines. Unfortunately it is unlikely they will be first growth Bordeaux unless someone out there would like to donate a few bottles of say 1990 Pétrus?
Friday, August 27, 2010
Plop or Crack?
A perusal of the wines on sale in Nairobi’s supermarkets reveals that less than half are sealed with traditional cork. This is no surprise as it is common knowledge that for more than a decade the humble cork has been losing ground as the stopper of choice. Cork reigned supreme for centuries and the gentle plop sound made as it is pulled from the bottle is for many a vital component of the pleasures of drinking wine. The theory goes that corks will continue to disappear and in the foreseeable future will only be used for those rare and expensive first growth wines from Europe. It is the screw cap that is gaining dominance replacing the plop with a crack as a simple twist is now all that is needed to open many wine bottles.
The use of corks to provide a seal for wine containers, usually wooden barrels or clay jugs, goes back to the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians. Interestingly though by medieval times cork was not commonly used in Europe as a seal for wine containers. The reasons for this are speculative, but some scholars have postulated that the conquering of Iberia by the Moors in the 8th Century, which was then as is now the main supplier of cork, put a halt to supplies. The use of cork began to increase with the development of glass bottles during the 17th Century. Firstly glass stoppers were used, which involved the expensive and skilled process of grinding a glass bung to fit the neck of the bottle in much the same way as in a decanter. Cork quickly replaced glass stoppers principally because they were and still are relatively cheap. Since the 17th Century cork has been the dominant form of seal, and only began to wane in popularity towards the end of the 20th Century.
Cork is undoubtedly a remarkable product. It is natural and sustainable as well as relatively cheap and has the vital quality of being porous. The porosity not only enables the cork to be squashed and pushed into the bottle neck where it expands to form a snug fit, but also allows an almost infinitesimal amount of air to enter the wine. Science has demonstrated that this interface between the wine and air is critical for the maturation and development of nuisances in the wine so loved by connoisseurs. In reality it is only that tiny quantity of fine wines that really benefit from bottle ageing.
Corks qualities and strengths are in part also part of their problems. Cork unsurprisingly derives from the cork tree, Quercus suber, a relatively young species of oak. The thick bark is stripped with no detrimental effect on the health of the tree and cut into corks. Historically corks received little if any further treatment prior to being bunged into the bottle. As a natural product cork contains all sorts of chemicals including residues of sap. Wine makers became quickly aware that living cork while pliable and forming a good seal also reacted with the wine not necessarily with desirable effects.
Modern producers to combat cork taint normally bleach corks in a strong chlorine solution prior to washing and drying in an attempt to create a more inert product. It is possible though to detect the smell of chloroanisoles such as Trichloranisiole or TCA, on a wine even at almost infinitesimal concentrations. Professional wine tasters develop an ability to detect technical flaws in a wine such as the smell of TCA and can distinguish this smell from other odours emanating from other faults such as for example Brettanomyces (a form of yeast genera) contamination. Best quality corks are more likely to be free of TCA residues although they are of course expensive, which partly explains the change to other forms of seals. Wine tasters use the term corked to describe the smell and taste of a wine contaminated by a faulty cork. The term corked is also used wrongly, at least in wine tasting terms, to describe bits of cork floating around in the glass. Wine in a glass may indeed be literally corked as it contains little bits of cork, but the fault is a result of the acts of the corkscrew and the ineptitude of the pourer and not necessarily a faulty cork.
In Nairobi there are few if any restaurants that employ a sommelier. It is though quite common for a waiter to proffer a small amount of wine to undertake the tasting ritual. Diners are familiar with this ritual the uncomfortable and often pretentious scenario where the recipient of the proffered wine swirls, sniffs, and tastes before declaring wine suitable. The waiter then proceeds to fill the glasses of the dinners around the table. In Nairobi most waiters like to fill glasses as full as possible deeming it impolite to fill the glass half-full as a wine taster would prefer.
Strictly speaking although the tasting ritual is necessary it is usually carried under a misconception. Many believe what they are doing by tasting the wine is to determine if they like it or not. In reality what the diner should be doing is determining that the wine quality is good: in other words that the wine is not corked. To achieve this it is nine times out of ten sufficient to merely asses the wines appearance and smell as this reveal without tasting any faults. If a fault is detected then of course it is perfectly reasonable to ask for another bottle to be produced. It is not acceptable to send the wine back because the taster does not like it. If the wine comes with a screw cap by definition it cannot be corked, but it may have other faults so it is always best the check even if it has been cracked instead of plopped.
The use of corks to provide a seal for wine containers, usually wooden barrels or clay jugs, goes back to the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians. Interestingly though by medieval times cork was not commonly used in Europe as a seal for wine containers. The reasons for this are speculative, but some scholars have postulated that the conquering of Iberia by the Moors in the 8th Century, which was then as is now the main supplier of cork, put a halt to supplies. The use of cork began to increase with the development of glass bottles during the 17th Century. Firstly glass stoppers were used, which involved the expensive and skilled process of grinding a glass bung to fit the neck of the bottle in much the same way as in a decanter. Cork quickly replaced glass stoppers principally because they were and still are relatively cheap. Since the 17th Century cork has been the dominant form of seal, and only began to wane in popularity towards the end of the 20th Century.
Cork is undoubtedly a remarkable product. It is natural and sustainable as well as relatively cheap and has the vital quality of being porous. The porosity not only enables the cork to be squashed and pushed into the bottle neck where it expands to form a snug fit, but also allows an almost infinitesimal amount of air to enter the wine. Science has demonstrated that this interface between the wine and air is critical for the maturation and development of nuisances in the wine so loved by connoisseurs. In reality it is only that tiny quantity of fine wines that really benefit from bottle ageing.
Corks qualities and strengths are in part also part of their problems. Cork unsurprisingly derives from the cork tree, Quercus suber, a relatively young species of oak. The thick bark is stripped with no detrimental effect on the health of the tree and cut into corks. Historically corks received little if any further treatment prior to being bunged into the bottle. As a natural product cork contains all sorts of chemicals including residues of sap. Wine makers became quickly aware that living cork while pliable and forming a good seal also reacted with the wine not necessarily with desirable effects.
Modern producers to combat cork taint normally bleach corks in a strong chlorine solution prior to washing and drying in an attempt to create a more inert product. It is possible though to detect the smell of chloroanisoles such as Trichloranisiole or TCA, on a wine even at almost infinitesimal concentrations. Professional wine tasters develop an ability to detect technical flaws in a wine such as the smell of TCA and can distinguish this smell from other odours emanating from other faults such as for example Brettanomyces (a form of yeast genera) contamination. Best quality corks are more likely to be free of TCA residues although they are of course expensive, which partly explains the change to other forms of seals. Wine tasters use the term corked to describe the smell and taste of a wine contaminated by a faulty cork. The term corked is also used wrongly, at least in wine tasting terms, to describe bits of cork floating around in the glass. Wine in a glass may indeed be literally corked as it contains little bits of cork, but the fault is a result of the acts of the corkscrew and the ineptitude of the pourer and not necessarily a faulty cork.
In Nairobi there are few if any restaurants that employ a sommelier. It is though quite common for a waiter to proffer a small amount of wine to undertake the tasting ritual. Diners are familiar with this ritual the uncomfortable and often pretentious scenario where the recipient of the proffered wine swirls, sniffs, and tastes before declaring wine suitable. The waiter then proceeds to fill the glasses of the dinners around the table. In Nairobi most waiters like to fill glasses as full as possible deeming it impolite to fill the glass half-full as a wine taster would prefer.
Strictly speaking although the tasting ritual is necessary it is usually carried under a misconception. Many believe what they are doing by tasting the wine is to determine if they like it or not. In reality what the diner should be doing is determining that the wine quality is good: in other words that the wine is not corked. To achieve this it is nine times out of ten sufficient to merely asses the wines appearance and smell as this reveal without tasting any faults. If a fault is detected then of course it is perfectly reasonable to ask for another bottle to be produced. It is not acceptable to send the wine back because the taster does not like it. If the wine comes with a screw cap by definition it cannot be corked, but it may have other faults so it is always best the check even if it has been cracked instead of plopped.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Kenya to produce a Premier Cru?
Wine making is as least as old as human civilisation. Wine made from grapes from Vitus vinifera (wine-bearing) species are generally agreed to originate from what is now Georgia about 3,000 BC. The Ancient Egyptians left detailed accounts of vine growing and wine making, although not much about how their wines tasted. The Romans are credited with the spread of Vitus vinifera through Europe about two-thousand years ago to what are now famous wine regions. Today with the exception of Antarctica vines are grown and wine is made on every continent on earth.
Vines perform best within a band of latitudes approximately between 30oN 50oN and the mirror image for the southern hemisphere, 30oS 50oS. Look at a map of the world and all the famous wine producing areas fall into these latitudes. The reason is partly climate as to produce grapes suitable for quality wine making it is generally agreed that vines require a period of dormancy. In the appropriate latitudes and the on-set of winter, cooler temperatures encourage the vine to shut down and the sap falls from the plant above ground to the roots. Dormancy protects the plant against frosts and enables the plant to conserve energy in preparation for the next growing season. As temperatures rise with the on-set of spring the plant awakens, the sap rises again and the vine goes into its busy period of sending out shots followed by flowering, budding, and the final result ripe fruit.
In Kenya seasons are more based upon rainfall than temperature. Kenyan farmers do not talk about the winter, but the short-rains or the long-rains. Kenya straddles the equator and with its tropical climate vines can grow all year round. For producing table-grapes this is not necessarily a disadvantage, but for wine making it is none to good. To make good wine, wine makers search for grapes that are small with concentrated flavours. This is why quality wine producers throughout the world tend to constantly thin their grapes by picking and discarding berries to keep yields at relatively low levels and quality high.
Vine growers in Kenya and other tropical countries have developed techniques to cope with unfavourable climatic conditions. To an extent Kenya has advantage in the form of high altitudes. Kenya’s few vineyards are all at altitude mostly in the highlands above about 1,500 metres. This is beneficial as the altitude provides cooler daytime temperatures than the latitude normally would dictate that prevent the grapes becoming burnt or to hot. Even at altitude though, in Kenya temperatures seldom drop low enough and for long enough to encourage the vines to enter dormancy.
To encourage dormancy or at least to restrict the vine from continually fruiting tropical grape producers tend to double prune. This involves pruning right after harvest usually in February and then again in September. Additional fungicide spraying is also deployed mostly to militate against disease that is more likely to develop in the relatively wet and warm conditions found in Kenya. Some wine makers are experimenting with the idea of applying a hormone to the vine to in effect kid the vine into entering dormancy. To waken the vine from this induced dormancy period, grape growers are also experimenting by applying hydrogen cyamide (Prussic acid). An advantage of this application is that as well as wakening the vine it also encourages the uniform setting of fruit. This technique is used fairly extensively for grape production throughout the world particularly in the New World. Uniform fruit setting has a number of advantages not least being that there is more likelihood of achieving uniform ripeness at harvest. This means that mechanised picking can be deployed, which has the advantage of usually being more cost effective than hand-picking, which cannot differentiate between ripe and unripe fruit.
With modern techniques of vine growing, including on the near horizon the possible benefits of genetic modification, could it be that the tropics including Kenya will offer a future of good or even great wine production? Probably not is the answer, but on the other hand some would disagree and argue in depends on the time frame. India for example is storming ahead in terms of vine planting and wine production mostly within its tropical regions feeding the ever-burgeoning demand of its middle classes. Brazil’s tropical regions are also producing more and more wine. It is at least whimsical to consider that perhaps in twenty-years or so a Kenyan wine may bear comparison with a European first-growth cousin. I will keep you posted.
Vines perform best within a band of latitudes approximately between 30oN 50oN and the mirror image for the southern hemisphere, 30oS 50oS. Look at a map of the world and all the famous wine producing areas fall into these latitudes. The reason is partly climate as to produce grapes suitable for quality wine making it is generally agreed that vines require a period of dormancy. In the appropriate latitudes and the on-set of winter, cooler temperatures encourage the vine to shut down and the sap falls from the plant above ground to the roots. Dormancy protects the plant against frosts and enables the plant to conserve energy in preparation for the next growing season. As temperatures rise with the on-set of spring the plant awakens, the sap rises again and the vine goes into its busy period of sending out shots followed by flowering, budding, and the final result ripe fruit.
In Kenya seasons are more based upon rainfall than temperature. Kenyan farmers do not talk about the winter, but the short-rains or the long-rains. Kenya straddles the equator and with its tropical climate vines can grow all year round. For producing table-grapes this is not necessarily a disadvantage, but for wine making it is none to good. To make good wine, wine makers search for grapes that are small with concentrated flavours. This is why quality wine producers throughout the world tend to constantly thin their grapes by picking and discarding berries to keep yields at relatively low levels and quality high.
Vine growers in Kenya and other tropical countries have developed techniques to cope with unfavourable climatic conditions. To an extent Kenya has advantage in the form of high altitudes. Kenya’s few vineyards are all at altitude mostly in the highlands above about 1,500 metres. This is beneficial as the altitude provides cooler daytime temperatures than the latitude normally would dictate that prevent the grapes becoming burnt or to hot. Even at altitude though, in Kenya temperatures seldom drop low enough and for long enough to encourage the vines to enter dormancy.
To encourage dormancy or at least to restrict the vine from continually fruiting tropical grape producers tend to double prune. This involves pruning right after harvest usually in February and then again in September. Additional fungicide spraying is also deployed mostly to militate against disease that is more likely to develop in the relatively wet and warm conditions found in Kenya. Some wine makers are experimenting with the idea of applying a hormone to the vine to in effect kid the vine into entering dormancy. To waken the vine from this induced dormancy period, grape growers are also experimenting by applying hydrogen cyamide (Prussic acid). An advantage of this application is that as well as wakening the vine it also encourages the uniform setting of fruit. This technique is used fairly extensively for grape production throughout the world particularly in the New World. Uniform fruit setting has a number of advantages not least being that there is more likelihood of achieving uniform ripeness at harvest. This means that mechanised picking can be deployed, which has the advantage of usually being more cost effective than hand-picking, which cannot differentiate between ripe and unripe fruit.
With modern techniques of vine growing, including on the near horizon the possible benefits of genetic modification, could it be that the tropics including Kenya will offer a future of good or even great wine production? Probably not is the answer, but on the other hand some would disagree and argue in depends on the time frame. India for example is storming ahead in terms of vine planting and wine production mostly within its tropical regions feeding the ever-burgeoning demand of its middle classes. Brazil’s tropical regions are also producing more and more wine. It is at least whimsical to consider that perhaps in twenty-years or so a Kenyan wine may bear comparison with a European first-growth cousin. I will keep you posted.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Praise the Pasta, Pizza, Pesto and Plonk
The adage that good food is first and foremost dependent on good ingredients seems particularly true for Italian food. Italians are famous for their pride in sourcing the finest raw materials and with consummate ease seemingly just assemble them to produce delicious cuisine. It is the insistence on quality that is impressive. Pasta has to be made from hard wheat, preferably durum, mozzarella has to made from buffalo’s milk, prosciutto preferably from the Parma region and made from a particular breed of pig, and even the humble tomato, of which there are over three-hundred varieties grown in Italy, has to be right and ripe one. The fact that the quality of the ingredients is paramount rather than contradicting seems to reaffirm the fact that most of Italy’s great dishes are what can be described as ‘poor-peoples’ foods. Italian food is everyday food and perhaps that is why it is loved the world over including in Kenya.
Maize is still king in Kenya and for most Kenyan’s they have not properly ‘eaten’ unless ugali, (maize flour cooked with water to a porridge or dough-like consistency), has been consumed. Nevertheless, every Kenyan city and town just like the rest of the world has its pizza and pasta joints that churn out what is occasionally authentic, but mostly approximations of Italian cuisine. Good Italian food in Kenya is usually found as a result of the relatively large and lively Italian community most of whom seem to be involved in a small or large way in providing Italian food and occasionally wine.
The first Italians came to what was East Africa in the 19th Century mostly for the Catholic Church. During the Second World War thousands of Italians soldiers were held at a number of camps throughout the country including in Gilgil, Naivasha and Nyerie. Some of the ex-prisoners stayed on after the end of the war and throughout the latter half of the 20th Century were joined by growing numbers of their compatriots. Malindi on Kenya’s coast north of Mombassa has become particularly popular with Italians and is known locally as Little Milan after the famous city in the north Italian region of Lombardy. There are about 4,000 Italians living in and around Malindi who own and operate 30 beach hotels and six safari lodges not to mention a host of Italian restaurants.
In Nairobi and Mombassa as well as many other cities and towns there are Italian supermarkets stocked with produce from home as well as produce from Kenya, either made by Italian expatriates or made in an Italian style. For the wine it is a different story for while there is plenty of Italian wine to be found whether it is known or even liked by Kenyans is more difficult to say.
Italy has surpassed France in recent years as the world’s largest producer of wine and the Italians still consume an awful lot of that wine themselves: about 50 litres per capita per year. Wine books, at least those written by non-Italians, often portray Italy’s wines in the form of a dichotomy. On the one hand, an ocean of what is euphemistically described as rustic or country wine perhaps the quintessential plonk, and that I should add is not meant to be derogatory. On the other hand, sublime examples of great wines often made from indigenous grape varieties, expensive, but matching beautifully the regional cuisines.
In Nairobi examples of Italian wines that fit into a number of categories can be found. At the lower end, 5, 10, and even 20 litres container of Italian generic wine can be found in the main supermarkets. There is usually not much information on the label as to what is in the container and certainly not what grape variety the wine is made from. At around the equivalent of KSH150 to 200 (US$2 to 2.5) per litre one should perhaps not expect much from these wines other than they are made from fermented grape juice.
Up a notch in quality, Italian wines like Valpolicella can be found in Nairobi, which originate from the Vento region in north east Italy. Valpolicella presents an array of wines of varying quality. Perhaps at their best Valpolicella is fruity, eminently drinkable, medium-weight product that compliments superbly a variety of Italian foods. Unfortunately and perhaps more often, Valpolicella for the most part can taste rather thin and acidic. The Valpolicella wine production regulations, (what is called the Denominazione di Origine Controllata, the Italian form of the French Appellation Contrôlée system), stipulates that a maximum limit of 70 per cent of the Corvina grapes in the wine, which is an impediment to those that believe the best Valpolicella is made from 100 per cent Corvina. In Nairobi look out for bottles that have on the label Valpolicella Classico or Valpolicella Superior, or rather ironically, given that it is in theory a lower classification, Valpolicella vino da tavola as this classification permits the use of 100 per cent of the Corvina grape.
At the upper end of the quality spectrum for Italian wine can be found wines from Italy’s famous and world-class wine producing regions. From the Tuscany region of central Italy famous wines such as Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, (confusingly not made from the grape variety Montepulciano), can be found. From the Piedmont region in the north west of Italy can be found Barbaresco, Barbera, and Barolo wines. These wines often described as massive are made from perhaps Italy’s best indigenous red grape variety Nebbiolo. These wines are only available from a handful of Italian families that import these specialised and expensive wines such as the New Italycor Ltd in Nairobi.
Finally and a wonderful quirk is Kenya’s own Italian wine. Meru Wine based not far from the town of Meru close to Mount Kenya, produce Barbera a Red Table Wine as well as a White Table Wine and a Communion Wine. The text on the back label of the Barbera wine is wonderfully romantic describing how in 1904 Monsignor Perlo and father Carliero planted the first vines around Murang and Nyerie. From the ‘success’ achieved from wines made from the grapes of these first vines, vines were also planted on the Ruiri plains in Meru. It was to these root stock that the brother of Monsignor Perlo grafted Barbera vines brought from the Piedmont region in the north west of Italy. Barbera next to Sangiovese is Italy’s most planted red grape known for its high level of natural acidity a desirable attribute in hot climates; perhaps this is why the brother chose the Barbera grape for Meru? How does it taste? Well the label describes it as, “A mature, full-bodied and honest wine”, and for me that is pretty good description of what it tastes like.
Maize is still king in Kenya and for most Kenyan’s they have not properly ‘eaten’ unless ugali, (maize flour cooked with water to a porridge or dough-like consistency), has been consumed. Nevertheless, every Kenyan city and town just like the rest of the world has its pizza and pasta joints that churn out what is occasionally authentic, but mostly approximations of Italian cuisine. Good Italian food in Kenya is usually found as a result of the relatively large and lively Italian community most of whom seem to be involved in a small or large way in providing Italian food and occasionally wine.
The first Italians came to what was East Africa in the 19th Century mostly for the Catholic Church. During the Second World War thousands of Italians soldiers were held at a number of camps throughout the country including in Gilgil, Naivasha and Nyerie. Some of the ex-prisoners stayed on after the end of the war and throughout the latter half of the 20th Century were joined by growing numbers of their compatriots. Malindi on Kenya’s coast north of Mombassa has become particularly popular with Italians and is known locally as Little Milan after the famous city in the north Italian region of Lombardy. There are about 4,000 Italians living in and around Malindi who own and operate 30 beach hotels and six safari lodges not to mention a host of Italian restaurants.
In Nairobi and Mombassa as well as many other cities and towns there are Italian supermarkets stocked with produce from home as well as produce from Kenya, either made by Italian expatriates or made in an Italian style. For the wine it is a different story for while there is plenty of Italian wine to be found whether it is known or even liked by Kenyans is more difficult to say.
Italy has surpassed France in recent years as the world’s largest producer of wine and the Italians still consume an awful lot of that wine themselves: about 50 litres per capita per year. Wine books, at least those written by non-Italians, often portray Italy’s wines in the form of a dichotomy. On the one hand, an ocean of what is euphemistically described as rustic or country wine perhaps the quintessential plonk, and that I should add is not meant to be derogatory. On the other hand, sublime examples of great wines often made from indigenous grape varieties, expensive, but matching beautifully the regional cuisines.
In Nairobi examples of Italian wines that fit into a number of categories can be found. At the lower end, 5, 10, and even 20 litres container of Italian generic wine can be found in the main supermarkets. There is usually not much information on the label as to what is in the container and certainly not what grape variety the wine is made from. At around the equivalent of KSH150 to 200 (US$2 to 2.5) per litre one should perhaps not expect much from these wines other than they are made from fermented grape juice.
Up a notch in quality, Italian wines like Valpolicella can be found in Nairobi, which originate from the Vento region in north east Italy. Valpolicella presents an array of wines of varying quality. Perhaps at their best Valpolicella is fruity, eminently drinkable, medium-weight product that compliments superbly a variety of Italian foods. Unfortunately and perhaps more often, Valpolicella for the most part can taste rather thin and acidic. The Valpolicella wine production regulations, (what is called the Denominazione di Origine Controllata, the Italian form of the French Appellation Contrôlée system), stipulates that a maximum limit of 70 per cent of the Corvina grapes in the wine, which is an impediment to those that believe the best Valpolicella is made from 100 per cent Corvina. In Nairobi look out for bottles that have on the label Valpolicella Classico or Valpolicella Superior, or rather ironically, given that it is in theory a lower classification, Valpolicella vino da tavola as this classification permits the use of 100 per cent of the Corvina grape.
At the upper end of the quality spectrum for Italian wine can be found wines from Italy’s famous and world-class wine producing regions. From the Tuscany region of central Italy famous wines such as Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, (confusingly not made from the grape variety Montepulciano), can be found. From the Piedmont region in the north west of Italy can be found Barbaresco, Barbera, and Barolo wines. These wines often described as massive are made from perhaps Italy’s best indigenous red grape variety Nebbiolo. These wines are only available from a handful of Italian families that import these specialised and expensive wines such as the New Italycor Ltd in Nairobi.
Finally and a wonderful quirk is Kenya’s own Italian wine. Meru Wine based not far from the town of Meru close to Mount Kenya, produce Barbera a Red Table Wine as well as a White Table Wine and a Communion Wine. The text on the back label of the Barbera wine is wonderfully romantic describing how in 1904 Monsignor Perlo and father Carliero planted the first vines around Murang and Nyerie. From the ‘success’ achieved from wines made from the grapes of these first vines, vines were also planted on the Ruiri plains in Meru. It was to these root stock that the brother of Monsignor Perlo grafted Barbera vines brought from the Piedmont region in the north west of Italy. Barbera next to Sangiovese is Italy’s most planted red grape known for its high level of natural acidity a desirable attribute in hot climates; perhaps this is why the brother chose the Barbera grape for Meru? How does it taste? Well the label describes it as, “A mature, full-bodied and honest wine”, and for me that is pretty good description of what it tastes like.
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