One of the most refreshing wine marketers in South Africa, and focusing predominantly on traditional marketing media, is Hermanuspietersfontein, a mouthful of a wine brand, and also the original name of the seaside town of Hermanus.   Now its winemaker Bartho Eksteen has been named the 2010 Diners’ Club Winemaker of the Year, joining such illustrious previous winemakers winning this honour as Pieter Ferreira of Graham Beck, Carl Schultz of Hartenberg, Günter Brözel of Nederburg, Marc Kent of Boekenhoutskloof, Sydney Back at Backsberg and Danie de Wet of Dewetshof.

Eksteen and his team are proudly-Afrikaans, choosing one of the longest wine brand names in the country(although abbreviated to HPF on some labels), in their choice of sub-brand names (Bloos for their Rosé, Swartskaap, Kleinboet and more), and in their advertising.  Leading their marketing is Gerrie Heyneke, an advertising veteran of The White House, Y&R Cape Town and DDB South Africa.  He is the CEO of grapefuel.co.za.   The winery is visible as a modern structure when one enters Hermanus, on the left,  and has made itself popular as the home to the Saturday morning food and wine market.  

Eksteen himself is a character, much like his wines, and his Die Bartho 2008 blend was awarded a 5-star 2011 Platter rating  for the first time last week. However, it is the 2009 Hermanuspietersfontein No.5 Sauvignon Blanc that won the Diner’s Club award, the wine produced for the first time exclusively from grapes of its own vineyards.   His prize is a SAA ticket to any wine-producing country in the world plus expenses. Eksteen was previously a winemaker at Wildekrans in Bot River, winning SA Champion Young Wine in 1996.  He launched the Bartho Eksteen label for his Sauvignon Blanc, and five years ago he became a partner in Hermanuspietersfontein Vineyards.

The Diner’s Club Winemaker of the Year was judged on Sauvignon Blanc submissions this year.   Chairman of the judging panel, Dave Hughes, said of the six finalist wines submitted: “There was not a single wine amongst them that was not deserving of praise.  Where they differed was in style” .  Every one of them was expressive of their location and, taken together, represented virtually the entire taste spectrum that can be produced locally. We tasted the typical cool-area grassy nose and sweet gooseberry fruit; lemons and limes on the nose with a ripe tropical fruit palate and citrus zing; dusty hedges and zippy acidity; exotically oaked with opulent sweet fruit; a tropical fruit salad; and West Coast green peppers, grass and green figs”.

At the awards evening last night, the 2010 Diners’ Club Young Winemaker of the Year was awarded to RJ Botha of Nitida in Durbanville, and went to the winery’s 2009 Calligraphy, a Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

To celebrate thirty years of the Diner’s Club Winemaker Awards, a commemorative pack of 12 wines made by past winners of the Award, including Rust en Vrede, Graham Beck, Allesverloren, Thelema and Bouchard Finlayson, has been made available via the Diner’s Club Wine Society.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com   Twitter: @WhaleCottage