Domaine Brahms, Paarl

The South African wine scene is constantly changing.It's difficult for consumers to keep track of the newcomers. Philip van Zyl reports on an interesting new Paarl cellar.

For some, wine is just a job. For Gesie Lategan of Domaine Brahms, one of Paarl's newest and brightest, it's more like a fever. "There's no cure," she shrugs, "I'm in it for life." Legal training and a distinguished career as an advocate of the Cape High Court only fanned her vinous fervour. Finally, in 1990, she relented, placing law on hold to follow the Elsenburg winemaking programme full time.

 

Then, as if to test her resolve, she was seriously injured in a car accident. Too frail for cellar work, she left the college and went back into legal practice. "It's shattering in every sense," she recalls. But, with "unbelievable love and support" from husband Braam, former well-known judge of the Cape and a kindred wine-spirit, as well as from family and friends she "went through the crusher of life" with her fire undimmed. At last, in 1998, the family hand-built a starter cellar on their farm near Paarl and the following year crushed their first grapes.

Now there's no stopping them. Having won the 2001 Paarl Shiraz Challenge with their maiden vintage they've already made their mark. When not in France polishing their oenological skills, (they count many well-known French vignerons among their friends), they're Down Under, probing local winemakers for their secrets or scouting for viticultural land upon which to found the Aussie arm of Brahms.

Back home, the Lategans continue to fine tune their vineyards below Paarl Mountain. They have 27 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinotage and some Ruby Cabernet. And, perhaps most importantly, Gesie's current flame, the "deep, dark and mystical" Shiraz (which, Braam Lategan insists, performs every bit as well in Paarl's rooigruis - clay underlain gravels - as any Australian he's tasted, including top rated Barossas).

The Lategans bought their farm in 1990, after plans to develop a home on Cape Town's Atlantic seaboard took an unexpected turn. "The builder's quote was exorbitant," Braam Lategan smiles, "so Gesie and I looked at each other and said: 'We could buy a farm for the price'. So we did."

Thus the wine-crazy advocate and her justice husband, son of a grape grower and himself a frustrated viticulteur, settled on virgin land near Windmeul - and caused an uproar by establishing only red-wine grapes whilst most local farms were energetically sprouting Chardonnay.

"Incredible, isn't it? But we always believed Paarl is red-wine country." The first Brahms, with its expansive and deep flavours, has already made a splash.

"We'd never release anything unless we believe it's world class," declare the Lategans. Nor would we go to the market unless we feel the wine is ready. Quality is non-negotiable."

Quantities will always be limited, and the range unlikely to exceed three wines - the flagship Shiraz which, quality permitting, in time may be joined by a Pinotage, and a future blend that will probably appear under an alternative label. The balance of production will continue to be sold in bulk. Tasting facilities, to join the existing guesthouse on the farm, are on the boards. Sounding almost mystical, Gesie muses: "We winemakers are arrogant, aren't we? We take nature's perfectly formed grapes and crush them. And having undone the ultimate creation, we believe we can make something even better." Conceited perhaps, but the Lategans aren't about to give up their dream. They've been through the press, and they're quietly confident when they say: "Watch us!"