Three tiers of Durbanville Hills: proof is in the drinking

[caption id="attachment_39688" align="alignright" width="405"] SAVOURING ESTATE'S BEST: Durbanville Hills cellarmaster Martin Moore enjoys some of his premium product[/caption]

APART from rands and cents, what is really the difference between a R50 bottle of cabernet sauvignon and a R350 bottle? The obvious answer is, "the R350 bottle is better" – but what makes it better?

The higher up the price scale you go, the more subjective it becomes. Wine engages the senses as well as the intellect, and tasting becomes as much about what you taste as what you think you're tasting.

The 300-year history at Groot Constantia; the legend of Mulderbosch's Faithful Hound; the moving slave museum at Solms Delta; the gleaming trophy cabinet and artworks at Tokara – all these influence your experience of the wine and the value you put on it.

But there are also more hard-nosed, objective criteria which influence the cost of making the wine and its quality.

As a big commercial operation in the Distell stable, operating in the "super-premium" market and upwards, Durbanville Hills is a good place to experience the difference in price and quality as you move from the accessible Hills range to the premium Rhinofields Reserve to the exclusive single vineyard wines.

The three main influences on the price of wine, are oak, time and terroir – that blend of all the qualities of soil, terrain and climate that give wine from a particular area its particular characteristics.

As far as terroir goes, Durbanville Hills cellarmaster Martin Moore says "origin is key". His wines are made only from grapes sourced in the Durbanville region. This puts them more at the mercy of weather disasters and blocks the option of trucking in cheaper grapes.

As an example, the grapes that go into making the estate's top wines cost R7300 a ton, from vineyards producing just seven tons per hectare. That makes a cost of R10.50 per litre, against grapes for the more mass market wines from vineyards that yield double the amount, at a cost of R2900/ton or R4.20/litre. Bulk grapes from external sources are even cheaper.

Wooden barrels, he says, are the "main cost eater", but they make all the difference in maturing top-class wines. Unlike steel tanks that can be used over and over, and for different wines, 300-litre wooden barrels come in at about R8000 each, and can be used just three times. The cost of putting wine into one of these, drops from R13/litre in a new barrel to R4.40/litre for "third fill".

Wood adds flavour and concentration to wine that you just don't get from a steel tank, and the oxygen that permeates the barrels softens the tannins for a smoother result. For wine made for the long haul, Moore says more expensive tight-grained barrels let less of the tannins out over a long maturation period.

"Investment in barrels translates to an investment in wine that can lie down much longer," Moore said.

Time in those barrels is another cost factor. Where less expensive wines can be on the shop shelves within months of the harvest, premium wines are given time in barrels to mature, mellow, develop intensity and reduce acidity and harsh tannins. This means the wine-maker has laid out the cash to produce the wine and then has to wait 12, 18 months or more to recover those expenses.

Add to that Durbanville Hills' investment in equipment for more precise automated sorting of grapes and technology to control temperature for precision fermentation, and you start to see how all the input costs add up.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, or in this case, the drinking, and so we compared the three tiers of Durbanville Hills sauvignon blanc and merlot.

Moore says the Hills range is made for easy-drinking.

"The Hills wines are for a drink after work or with a pizza. The Rhinofields Range is to enjoy with food, or by yourself reading a book by the fire. You want to notice the wine," he explains.

The 2014 Sauvignon Blanc is fresh, tropical and easy-drinking, while the 2013 Rhinofields has been released later and developed more complex, intense flavours and a smooth mouth-feel with an elegant finish. Take it up a notch to the 2013 Biesjes Craal Sauvignon Blanc and you have flinty minerality, green flavours and a lingering finish.

The two upper echelon sauvignon blancs are a year older than the entry-level wine, and that extra time shows in the complexity and intensity.

Like the Hills Sauvignon Blanc, the Hills Merlot is the market leader in its class and the 2012 is very accessible – ripe, fruity, juicy and smooth. "A little wood is like seasoning on meat – you want some but not too much. We want this merlot be succulent."

A year older and with more time in wood (50% new barrels and 50% the less expensive second-fill), the Rhinofields Merlot 2011 is bigger and more complex with well-balanced wood and fruitiness.

Durbanville Hills' most expensive wine, the 2011 Luipaardsberg Merlot could well convert the Anything-but-Merlot brigade. It's got an intense, spicy nose and delivers a well-rounded mouthful of rich fruit flavours, rounded off with a hint of mint, and is made for ageing.

The top price tag, says Moore, comes from wood and terroir – the grapes come from just one vineyard that can deliver its specific characteristics.

The price difference? From R47 to R85 to R115 on the sauvignon blanc, and R59 to R109 to R240 for the merlot. Worth it? Definitely. - A Vine Time, with Sam Venter