Make your own wine

Five years ago garagiste winemakers quietly went about their hobby, making a barrel or two for own consumption or friends. Few people even knew how to pronounce "garagiste"... Fiona McDonald looks at the growth of this hands-on phenomenon.

 

Case study - Andy Mitchell

Mitchell's day job is a demanding one - he's a sail designer with North Sails in Cape Town, keeping up with the latest innovations in global yachting technology.

He and wife Vikki have long been interested in wine, having studied through the Cape Wine Academy, regularly attended local public tastings and belonged to wine tasting groups. "But we'd always wanted to make our own wine ... 'one day'."

Three years ago they took the plunge.

"We were lucky enough to be able to borrow a bit of cellar space from Debbie Hooper at Mount Vernon in Stellenbosch. We bought 2,5 tons of fruit - enough for six barrels.

"Nothing prepares you for that thrill when the trucks arrive with 'your' grapes - and I'll admit there's also a moment of fear and trepidation. A 'what the hell have I done?' moment," Mitchell states.

That first year in a working cellar was very convenient in many respects, he says. Advice and help were immediately on hand. Other aspects were less fun - like getting up at 5am to drive to the cellar to punch down the cap on the fermenting grapes. "A couple of times we were a bit late and arrived to find that it had bubbled over the sides, which meant a very urgent punchdown and also an extra cleanup."

But they acknowledge that was about the worst of their problems in their first year. "I admit we probably overdid it on the lab analyses and tests in year one, but that's only because we were so terrified something would go wrong. We had so much assistance from friends within the industry, it was great. I think the wonderful thing about the South African wine scene is that everyone is so generous with their time. And the laboratories are also incredibly helpful and a good source of advice."

That winter they did an evening course in basic winemaking at Elsenburg and incorporated a cellar in the design of their newly built weekend retreat at Greyton. Beneath the garage - which naturally becomes the production area during harvest - is a barrel maturation cellar. They felt really prepared for their second harvest in 2004 - but year two flying solo in Greyton was another eye-opener for them. "Transport became an issue because everything had to be trucked in - with attendant costs. It's no longer simply a case of popping over to someone's cellar to borrow a piece of equipment for an hour or two."

Roll on 2005, and half a ton more fruit was delivered than they were anticipating. "We didn't have enough tank space for it! We suddenly had to phone around to find someone who could lend us a plastic tank to take the overflow.

"You also realise as you go it alone that there are things you haven't thought about - like storing your wine for topping up the barrels as they mature... But ultimately you make a plan."

The Mitchells called their wine Breakfast Rock Syrah after the first stop on the walking trail through the mountains between Greyton and McGregor - and soon conceded that six barrels was a little bit more than they or their friends could comfortably consume. "Our long-term plan was to be commercial but on a small scale," says Vikki. "The idea was to keep us busy in our retirement."

That decision to go commercial, small-scale or not, created another set of challenges. Licensing, label design, packaging and storage - all are problems that have been faced and conquered.

"We decided to make six barrels because we felt that we could comfortably handle that and because it also allowed us to play a little bit with different barrels and see the results in the wine. This gives you a few options in blending, even if you're making a single-varietal wine as I do. If you're just making one barrel for own consumption that's fine but I like to have a bit of complexity and to be able to pick and choose between a few flavour profiles."

The Mitchells now boast 17 barrels of wine in their cellar, with 900 bottles of the inaugural 2003 vintage left and the 2004 just bottled but not yet released, with the 2005 still in barrel.

"One of the biggest headaches for us was to decide when the wine was ready and when to bottle it. We were forever drawing samples and asking people to taste and tell us if they thought we should bottle it. Nowadays we know that we're happy with it having spent about 14 or 15 months in wood."

Any regrets? "None. It's the biggest thrill imaginable to hold a bottle of wine that you made in your hands - or to have someone compliment you on your Shiraz."

So what is the Garagiste Movement?

"It started out as a loose grouping of like-minded hobby winemakers," Tanya Beutler says, "and the idea was always to try and be as fluid as possible, without
restricting people with rules and regulations."

Unfortunately the time has come that it will now need to become an association with attendant strictures, rules and membership fees. "What's happening is that people are claiming to be garagistes, making their own wines, while winemaker friends are actually doing it for them - or they're making quite large, commercial quantities of wine, which goes against the spirit of garagiste winemaking."

Until now, the stipulations have been that producers make a maximum of 9 000l of wine - "the amount of wine you could make in a double garage," Beutler states.

The movement started in June 2002, with an article on Topaz wines in WINE magazine being the catalyst. "A chap from Muizenberg phoned me up and asked if I could host a tasting of our wines for his tasting group. Well, it wouldn't have been much of a tasting with one Shiraz and a Pinot Noir, so I asked Cathy Marshall (Barefoot Wine Company/BWC) for help since she knew of other people making wine on a small scale. That's when Clive and I realised there was a need for people like us to be able to share information and pool resources.

"It's impossible to be able to market two barrels of wine - but if there are five of you sharing the costs of a stand at WineX, you have greater exposure to the market."
Beutler says there are 70 people on her garagiste movement mailing list but about 20 "active" participants. Meanwhile, the garagiste movement website is up and running and anyone wanting information on buying grapes, sourcing equipment or just wanting advice can utilise this resource (www.garagiste.co.za).

"Ideally Clive and I would like to write a seriously basic 'how to' manual. Yes, there are courses you can do through the University of Stellenbosch but it can be frighteningly scientific and it doesn't need to be. Winemaking can be kept simple - and fun."

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