Morgenster Wine & Olive Estate in Somerset West celebrates its tercentenary this year. While looking back with appreciation on its heritage it is focusing considerable energy and investment on its future. “At Morgenster we have never made commercial decisions but are concerned with doing the right things to achieve quality”, says owner Giulio Bertrand, who bought the Estate in 1992.

For the last two years the Estate has been busy with a replanting programme . “We have a 12 year history of each tree and vine. Where they have not performed as well as they could have, we have replaced or re-grafted them”, Bertrand says.

This attention to quality and focus on the long term has seen Bertrand being recognised as the founder of the modern olive oil industry in South Africa. He started by setting up a long term association with the Olive Oil Research Institute of Italy, sourcing the most modern technology and olive tree cultivars for use on Morgenster and for supplying to other local farms. As a result, South African olive oils have become acclaimed worldwide and Morgenster Extra Virgin Olive Oil, blended from 14 varieties, continues to garner significant local and international accolades.

In the vineyards Bertrand’s objective is to have each vine producing Morgenster flagship label quality. To achieve this he has replanted extensively with modern clonal material and rootstocks suited to soil types and elevation. In this respect Morgenster is in line with its associates at Chateau Cheval Blanc in St Emillon. “There they are perfectionists with regard to the different grape clonal material, rootstock, soil and on which part of the farm particular vines are planted. After everything that they have learnt on that estate over hundreds of years it is exciting to find that they are still experimenting,” Bertrand says.

This programme will result in lower production of olives, extra virgin olive oil and wine for four years. Bertrand is not upset by this. “We work for the future. We create our wines to age well and release them to be enjoyed for 10, 20 years. Our 2001 and 2003 vintages are coming of age now and people are starting to realise that South African reds can mature well”, he says. The Estate has recently installed technology to allow visitors to taste the excellent vintages to be discovered in Morgenster’s cellar.

Other activities Bertrand has been busy with to take Morgenster into its next 300 years include the opening of Sofia’s at Morgenster, a 40 seater restaurant and wedding venue under the guidance of Chef Patron Craig Cormack. The Morgenster manor house, which was built in 1786, recently underwent a maintenance project and Bertrand has plans to revamp the gardens in mid 2011.

The tercentenary years marks the introduction of a new Morgenster bottle which will be unveiled at the release of the Estate’s two 2008 Bordeaux style wines in April 2011. As Bertrand says, “There is always something new from Morgenster.”

For the first time Morgenster has released its two classic Bordeaux style blends in the third year after harvest.

Winemaker Henry Kotze says that the decision to depart from the Estate’s previous practice of releasing wines in the fourth year was taken so that wine lovers could enjoy the early vibrancy of the fruit. “Wine changes quite a bit from year three to year four. We want to let people savour our flagship Morgenster and second label Lourens River Valley at this bold young stage which offers a different tasting experience to their later years when they have evolved further’, he says. Morgenster, in line with its associate Chateau Cheval Blanc, crafts its red blends to be enjoyed for 20 years and beyond.

This is the first year that the Bordeaux blends appear in the new Morgenster embossed bottles, which made their debut at the end of 2010 when the Estate’s two Italian Collection wines, Nabucco 2008 (nebbiolo blend) and Tosca 2008 (sangiovese blend) were released.

Both wines are available from selected outlets and the Estate.
Morgenster 2008 was awarded 4½ stars in the 2011 John Platter Guide.
Lourens River Valley 2008 was awarded 4½ stars in the 2011 John Platter Guide.

28 March 2011 Morgenster Extra Virgin Olive Oil has scored 97 points out of a possible 100 in the international Flos Olei 2011 Guide to the world’s best extra virgin olive oils.

97 was the highest score awarded and Morgenster was the top South African producer. It shares 97 points with 11 other producers from Spain (two), Italy (six), Morocco (one) and Chile (two). 455 producers from 42 countries on five continents were judged.

In recommending Morgenster Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Flos Olei 2011 said: “Its aroma is powerful and elegant, endowed with rich vegetal hints of freshly mown grass, artichoke and chicory, together with notes of mint, rosemary and sage. Its taste is fine and strong, with a flavour of wild thistle, lettuce and a distinct almond finish. Bitterness and pungency are definite and harmonic.”

The publication suggests serving Morgenster Extra Virgin Olive Oil on porcini mushroom appetizers, beef carpaccio with ovoli mushrooms, grilled radiccio, lentil soups, pasta with tuna, grilled swordfish, pan seared red meat or game, and hard mature cheese.

About Flos Olei
• Flos Olei is an annual Guide (first edition 2010), and was the first to deal on an international scale with the world’s best extra virgin olive oils, providing information about the sector and directing readers towards quality. www.flosolei.com
• Marco Oreggia, one of the world’s leading expert tasters of extra virgin olive oil, is editor and publisher of the volume. Vice editor is Laura Marinelli.
• A panel of expert tasters under the coordination of Marco Oreggia (www.marco-oreggia.com), conducted a strictly controlled tasting, working out of an organoleptic profile.
• Flos Olei is a successor to L’Extravergine, an annual Guide last published in 2009 after nine editions, also edited by Marco Oreggia.

Morgenster’s 2005 flagship blend has just been rated 94 out of a possible 100 by wine critic, editor and publisher, Stephen Tanzer, in his review of South African wines available in the United States. The review appeared in the March – April 2011 issue of his authoritative bimonthly, International Wine Cellar, which is read in 34 countries and 50 states of America. Tanzer commented:

“Dark red. Musky plum, mocha, tobacco, liquorice and herbs on the complex nose: shades of Cheval Blanc? Sweet, suave and penetrating, with compelling nuance to the seamless flavors of plum, herbs and tobacco leaf. This saturates the palate without any heaviness. Wonderfully suave and long on the aftertaste, with suggestions of candied fruits and tobacco. This one also struck me as more Right Bank than Left, though obviously with a firmer spine for extended aging. A beauty. 94 points”

Henry Kotze, Morgenster’s winemaker says: “The Morgenster 2005 showed promise from the start. Coming from a prolonged ripening vintage we knew that it was going to offer something special and it didn’t disappoint! The components, Merlot 85% and Cabernet Sauvignon 15%, pair seamlessly and offer so much insight into the depth of quality Morgenster has to deliver.”