Melvyn Minnaar: Moveable Feast
The latest welcoming arrival drink at yuppie dinner parties in fashionable areas has its roots deep in terra Africana and with-it hosts gloat with pride over their find as patriotic gulps immediately kick life into the event and the spirits rise.
Yes, witblits is back and becoming respectable. South Africa’s own folksy, national drink is hitting the big time. Not all that easy to find, it is the perfect party-piece without a trace of irony on the label: Akkedisbult, Die Ware Jakob, Moonshine. Others are generically bottled by places such as the museums in Prince Albert and Worcester.
Danie Grundlingh makes Die Ware Jakob on his family farm, Sandkoppies, at Volmoed near Oudtshoorn. It is clear that witblits is his passion.
The fifth generation on the farm, Grundlingh is a leading figure in the South African Distillers’ Guild, a voluntary organisation that bonds all devoted traditional distillers. Multiple winner of medals, Grundlingh produces witblits not for financial reward, but simply for pleasure.
It is the Distillers’ Guild that has been steadily upgrading the content and image of witblits. Where, in the past, the distillate came in at palate-searing high alcohols, the latest versions are diluted to an acceptable, but still potent, 53%.
At this volume, the intricate flavours of the original grapes come to the fore. Led by Grundlingh, a tasting can show remarkable delicacy. One clearly distinguishes the honeyed sweetness of hanepoot from the floweriness of the steen used in a different distillate.
(The way to drink the stuff is to cool it down and serve in short shot glasses – like for schnapps or vodka. Hold it in your mouth for a while and then swallow in one large gulp. The full flavour rushes back, while the alcohol kicks in.)
On the other side of Oudtshoorn, the farm Mons Ruber continues a family tradition of making witblits. It is sold as Moonshine.
Stories of colourful characters and romantic, at times even dangerous, intrigue accompany the legend that is really South Africa’s national dop of old. It suggests the risky nature of the hooch trade in those years.
Mampoer is different in that it is distilled from peaches, while witblits is pure grape. The latter traces its respectable origins from the Cape’s stately wine farms from the 1850s, when they had fine, imported copper-pot stills on the estates.
Legend has it that Paul Kruger, wheeler- dealer president of the old Transvaal, wanted to control uitlander influence on the trade/smuggling when he issued a proclamation that in the Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek, distillate could be produced from any fruit or vegetable “except maroelas and other indigenous fruits”.
That was rough stuff, but these days under the spirited enthusiasm of people like Danie Grundlingh our original dop met skop (drink with a kick) is finding new favour – with a more sophisticated touch.