Cape Ardor Brings South African Value to the US

Cape Ardor Brings South African Value to the U.S.

Date: May 25, 2009
Location: San Francisco, California


Cape Ardor is a San Francisco based company that is focusing exclusively on bringing quality South African wines to the United States market. The company owned by Eric Matkovich, a native of California, and his wife, Kara van Niekerk, a native of South Africa was established as what they see as a necessary instrument to bring the quality and culture of South Africa to the American pallet. Eric, in discussing his motives for launching Cape Ardor, sites, “It was really quite selfish, we couldn't find quality South African wines in our favorite restaurants… after having been to South Africa several times and spending time in the Western Cape, I had been introduced to so many excellent producers that had no access to the U.S. market. Often times, the reason sited, was that they were too small to address such a large market, or most of their wines were being consumed in Europe. Having no advocate that focused on exclusively South Africa, quality and boutique wine, Kara and I decided we were up for the challenge. We want to develop an appreciation for South African wine maker’s capability and value that we have come to know and cherish and get them in to our market.”

In this effort, Cape Ardor will import several producers themselves and also look to partner with other importers for developing a broader South African brand awareness. Eric, reflecting on the challenge, said, “We know that we can’t do this alone, so we will work with other importers to sharpen the focus on South Africa’s message. We also will be working with South African organizations chartered with overseas market development.”

Eric provided a brief look at their portfolio to illustrate the caliber of product that Cape Ardor will represent. He notes, that all wines will retail for under $25.00 which includes wines from the following award winning producers.

Diemersfontein – Wellington based owners David and Susan Sonnenberg, have earned an enviable reputation as a quality producer of (among others) a South African original, the Pinotage. Voted as the Best Red Wine at WineX in Cape Town, Johannesburg and at the Mercury Wine Week in Durban. John Platter gives the 2008 a 4 Star rating. The wine is praised for its easy accessibility, its uniqueness, and its wonderful rich coffee, smoky overtones on the nose, along with voluptuous fruit, spicy cinnamon and chocolaty notes on the palate. We see the Diemersfontein Pinotage as an excellent way to introduce Americans to this exceptional varietal.

La Petite Ferme – This small estate is famed for its made for food custom crafted wines. Owner and wine maker Mark Dendy-Young’s passion and enthusiasm is contagious. I had heard of the estate long before making the visit. A friend had given us a bottle of the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon while on holiday in the Drakensberg. After tasting this treat, I knew we had to secure an allotment for the U.S. so we arranged a meeting with Mark and worked out the details. We managed a small lot of the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, which is absolutely delicious and holds every bit of quality as the 2005 and more. To describe this wine, the nose begins with a minty lift with a chocolate fleshy infusion and ends with Cassis and some Buchu character. (Buchu is a medicinal herb that has a strong aroma reminiscent of black currant.) This estate only produces around 6000 cases a year across their entire portfolio. So, this is a rare gem will not be around for long.

RAKA – Owner Piet Dreyer is one of the most interesting wine producers I’ve met. He was rooted in commercial fishing and turned to developing wines with the launch of Raka in 2002. His debut of the Biography Shiraz 2003 set the standard, winning a 5 Star review by John Platter, Gold medals in the Veritas 2005 & 2006 contest, a silver in the Michelangelo International Wine Awards and Gold in the Juliet Cullinan 2005 Wine Connoisseur’s Award. That hasn’t gone to Piet’s head. He is known as ‘kaalvoet’ meaning ‘barefoot’ skipper and is often found conducting tastings in his winery sans shoes. We’ve picked up the Biography Shiraz along with another excellent, award winning Bordeaux blend – Quinary. Both are gorgeous wines.

Ridgeback – Paarl, situated in the heart of the Western Cape’s famous wine producing regions of Franschhoek, Stellenbosch and Wellington. Ridgeback estate was founded in 1997 and delivers on some choice wines. This estate was the first I visited on recommendation and found some truly delightful product. Once diving a bit deeper it was easy to see why. Reputed winemakers Cathy Marshall and Toit Vessels craft polished wines that avoid excessively high alcohol concentrations. We selected the 2005 Merlot; a Gold Veritas and Silver Michaelangelo award winner along with their 2007 Viognier. Our final choice was something we found to be a very exciting blend that some South African wineries are playing with. The SMV or Shiraz, Mouvedre, Viognier blend known as His Master’s Choice.

Cape Ardor will be hosting a formal event in July to introduce their portfolio. The venue and date will be announced in mid June.

Details on all of these wines can be found at their website www.cape-ardor.com. Cape Ardor is an importer, distributor and also will accommodate consumer direct sales.

For more information or where to find these wines please inquire at http://www.cape-ardor.com/contact.

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