Kaapzicht wine farm

A long row to hoe

It's taken three decades but Danie Steytler and family have transformed Kaapzicht from unsung bulk wine producer to one of South Africa's top red wine cellars. Christian Eedes reports.

 

Kaapzicht in the Bottelary ward of Stellenbosch was acquired in 1946 by Major DC Steytler, a veteran of fighting in North Africa during World War II and originally a sheep farmer from Victoria West.

Today the property is co-owned by his grandsons, Danie and George, the former cellarmaster and the latter viticulturist. Danie's wife Yngvild, a qualified nursing sister from Germany who first came to southern Africa to do development work, is export manager while their son, Danie Junior, has been deputy in the cellar since 2007.

Kaapzicht is nothing if not well-established. Danie Senior has been involved with winemaking since the late 1970s, highly accomplished despite modest qualifications. "I never studied winemaking in a formal sense. I got a diploma in agriculture from a technical college in Pretoria and I did a few short courses at Stellenbosch University and Elsenburg Agricultural College. Mostly, I learnt from my dad and friends in the area."

When Steytler began fulltime at Kaapzicht, 90% of it was planted to Chenin Blanc, the youngest vineyards established some 30 years previously. The property was geared to producing bulk wine for the now-defunct producer-wholesaler Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery, which found Kaapzicht's high-sugar Chenin useful in turning dry base wines semi-sweet.

In 1983, when Steytler's father and the long-time custodian of the property retired, it was time for the son, then 30 years old, to make his mark. The first bottling under a Kaapzicht label was a Riesling from the 1984 vintage but this hardly set the world alight.

What little Pinotage was planted on Kaapzicht had until then been disposed of in Oom Tas, an entry-level Blanc de Noir, and Steytler was convinced that more could be achieved with this variety.

Supporting evidence for this was the fact that nearby farms Bellevue and Kanonkop were contributing most of their Pinotage to the significantly more premium Zonnebloem label.

The first bottling of Pinotage under a Kaapzicht label was from the 1990 vintage, and though purchases of new barrels would be curtailed by a lack of cash-flow resulting in somewhat irregular production to start with, Kaapzicht's transformation into a leading red wine producer had begun.

There would be plenty of accolades over the next two decades, perhaps most significantly the 2001 vintage of flagship red blend Steytler Vision winning the Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande trophy for best blended red wine at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in 2004 and the Steytler Pinotage 2006 winning the international trophy for best single varietal red above £10 at the 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards; these in addition to the 2001, 2002 and 2005 vintages of Steytler Vision and the 2001 vintage of Steytler Pinotage all rating 5 Stars in Platter's. Steytler is also a member of the august Cape Winemakers Guild.

It's been no easy ride, however. Steytler, who has handed over the day-to-day running of the winery to 29-year-old Danie Junior as of the 2010 harvest, says frankly that it has taken a lifetime to turn the farm around. "Whatever extra money we've made, we've invested in the vineyards and cellar rather than tasting rooms and other marketing initiatives."

His wife, Yngvild, is even more blunt: "It's mind-boggling that an ugly, rustic, little Stellenbosch farm with no professionals employed could win so many awards."

Bulk wine production remains a key part of the Kaapzicht business. Of the property's 190ha, 162ha are under vineyard, 70% red and 30% white. The farm produces some 1 100 tons of grapes a year of which about 25% is processed into wine under own label and the rest sold off.

While the winery achieved a peak of 30 000 cases in 2004, this went to 20 000 last year. As a result of the recession, some 23 000l of wine originally destined to be sold under the Kaapzicht label were disposed of as distilling wine. "How to match volumes to demand? We have a problem of marketing, rather than of production or quality," laments Steytler.

There are an extraordinary 23 wines across all levels of the Kaapzicht range, Steytler Senior being a strong believer in the principle of diversifi cation.

But Steytler Junior, not surprisingly, believes that the range could do with consolidation. Making everything from ultra-premium red to Hanepoot Jerepigo must be just a little logistically challenging. Whatever the way forward, export manager Yngvild reports that exports make up over 80% of current sales.

As mentioned, the top tier of the range goes under the Steytler label: Vision a blend typically consisting of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Pinotage and 10% Merlot, amounts to 600 cases.

Both the 2005 and 2006 vintages are currently available from the tasting room at R190 a bottle - that the 2005 is not sold out despite its rating of 5 Stars in the 2009 edition of Platter's can only be read as an indication of how hard trading conditions are at the top end of the local fine wine market; regardless, Steytler believes that the lesser-rated 2006 is the better wine.

Whereas the maiden vintage of Vision was 2000, the Steytler Pinotage dates from 1998. Production of the current-release 2007 was 500 cases, this wine selling for R170 a bottle. A more recent addition to the Steytler tier of wines is the maidenvintage Pentagon 2006, a Bordeaux-style red blend, originally conceived for the CWG auction but not accepted: production was 250 cases and it sells for R190 a bottle.

Peruse the tasting report on Merlot in this issue (see pp. 80-84) and you will note that Kaapzicht is the top performer, its 2007 vintage emerging with a rating of 4½ Stars, a laudable achievement in a category that has disappointed in recent times. Merlot is hardly the variety most associated with the farm, though, so what's the story?

Steytler is phlegmatic when given an indication that the wine has rated well. "Am I surprised? Not really. Every year it's one of the nicest wines in our cellar."

Despite this, he reveals that for all intents and purposes, no single-variety Merlot was bottled from 2003 through to 2006. The last time a commercial quantity appeared was from the 2002 vintage, a wine which saw only 30% new oak and is described by the winemaker himself as "not particularly good".

A small amount of 2003 entered the market after initially being accepted for the 2005 CWG auction but it was then withdrawn due to Steytler having four other wines listed. Basically, however, Merlot has not featured prominently in the Kaapzicht portfolio recently. As to why, export manager Yngvild proffers that world tastes have moved on "from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to Pinotage and Shiraz".

There are 20ha of Merlot planted on Kaapzicht, producing some 120 000l a year. Are some blocks better than others? According to Steytler, there's very little variation in quality.

Were the entire crop to be vinified in new oak, then all the resulting wine would be of Steytler-label quality. Merlot has a reputation for being particularly site sensitive but this is not something that Steytler strongly adheres to.

"If your terroir is good for red in general, then it's good for all the different varieties," he comments. Kaapzicht soil is weathered granite on clay, relatively low in potential thus providing small berries of good colour and flavour concentration.

The very best quality Merlot comes from vineyards planted in 1988 and the entire property is farmed largely without irrigation to facilitate the most authentic expression of site.

Key to successful Merlot, according to Steytler, is dedicated tending of the vines. "It needs pampering and tender loving care as opposed to Shiraz, for instance, which can take a beating." In particular, the variety is prone to uneven ripening and therefore demands plenty of work in terms of opening up the canopy and the removal of excess bunches to achieve optimal ripeness.

Again to avoid green flavours in the end-wine, Steytler typically harvests at a high ripeness level of around 26° Balling (measure of sugar concentration in the grape juice), resulting in wines of relatively high alcohol by volume: the 2007, for instance, measures 14.47%.

On a tour of the cellar, Steytler comes across as even more humble than usual. "It's rather primitive. Nothing much shiny to see," he says. The one piece of equipment he has invested heavily in is the press, which he considers "the heart of the operation": he wants to avoid harsh tannins on his wines and gentle pressing is crucial.

It was Danie Junior who saw the Merlot 2007 into bottle, and the one thing his mother and father are aghast about is that he arrived at a mere 250 cases of the final wine, his entire selection having been matured in new oak. Given that it sells for the relatively inexpensive price of R78 a bottle, Yngvild chides Danie Junior for having produced a completely uneconomical product.

Danie Junior, in turn, just shrugs. He has impressive credentials to go with his ambitious attitude. He did two internships at Waterford in Stellenbosch while completing his degree in Viticulture and Oenology at Stellenbosch University and has subsequently worked stints at Grand Mayne in St-Émilion, Bordeaux, Jordan in Stellenbosch, Alan Scott Wines & Estates in New Zealand, Stag's Leap in Napa Valley, the winemaking division of Swedish importer Oenoforos, and Chateau de la Negly in the Languedoc, France.

As far as the youngster is concerned, it comes as no surprise that the best batches of Merlot in the cellar came from 100% new barrels. He explains that barrel maturation is essentially the deliberate oxidation of the wine.

If this happens too fast, a wine will lose its fruit. With new barrels, the extra wood tannins must integrate with the fruit and the oxidation process happens at a slower and therefore more beneficial rate. A single 225l barrel currently costs a shade under R10 000 and barrel management is a business challenge for the Steytlers.

Whatever the age of the barrels, top-end red wines are typically kept in oak for 23 months at a time. Danie Senior says that whereas previously he got up to 10 fills per barrel (the equivalent of 20 years of use), he has reduced this to only four fills and the wines are much cleaner as a result.

"Since 2005 we've been busy with a big clean-up. We're getting our house in order." Most observers would say that there's nothing terribly out of order with Kaapzicht as it is. How often, for instance, is a Merlot of excellence encountered locally?

The limited production surely means that the wine will soon be sold out but then there's always the Bin 3, the Merlot-rich blend that amounts to some 80 000l or just under 9 000 cases. The 2007 vintage rated 3 Stars in the January 2010 issue and sells for R54 a bottle. Place your orders now.