Tag: lismore

BRILLIANT WHITES FROM LISMORE REVISITED

We have covered a lot of ground during our wine journey, but there are some stories that are so unique and remarkable that they should not be forgotten. Lismore is one of those. California native and former T.V. writer Samantha O’Keefe, along with her husband at the time, made the conscious decision to get away from it all, and managed to end up about as far from Southern California as one could imagine…into the mountains in the area of Greton in South Africa where they fell in love with a visually spectacular site named Riversonderend, a 300-hectare property that was a dairy ranch.

It had never been a wine farm, nor had Samantha ever made wine, but the connection subsequently became serendipitous. The place was, as Sam put it, ‘an hour past nowhere’.   From the farm, for example, it is more than an hour’s drive just to get groceries. But the couple decided this remote, untested area would be an excellent place to grow grapes.

The challenges were enormous, so much so that Sam’s husband made an early exit.  O’Keefe built a house and a winery, and the vineyards were planted in 2003.   The first commercial release was 2008.  The Overberg region is unique in South African viticulture as it is a particularly cool growing area, with grapes taking as much as 3 to 4 weeks longer to mature.    The combination of cool temperatures and altitude was a unique and emerging trend in South Africa.  This particular project just happened the furthest out.  As it turned out, Riversonderend was particularly suited for four of the five grapes Sam planted.

Besides the normal array of issues like weather and disease that can face any vintner, this distinct plot of land had a few additional challenges.  Because this was a remote, even somewhat ‘wild’ area, the threat from abundant numbers of voracious birds to the final crop added more uncertainty.  There was even another ‘wild card’ to this winery’s story that we can’t recall ever hearing in all of our years doing this…baboons.  Yes, baboons.  Apparently they show up in numbers when the crop is reaching optimum time to pick.  Samantha says they are good indicators of when it is time to harvest. The place even burned down thanks to a wildfire reportedly set by two children.

You’ve got to admire her chutzpah. But she is still at it and her newest releases are once again completely unique and absolutely brilliant. Samantha says she is trying to emulate a top drawer Meursault stylistically. Mission accomplished. The Lismore Chardonnay Estate 2021 has plenty of that resiny, nutty, spicy character running through her intensely flavored Chardonnay to make you think of the Cote d’Or, yet there is an element to the peach/apple fruit that sets it apart from most of the world’s Chardonnays. It is a Chardonnay that can hold its own with virtually any produced on the planet.

Nice notes from the somewhat stingy Neal Martin as well, “94 Points! The 2021 Chardonnay Estate Reserve is 100% from Greyton matured for 11 months in 500-litre barrels, 40% new. It has a wonderful bouquet with honeydew melon, apricot blossom and light crushed stone scents that percolate through with time. The palate is very well balanced with tropical hints of passion fruit and guava, but the acidity keeps everything on a tight course, very minerally on the finish. Top class…94 points.”

The story of the Lismore Viognier Age of Grace 2022 is similar. This has everything a great Condrieu has in terms of personality but boasts the kind of backbone acidity that seems virtually impossible for this fussy varietal. The nose has the classic floral, peach, brown spice, floral, and honey tones you expect from Viognier, but seemingly flashing a bit more energy than most versions. All of those flavors reveal themselves on the palate but with an unexpected verve.

Martin was a fan of this one as well, “The 2021 Viognier The Age of Grace comes from Sutherland and Bot River, whole bunch pressed with 11 months on the lees using 15% concrete eggs. With pretty white peach and Mirabelle scents on the nose, this takes time to blossom, but it never fully lets go. The palate is medium-bodied with a gorgeous dried apricot, mango and spicebox entry, nothing blowsy here with a very focused, almost understated finish. Excellent…93+ points!

The conclusion is the same. These whites, from a remote place that never grew grapes before made by someone who came in with no winemaking background, can stand alongside any example we can think of. They aren’t cheap, but the prices given the quality and the hardship, are more than justifiable. How did this come about? We certainly can’t explain it. But if you think we’re saying that these wines from the middle of nowhere in South Africa deserve a place alongside Condrieus, Meursaults, and Montrachets, we absolutely are. And, relative to things like that, they are relative bargains, baboons notwithstanding.

We’d be naive to think that enough people would listen to our rant and buy buckets of these wines. Changing the thinking in the wine world has long been an uphill battle. Heck, not that much of this stuff is produced in the first place. But Lismore is a unique and solitary endeavor that deserves serious attention.

A VIOGNIER TALE

We wanted this remarkable tale to be available to search and keep the wine available for as long as we can so we republished here in the Stock Report.

We have been telling stories about wine for nearly four decades.  But few rival that of former T.V. writer, California native Samantha O’Keefe.  It all started when Sam and her then husband decided they wanted to get away.  No, not like those old airline commercials where they just leaves for a vacation.  This was moving out of California to ‘someplace else’ with the intent of going on a great life ad venture.  After a journey, the couple, with a baby, ended up in South Africa, just about as far away as one could get from Southern California. 

They ended up driving into the mountains in the area of Greton and falling in love with a visually spectacular site named Riversonderend, a 300-hectare property that was a dairy ranch.   It had never been a wine farm, nor had Sam ever made wine, but the connection subsequently became serendipitous.  This was literally the ‘middle of nowhere’, or as Sam put it in an interview we did here, ‘an hour past nowhere’.   From the farm, for example, it is more than an hour’s drive just to get groceries. But the couple decided this remote, untested area would be an excellent place to grow grapes. Turned out to be a good call.

The challenges were enormous, so much so that Sam’s husband made an early exit.  O’Keefe built a house and a winery, and the vineyards were planted in 2003.   The first commercial release was 2008.  The Overberg region is unique in South African viticulture as it is a particularly cool growing area, with grapes taking as much as 3 to 4 weeks longer to mature.    The combination of cool temperatures and altitude was a unique and emerging trend in South Africa.  This particular project just happened the furthest out.  As it turned out, Riversonderend was particularly suited for four of the five grapes Sam planted, particularly Viognier, and it was the Viognier that created immediate critical acclaim.

Besides the normal array of issues like weather and disease that can face any vintner, this distinct plot of land had a few additional challenges.  Because this was a remote, even somewhat ‘wild’ area, the threat from abundant numbers of voracious birds to the final crop added more uncertainty.  There was even another ‘wild card’ to this winery’s story that we can’t recall ever hearing in all of our years doing this…baboons.  Yes, baboons.  Apparently they show up in numbers when the crop is reaching optimum time to pick.  Samantha says they are good indicators of when it is time to harvest.

It seems a mighty task to make wine in such a place, but the quality and distinctiveness of the juice has fueled the passion to succeed.  Another local vintner visited Samantha and tasted the Viognier out of barrel, proclaiming it the best he had ever tasted from South Africa.  We are huge fans of Viognier, and consider Condrieu (and Ch. Grillete of course) to be the unrivaled source for great examples of the varietal.  We have also told the story many times about how difficult the grape can be.  There is a very narrow band of success where all of the components work in harmony.  But, like the man said, Lismore Viognier is very special.  The fruit shimmers, and the spice, honeysuckle, florality, and vanillan tones are all super expressive as well as remarkably well meshed and driven by just the right cut of acidity.

Enthusiastic notes from Vinous’ Neal Martin, who spends a lot of time tasting verticals of Latour and Romanee Conti and who could arguably be understandably jaded, speak volumes, “The 2017 (Lismore) Estate Reserve Viognier is matured for 15 months in barrel (20% new oak). It has a seductive and very well-defined bouquet, with dried honey, mirabelle and light apricot blossom scents developing with aeration. The well-balanced palate is clean and precise, displaying fine delineation and a captivating mineral-driven finish that is top-drawer. Quite brilliant… 96 Points.”

Quite brilliant, indeed.  For us to say something could hold its own with top flight Condrieu, while still maintaining it unique notion of terroir, is about as high a compliment as we could pay any effort with this varietal.  This one could.  While all of the Lismore wines were ‘top-drawer’, it was the Viognier that got our attention.  Both the story and the wine deserved time in the limelight, particularly given the fortuitous unfolding of events that brought this unique project together and the tenacity with which Sam, with her two children, has manned this unique vinous outpost.  It was always our intent to do a feature on her wine, but events conspired to move us to up the timetable and commitment .

As it happened, Sam’s amazing estate was mostly destroyed last December in a wildfire believed to have been set by two children.  Given that, our mission to spread the word has been amplified.  We want to sell as much of her Viognier as we can to support this tenacious pioneer in whatever she decides to do next.  Great story, exceptional wine, and now a cause, it’s one of the most compelling tales we have ever told.