At a vertical tasting on Friday of Frans K Smit, the über-premium newbie from Spier Wines, the penny dropped on why Jeanri van Zyl of WINE magazine likened the wine to Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’. Deep, intense and complex, the wine is an experience with a story to match.

As Frans points out, a vertical tasting isn’t really fair until the wines are fully developed, owing to the structural variation that naturally occurs between vintages. The maiden vintage, 2004, was produced in a cooler year, with a characteristic softness of tannins and fresh acidity. Compare it with the 2005 and the wine that you thought was unbeatable is completely overshadowed by this, a blockbuster wine. 2006 was cool again and the wine is crisp and fresh – with probably the greatest ageing potential of all.

The common factor between them all is the substantive mid-palate weight. This, Frans says, heavily depends on harvesting the grapes when they are optimally ripe. No surprises there; but what was interesting to me was the importance of colour in deciding when to pick. This is a system that Frans borrows from winemakers in Aus, who have found a direct relationship between the ripeness of the grapes and the colour they show. The deeper the colour, it goes, the better the wine will be.

So there it is – the things that you learn…