Oak Valley, Elgin

Oak Valley Wine Farm

Oak Valley's first bottling of wine took place in 2003 - but the farm itself was one of the first to plant vineyards in the predominantly apple growing area of Elgin, two decades ago. It's an indication of the level of planning and preparation that informs everything that Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen, Oak Valley's proprietor, does. Not one to rush headlong into anything, he wanted to ensure that when Oak Valley launched it was synonymous with quality.

In a block of Sauvignon Blanc planted high on Elgin's Groenlandberg, I ask Rawbone-Viljoen for his thoughts on the prospects for Elgin wine generally. Is there not a regional identity crisis with plantings of everything from Grenache Noir to Gewürztraminer taking place? "Elgin is a young wine ward and we are learning by elimination. Variety is a part of this process although geographically we're as homogeneous a region as one gets," is the typically measured response from the third- generation gentleman farmer.

From this vantage point the valley appears a self-contained locale, a topographic dimple some 500m above sea level extending from Sir Lowry's Pass in the west to Houwhoek in the east and bracketed by berg to the north and south.

Elgin's wine of origin designation is a relatively recent occurrence, official as of 1990.

Oak Valley's progeny trace back to the acreage founded in 1898 by Sir Antonie Viljoen, a former Senator of the Cape Parliament who laid the rudiments of the valley's apple industry with the earliest commercial deciduous fruit orchards planted in the early 1900s. Sir Antonie's testament forbids the removal of any of the estate's 4 000 oak trees now occupying almost 30 hectares.

Initial wine grape plantings in Elgin were followed in 1908 by the first wine cellar in the region built on the Oak Valley Estate itself, a facility subsequently decommissioned in 1940. Nowadays cellar space is rented from neighbouring winery Paul Cluver, which has capacity should Oak Valley Wines expand - an offer Rawbone-Viljoen intends to take up with new low-lying vineyards set to increase production by 2009.

Growers for the best part of 20 years, the estate - not, in fact, a registered wine estate in the official application of the term - first produced wine under its trademark in 2003 with the release of a Sauvignon Blanc, the grape as much the quintessence of the current range as it was then. A reserve bottling in 2005 from the farm's highest vineyards followed as the Mountain Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, a wine as yet to be repeated and then only in vintages showing superior quality. And while the block's extremity yields some notable fruit, its proximity to mountain fynbos has had its drawbacks.

"We imported an irrigation pump that could handle the elevation and aspect because nothing locally available could manage the gradient. When the fire came in 2006, the first thing to go was the power and consequently the pump, so we had no water to combat what eventually became a costly loss," relates Rawbone-Viljoen. As a result no 2006 Mountain Reserve was released.
During the period as exclusively grape growers, the estate's Chardonnay found its way into Rupert & Rothchild's Baroness Nadine and more than a few of Bouchard Finlayson's wines. What Oak Valley elicits from Sauvignon Blanc is markedly dissimilar to what it gets from Chardonnay - the former displaying immense concentration and fullness, the latter more steely and reserved with a citrus freshness. "Nobody picks up the wood in our Chardonnay and quite often, tasted blind, we have buyers convinced it's Chablis," Rawbone-Viljoen says.

Those cultivating more than merely Sauvignon Blanc in the valley - the region's great white hope - have a paragon in The Oak Valley Blend 2004, the wine a category winner with 4½ Stars in WINE's Bordeaux red blend tasting of September 2007 and Gold and Regional Winner of the Decanter International Wine Awards 2007 for Best Bordeaux blend over £10 in the UK. The blend retails for R90 ex-cellar.

Driving the blend is a Merlot component of 88% to that of 9% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Cape Merlot is hardly a trump-card and the 2004 vintage by all accounts had its challenges so why these proportions for a maiden vintage?

Oak Valley wines of the modern era find their genesis in exploratory plantings under Nietvoorbij in the '80s where, apart from the obvious suitability of Sauvignon Blanc, Prof Eben Archer recommended Merlot. It's the largest red varietal on the estate, at present occupying 18% of total plantings to Sauvignon Blanc's 42%.

Oak Valley's self-taught vintner and one-time exclusive apple man, Pieter Visser, won't take any credit for the inspired formula. "The ratios mirror the extent of our plantings on the farm, that's all. We make do with what we have here." Visser also makes do with only the best barrels supplied on request by Rawbone-Viljoen who is adamant his young brand enters the market on quality terms before aspiring to greater visibility and volume.

This approach plays out in miniscule quantities of Pinot Noir - a meagre four barrels bottled in the case of the 2006 from a site of 480m elevation established in 2000. It yielded under one ton per hectare in 2006 and is quite apparently more a labour of love than a money spinner. It's available for purchase at R150 per bottle
ex-cellar if any is in stock.

The estate's wine venture is one of four concerns operating off the 1 786ha property. Oak Valley Flowers with its 11ha of greenhouses supply Woolworths nationally and is the largest fresh cut flower supplier in the Western Cape. 349ha are devoted to orchards of which 70% are apple and the remaining quotient pear. A fledgling venture into naturally reared beef is also in operation with some 400 head of cattle on the farm's 650ha of open pasture.

With the extent of industry on the property it's not inconceivable to think they may be spreading themselves a little thin.
The reality is that Oak Valley Wines has garnered considerable acclaim where those more recent wine endeavors in the ward have yet to produce the goods.
Visser puts this down to the considered selection of noble varieties and the invaluable knowledge gleaned from his experience in the orchards. "There are sites on the farm, literally a few hundred meters apart, where annual rainfall varies by as much as 400mm."

Whilst overwhelmed by the recent success of their reds, the focus for the future is very much on exploring the full potential of white wine from the property. Visser reveals plans to launch a white blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon from the 2007 vintage but not without sufficient bottle-age, something that Rawbone-Viljoen insists upon for all wines within the range.

"I'm told regularly that we are under-charging for what we produce here, that at these comparatively small volumes our turnaround period should be within a year or two, but this is not in line with our broader financial plan, nor the long-term vision for the brand."

What is abundantly clear is that the Oak Valley model relies less on the selling proposition of Elgin than more recent and arguably opportunistic initiatives in the valley. Proportionally there are more growers than resident wine producers which might account for the area's chequered performances to date.

Oak Valley wants to be recognized for being more than just Wine of Origin Elgin, it seems. If the Oak Valley team - by their own summation of their success to date - are learning as they go, it's exciting to anticipate their continuing quest for quality and improvement.