Cellar door review: Signal Hill Wines
Heritage Square manages to merge all that is iconic about urban culture; surrounded by foodie havens, a touch of history and a dash of something locally lesser-spotted from French winemaker Jean Vincent Ridon. Signal Hill, the only city winery in South Africa, and one of the few in the world with others noted in Paris and New York, is set amid historic buildings. Facades have been renovated and the buildings preserved through the Cape Conservation project.
Photograph by Toby Murphy
Walking through to the courtyard reveals the distinguished presence of one over-arching heritage vine, possibly the oldest recorded in the southern hemisphere, planted around 1770. Most likely Crouchen Blanc (Riesling), every few years it will produce grapes, and Jean Vincent has an agreement that, when it is capable of producing enough, he can do a bottling. In the 2011 harvest, he’ll most likely make seven or eight bottles which will be sold on auction with proceeds going to a children’s charity.
An age-old doorway, almost a nod to the past, marks the entry into a tidy-hole tasting room. The wines made here are distinctive, with none of the usual South African defining notes; the oxidative style lends a unique stamp to be found in each of the wines (read more on oxidative/ reductive styles on www.winemag.co.za). The Sauvignon (R65) is different to what locals typically find, and it’s interesting to step out of one’s usual playground. The Grenache Blanc at R65 is for an exploratory mission; the oxidative style is pronounced but the result is a rounded wine with almond and marzipan notes. Also of consideration is the Cabernet Franc (R70), a ‘monster’ as Jean Vincent calls it, fairly balanced, flavourful and worth keeping to discover its outcome with maturity. The fragrant Pinot Noir (R100) is keeping to itself now, but still alluring.
Jean Vincent describes how grapes are sourced from many regions in the Cape, but also uniquely from Kalk Bay, Camps Bay and Clos d’Oranje (Oranjezicht), cellared at Signal Hill. The emblem is a cockerel, chosen not just for its French association, but because, as a windcock symbol, it signalled a change in direction after SA’s evolution from apartheid.
When the grapes are delivered you can easily get to town to observe crushing at Signal Hill and join in a bit of a foot stomp. And stampeding the doorways of Heritage Square are crowds of locals who go to enjoy steak and frites at Head Quarters. The single option of salad, sirloin and chips, has a resonance with the famous Parisian restaurant, L’Entrecote. It is also a social hot spot offering that dusky evening wine bar experience and, later, one of Cape Town’s metropolitan night spots, with a cosy fireplace in winter. Adjacent to the winery and Head Quarters is the outside stonepaved setting of Caveau (other branch at Josephine Mill, Newlands), a tapas heaven where Jean Vincent will personally set free his MCC, capped and not corked.
The avid wine lover and historian will be intrigued by Jean Vincent’s story some 20 years ago, when he was of a mind to make sparkling wine. The secret to good sparkling, as he says, is keeping the temperature as cool as possible. Without sufficient facilities for retaining cold temperatures for the wine, he used to take the bottles in a crate and (by special arrangement) immerse them in the freezing cold Atlantic sea near Simon’s Town!
VERDICT
LIKES
Wines and location that offers something a little different, the quirky anecdotes and, of course, listening to the melodious French accent of Jean Vincent!
DISLIKES
None really, although you need to be prepared for a different style, not typically found in South African wines.
WHAT ELSE IS THERE?
The adjoining restaurants HQ Restaurant & Bar (tel 021 424 6373)
and Caveau (tel 021 422 1367).
SIGNAL HILL WINES is situated at Heritage Square, 100 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town. It is open to the public, Monday to Saturday, from 11:00 to 19:00.
Tel: 021 424 5820
www.winery.co.za
