Melvyn Minnaar
Drive over the famously precipitous Swartberg Pass and, instead of carrying on to the beautiful village of Prince Albert, take the R328 north,?back towards Klaarstroom. Old people call this Die Gang (The Passage), a?beautiful, fertile valley along the steep mountains.
This is where some of the finest wine grapes may come from in future. It is?a spankingnew wine region, as yet not proclaimed, but already greatly?admired by those in the know.
Hundreds of kilometres south, near Cape?Agulhas, the most southern point of Africa, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, other brandnew wine?regions are coming to the fore. At the pictorial mission dorpie of Elim some?of South Africa’s classy winemakers are harvesting top grapes. A little?further along, in the Akkedisberg valley of the R326, new vines have been?planted on land that produced some of the country’s finest wheat.
The West Coast wheatlands of the Swartland, Darling and beyond, which have?become so fashionable in recent years, are now producing perky newstyle?wines. And there is more to come.
Yet, while ownership of a prestigious wine estate remains the most soughtafter?status a bigtime entrepreneur can achieve, even classic wine regions such as Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek can provide a spot or two of new land?for plantings.
New vineyards, plantings, cellars and wines are proceeding at a hectic pace?in South Africa. The latest John Platter South African Wine Guide (see review below) listed about 20 more new?wineries and labels than the previous year.?
The trend continues and a few snapshots indicate what the buzz is all about.
Stephan Schoeman was an internal auditor at Escom, his wife Reinet a nursing?sister. They gave up their jobs to go back to the land where his father and?grandfather had farmed with fruit for generations. They returned to the rich?Swartberg valley near Prince Albert to grow wine grapes.
In partnership with Stephan’s brother Heimie, a pilot at KLM, they launched?Bergwater Vineyards, named for the abundance of water that flows from the?high mountain. In 1999 they started plantings of Merlot, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Today there are 35ha of vines, consisting of 105?000 stokkies,?presenting a magnificent sight of panoramic potential.
Neighbours have already delivered grapes to producers like the KWV, but the?first Bergwater wines will only be made in 2002. With enough water, there is potential for 70ha of vineyards.
It is in many ways an ideal area with good soils and cold winters. A?romantic touch is that this region had vineyards even before 1900, but these?grapes were usually turned into witblits and farm brandy by small?distilleries.
Near Bredasdorp, barely 15km from the sea, is Elim Vineyards,?neighbouring the old Moravian mission town. The cellar’s maiden wines can?truly be labelled as coming from the most southern vineyards in Africa.?
Called Lands End wines, this project is the initiative of a few wellknown?viticulturists and wine makers, including Hein Koegelenberg. Elim Vineyards has?35ha of vines, having planted Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon over the past five years. The natural cool breezes from?the nearby ocean give the grapes a piercing power as the first crispy?sauvignons attest.
A new name in the heart of the old wine country that is making heads turn?with a single wine is De Toren on the Polkadraai Hills near Stellenbosch.
With its funkynamed Fusion V, this unusual red blend is charting a new?course, combining Cape with classic.?
Owners Emil and Sonette den Dulk and their young winemaker, Albie Koch, share an “oldworldly passion and a new worldly commitment to quality … and the?return to the tried and tested traditional winemaking methods”.
The winery has no mechanical pumps but uses gravity throughout,?oldfashioned basketpressing and careful hand harvesting.?
The now soldout 1999 vintage of Fusion V is a unique blend of five?varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit?Verdot. Those who have been lucky to taste it, rave.?
And so the new vineyards and cellars pop out and up wherever inspired enthusiasts wander in search of the perfect grape.
Keep an eye out for more names such as Stormberg in Wellington, Klompzicht in the Wemmershoek area, Keerweder near Franschhoek, Charles Back’s new?Caelum scheme on the West Coast, and the massive project that Germanborn Christoph Dornier has under way in Stellenbosch.