Eikehof, Franschhoek

Back in 1902 - long before the Franschhoek Vignerons laid claim to Sémillon as "their" grape and probably at the tail end of the variety's fashion peak in the 1800s - a farmer in the Franschhoek valley planted a small block of bush vine Sémillon on what today is Eikehof wine farm. It probably wasn't much to write home about then, what with 90% of the Cape's vineyards comprising Sémillon during the 1800s, but today this vineyard is a living monument to the variety itself and the Cape wine industry.

 

Now, after achieving a century in the soil, this one hectare block of gnarled old vines forms part of the remaining 1% of the total SA plantings and is still producing healthy and vital grapes.

So much so, in fact, that the last time it made it into a bottle - in the form of the Eikehof Bush Vine Sémillon 2000 - it was rated 4 Stars by WINE's tasting panel. Tending these senescent vines is Francois Malherbe, fourth generation owner and winemaker at Eikehof.

Malherbe's great-grandfather bought this farm in 1903 and the KWV's records of the farm show that the vineyard was there in 1902 so it could, in fact, be older.

Fondly dubbed the "Old Block", Malherbe would like to keep it as long as possible and is considering registering it as a monument.

In the meantime he is giving it the glory its age affords it: after years of selling Eikehof's grapes to a local co-operative, Malherbe chose the path of winemaking and has been vinifying the farm's grapes since 1992.