I have driven past Bilton Wines on my way to Rust en Vrede and Haskell Vineyards a number of times, but had never stopped to visit their Tasting Room, even though their collection of old-timers catch the eye. An invitation by the wine estate to attend a tasting of their wines, paired with dishes prepared by ‘pop-up’ Chef Craig Cormack from Sofia’s, was an excellent opportunity to hear how its winemakers go about their winemaking so differently.

We were welcomed in the Tasting Room with a massive fire burning in the fireplace on a very wet Winelands day, by owner Mark Bilton, referring to us as ‘blockers’, which caused a laugh, because of the double meaning implied, especially due to many bloggers blocking each other on Twitter! I was told that he is British in origin, has American connections, but lives on the estate. His grandfather, Sir Percy Bilton, was a well known philanthropist, who came to South Africa in 1938, and bought the wine estate at the end of Annandale Road ten years later. It is one of the largest wine estates in the country, 377 hectare in size, but only 20 % of the land is planted to vine, the rest dedicated to biodiversity, being fynbos. The distance between the cellar and the highest point on the wine estate is 680 meters. Winemaker Rudi de Wet believes that Bilton Wines is the largest wine estate in private ownership.  Rudi has been on the wine estate since 2005, having studied at Elsenburg, and then setting up Ernie Els Wines and Webersburg close by. From there he moved to Meerlust, working on their iconic Rubicon. Elizma van der Mescht is Rudi’s assistant winemaker, having also studied at Elsenburg, joining Bilton Wines and gaining experience by working a harvest in St Émilion. We chatted about women winemakers, and Elizma said that she was one of seven female students in her class of 20. The physical challenge of the harvest, including 20 hour days during the harvest, is a barrier to entry for women in this career, but was no deterrent for Elizma.  She believes that women winemakers are perfectionists, and therefore very good at their jobs. She has seen an increase in the number of female students from Italy and France, who come to Bilton Wines to help them with their harvest. Elizma admires Erika Obermeyer from Graham Beck Wines, and Ronel Wiid, winner of the first woman winemaker of the year competition and now at Bartinney.

We moved to the wine cellar, in which a long table had been set, beautifully and simply decorated by Marketing and Sales Manager Cindy Eveleigh, with vases of fynbos, corks in glass jars, labels on each glass, and name cards. Rudi introduced the Bilton Merlot 2008, and shared with us that they harvest 100 tons of grapes, and all wines are barrel matured, using 25 different barrel types from 25 coopers.  Rudi explained that the wood used to make the barrels by each cooper is different, influencing the taste of the wine, and he blends the wines matured in the 25 barrel types over two years, to achieve the perfect wine. Interestingly, 80% of the production each year goes into new barrels. Rudi’s previous boss from Meerlust, Giorgio Dalla Cia, is a consultant to Bilton Wines.  Rudi expressed his passion for Merlot, not the easiest wine to make, its grapes either giving a fresh and green taste or a plummy taste.  The thinness of the skin, the sugar, and eleven other parameters are evaluated to select the right time to harvest, night harvesting being preferable. To aid oxidation, Rudi adds 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Chef Craig and his team prepared a beautiful study of beetroot, with a curry-flavoured ice cream, risotto, and purée all made with beetroot, toasted caramelised walnuts, and sprinkled with truffle oil.   The earthy Merlot (R 99) was a good match with the Beetroot starter.

The second wine we tasted was the Bilton Viognier, and Rudi explained how he makes this wine look and taste different to any other local Viognier, receiving the blessing from Mr Bilton to experiment and try out new things.  Rudi introduced the wine as one he had no intention to make, but explained that a winemaker spends his or her free time by reading international wine magazines.  It was in one of these that Rudi read about Josh Gravner from Northern Italy, and his Viognier, which he matures in clay vats under the soil, fermenting the grapes with their skins, ‘unheard of in New World wine-making‘, Rudi said. Rudi has used this €1000 a bottle wine as his benchmark to produce his Viognier, sold at R250 per bottle in the tasting room. It was first produced in 2008, and only 10 barrels are produced every year.  They select berries, and not bunches, and the skin contact is 18 days, compared to the usual 6 hours.  Rudi explained that there are no boundaries in making Viognier. All of the wine is matured in barrels, 25% of them made from acacia wood, a wood type normally used to make grappa, because it has fewer tannins, and the balance in oak.  Craig paired the wine with a strongly flavoured Chakalaka sauce served with a delicious pork belly, pap, bok choy, and a jus to which he had added star anise.

The biggest surprise of all was Chef Craig’s third course, for which we were expecting a dessert.  In the mould of doing things differently, like Bilton Wines does in its winemaking, Chef Craig created intrigue when they served each guest a platter containing three bowls, with a raw egg, a mushroom, a piece of bacon and steak, and a tomato.  Then the creative chef arrived with hot Himalayan salt blocks, which Chef Craig smeared with olive oil, before each guest prepared their own bacon and eggs!  The steam from the preparation reminded one of the smoke created with liquid nitrogen in fine-food cuisine. The salt contained in the blocks was a natural flavourant for the food.  I added some Viognier to the egg, and Rudi was most intrigued by this creative use of his wine!  Whilst on the egg theme, Rudi explained that all red wines have too much tannin, and therefore all winemakers add proteins (gelatine, but more often powdered egg white) to soften the tannins. He adds 1 egg white per 300 litre barrel, whereas the French winemakers are inclined to add six egg whites for the same volume, in order to clarify the wine. Locally wines are filtered, for clarification. Rudi explained that making a screw cap takes 24 times more greenhouse gases than a cork, and therefore one can be sure that all Bilton Wines have corks.  I liked Rudi’s description of vineyards being ‘oxygen factories’.  Rudi also burst the bubble on sulphites, saying that every grape has them naturally, and therefore every wine too. Many wines claim to not add any sulphites, but that does not make them sulphite-free, he explained. We had the Bilton Sir Percy (R149) with our ‘breakfast’, a Bordeaux blend first made in 2004.  Its current 2007 vintage has 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, and 17% Petit Verdot. Once again Rudi uses 25 different barrel types in which to mature this wine, which spends about two months on skins, which is the way in which it is done in Burgundy and Bordeaux, Rudi explained.

Other wines in the Bilton range are Shiraz 2008 (R99), Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (R99), Sauvignon Blanc 2011 (R59), Merlot 2008 (R99), Pinotage 2009 (R99), and the Merlot-dominant Matt Black blend (R79). Cabernet Franc has been harvested this year for the first time, and its first bottled wine of this variety will be available in five years.  Interesting is that Bilton sells 1 million tons of salt to Oranje Soutwerke a year.  In the Tasting Room Bilton also sells delicious chocolate slabs, made by Marionette in Knysna and costing R35 each, and are meant to be paired with their wines, the Dark Chocolate Espresso paired with their Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Milk Chocolate Cape Malay Spice paired with their Shiraz.  The Cape Malay Spice chocolate has an intriguing gingerbread/Lebkuchen taste, with cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Vintage D’Vine restaurant serves light meals prepared by Nella and her staff, and includes sandwiches, salads, boboties, lasagne, chicken pie, and burgers.

Bilton Wine Estate, Annandale Road, Stellenbosch.  Tel (021) 881-3714. www.biltonwines.co.za Twitter:@BiltonWines.  Tuesday – Sunday. Wine tasting R35, chocolate and wine tasting R50. Vineyard walk free.

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