Rose Murray Brown on wine
For years Elgin was known for its apples and pears; now it's gaining a reputation for wines. Vines were first planted in 1898 by Sir Antonie Viljoen, who studied at Edinburgh University and bought a farm in Elgin where he planted fruit trees, English oaks, roses and vines. His vines didn't survive, but his oaks and apples did.
A century later, when the price of fruit fell, orchard owners looked for something else. Edmond Lombardi of Applethwaite farm had created the famous Appletiser juice here in 1966, but other farmers wanted to get out of apples – so they tried planting sauvignon blanc.
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Hide AdOne of the late 20th-century wine pioneers was Andrew Gunn, who named his estate Iona after his Viking ancestry (with a longboat on his label). He planted in 1997, launching his first wine in 2001. It won acclaim for its combination of ripe pungency and crisp, crunchy grapefruit acidity.
Now there are 24 vine growers with big names such as Neil Ellis, Gyles Webb of Thelema, Mike Dobrovic of Mulderbosch, Ross Gower (ex-winemaker from Klein Constantia) and Paul Cluver.
So why is Elgin so suited? This high altitude area in Overberg has cold winters and cool summers, with cooling cloud cover and deep, mineral-rich soils. Harvests are several weeks later than the Cape's other famous white wine region, Constantia.
Sauvignon blanc is what Elgin is now known for, but it shows promise for chardonnay, semillon, riesling and late harvested whites. I am not quite so taken with its reds: pinot noir, syrah or merlot. Elgin could also have a future in sparkling wine, as Ross Gower is proving with Elgin chardonnay bubbly.
Rose offers the only wine courses in Scotland hosted by a Master of Wine www.rosemurraybrown.com
The best of the blancs
8.95
L'Art du Vin, Edinburgh; Fine Wine Co, Musselburgh
La Barry Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Martin Meinert
Pungent lime and gooseberry aromas, rich, fleshy, zippy acidity.
9.49
Waitrose, www.waitrose.com
Iona Sauvignon Blanc 2009
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Hide AdTropical fruit aromas, sleek, minerally stonefruit flavours.
12.50
Swig, www.swig.co.uk
Tokara Elgin Sauvignon Blanc 2008
Very impressive, nettly, bright green apple fruit, nutty edge; superb quality.
This Article was first published in The Scotsman on Saturday March 27, 2010