The sky's the limit, Breede River

Breede River's New Wineries

What does an eagle's view have in common with a place where brown hyaenas once roamed?The answer is the Breede River in Robertson, where places such as Arendsig and Wolvendrift have entered the fray. Fiona McDonald looks at some of the 22 new wineries that have been established in the past five years.

 

There's a vineyard perched on the top of a hill, looking for all intents and purposes like a swatch of vibrant green corduroy. The vineyard is surrounded by scrubby fynbos and overlooks the valley floor, which is itself a patchwork quilt of vines. Cutting a lazy meandering swathe past Bakenkop is the Breede River.

Around the town of Robertson, founded in 1853 and named after a Scot of the same name (who happened to be the local Dutch Reformed Minister), there is a renewed energy and enthusiasm on the winemaking scene. This vitality and vigour is provided by a new generation of wine-makers and farmers. These men and women are invariably not first generation pioneers. For many, their fathers, grand-fathers and even great grandfathers have tilled the soil in the Robertson valley for decades. So why is it that so many are only now starting to make and market their own wine?

The past five years has seen 22 "new" wineries established here. The region has long been recognized for its "big" players De Wetshof, Bon Courage, Weltevrede, Springfield, Zandvliet, Excelsior and others, as well as the co-operative wineries Clairvaux, Robertson, Roodezandt, Ashton, McGregor, Bonnievale and Langverwacht.

"There were a number of triggers," says Niël Colyn of Koningsrivier. "One was the wine boom a few years ago. South African wine was well received internationally, primarily because of the weakness of the rand."

Another major factor was the relaxation of the co-operative wineries' various rules. Supplier members were able to retain some of their own fruit in order to make own-label wine. This last fact has been the incentive for many of the younger generation to renovate and refurbish either tractor sheds or old wineries that had fallen into disuse over the years.

"My grandfather used to make wine in these old open 'kuipe'," says Colyn proudly. "Ok, so it was either distilling wine or rebate wine - but the point is that there's history and heritage."

This 30-something only opens his tasting room on request and for special events such as Robertson's annual Wacky Wine Weekend held in June every year and the Wine on the River festival in October that supplanted the popular Food and Wine Festival.

I enjoyed my recent visits to these farms, travelling well-maintained dirt roads - where oncoming cars and bakkies acknowledge your presence with a smile or wave. That's the aura that pervades these small places. It's very personal - the person who farmed the grapes and made the wine - or his wife, mother, sister, brother or father'll invariably welcome you!

Along the Kings River Road, your first stop is Buitehof where Gideon van Zyl and his ridgeback puppy Tammy will welcome you. It started off in 2002 as a hobby and nowadays Van Zyl presses 10 tons to make between 500 and 600 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc annually. "I love growing things," he confesses, "and grapes are quite different to apricots, peaches and plums! The vines are more of a challenge." He's also worked at "the biggest cellar in Ohio…which wasn't very big at all - but it was good experience."

At Koningsrivier Niël Colyn is the fifth generation to farm the land. He makes Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and a Merlot/Cab blend. His grandfather was one of the founders of the Robertson Co-op in 1941 and, interestingly enough, Colyn did his Masters thesis at Stellenbosch University on the economics of co-operative cellars. Although they're mixed farmers - like Van Zyl, growing fruit as well as grapes - he also retains 10 tons of his best fruit for his own label.

Further along the gravel road you'll spot a derelict - but grandly gabled - Cape Dutch manor house. Its restoration has come to a (temporary) stop as Dutchman Ruud de Clerq ("spelled the French way" he assures me) has become frustrated with local builders' workmanship - or lack thereof. "I'll start up again when the memories have faded a bit…"

This former entrepreneur and entertainment park owner had never visited South Africa prior to deciding this was where he wanted to realize his dream of owning a wine farm. "I wasn't really ready for retirement. I like that there's a challenge. I like complex problems - but the relaxed lifestyle was important to me as well."
De Clerq realized that ideal a little sooner than anticipated, as his intention was first to renovate the house and then establish a winery. "But the folks on the farm said the shed used to be a winery and showed me the old cement tanks." A new room and a few months later the Kings River winery was operational and the first (2005) vintage vinified.

"Only red," is De Clerq's rallying cry, so it's Shiraz and Ruby Cabernet, with the Chenin Blanc, Colombar and Chardonnay that he's got planted delivered to the McGregor co-op.

Just outside McGregor, on the road back to Robertson (and just past the McGregor co-op winery which is itself worth a visit) is Tanagra. Owned by Christof Reinhold and his partner Felicia von der Schulenberg, with young Hein Gerber the man in charge.

He's an intrepid soul, having travelled the four corners of South Africa on a vintage Vespa with a friend (to raise money for the Red Cross Children's Hospital) last year.

"I'm actually a jack of all trades," he admits. Originally hired as the farm manager, he found himself making wine too! The owners have relocated to Mpumalanga as Reinhold is busy building a soccer stadium in Nelspruit for the 2010 World Cup.

"Our Heavenly Chaos is well named - because that's what harvest is like here… chaos. Our wines are hand-crafted and made the French way with as little interference as possible." Tanagra has three blends - the Felicity (Cab Sauv/Merlot and Cab Franc), Carah (Cab Sauvignon and Shiraz) and Heavenly Chaos (Merlot, Shiraz, Cab Franc and Cab Sauvignon).

Tanagra Carah 2003 scored 2½ Stars in WINE's October issue and the 2005 Chardonnay received 3 Stars in the November issue. Both sell for R45.

Do yourself a favour and take another gravel back road - this time the one to Bonnievale. It's the road less travelled and the scenery's spectacular - red rocks and soil, fynbos galore. You'll come out along the R317, right near Janéza - which is where Jan Wentzel and his wife Eza call home. Although the farm has been in existence since 1992, it was only in 2001 that the first wines were made. "Actually in 2000 we made a bit of red wine in a drum," Wentzel recalls with a chuckle, "but that was just to get our hands dirty!"

"It's so much more satisfying making your own wines than simply growing the grapes and delivering them to the co-op. It's only 6% of my harvest but it takes 95% of my time. If I didn't do this I'd be in such a rut."
There's no mistaking how much he enjoys devoting time and energy to his small volumes, just a few thousand cases of wine. "We'd grown Sauvignon Blanc, Cab and Shiraz for years and Eza wanted to complete the circle."

Also on this road, but closer to Bonnievale is Angora, the Joubert family farm where brothers Chris (maker of Overgaauw and own label Gilga wines) and Johan (winemaker at Kleine Zalze) help dad Gerrit. It's almost all red at Angora - with Shiraz and Shiraz Rosé joined by a Chenin Blanc in 2006.

Someone who's a passionate advocate of Bonnievale is Steenberg winemaker John Loubser. He and wife Karen have a little piece of heaven there, Silverthorn Wines, and have nurtured Chardonnay grapes for a Méthode Cap Classique called The Green Man that was released just a few months ago. This non-vintage bubbly is Loubser's "mission and passion" and is made at Steenberg in what little spare time he has.

Also on the R317 is Quando, where Fanus Bruwer welcomes visitors onto the stoep of his home for tastings. "Just phone first so I can make sure the Sauvignon's cold," he quips. Bruwer (a cousin to the other winemaking Bruwers of Springfield and Bon Courage) is a seasoned hand at the wine game, having started Quando in 2001. He's just returned from yet another marketing jaunt to chilly London. "I could never do that if I was just farming peaches and apricots!

"When I told the family I wanted to make wine, one of my cousins told me that my old Chenin Blanc vines were just expensive braai wood and not to bother with it, but I might make some Chenin some day. They're lovely 40-year-old vines - maybe I'll use it in a blend. I'll have to make the wine and see."

At the moment he's making Sauvignon Blanc and has a slight problem: his 2 200 cases of 2006 are already sold out! "But that's partly because the crop was low, because of the hailstorm before harvest." The other reason is because it's a bargain at R40 a bottle off the farm…

If you could develop a meter to measure human energy, it'd be off the scale when hooked up to Lourens van der Westhuizen who farms at Arendsig, a stone's throw away from Quando. The 29-year-old is a human dynamo gushing with ideas. On the cards are plans for a Sauvignon Blanc to add to his Chardonnay (3½ Stars, WINE November 2006) and his Shiraz (3½ Stars, WINE September 2006).
He's only got 12ha under vine, most of it going to the local Langverwacht co-op next to Janéza but he's proud of his winery, vines and wines, showing off his rietdak sheltered crushpad and barrel cellar at the drop of a hat. The walls are clay, about two feet thick. It's blissfully cool inside. Although the family's been farming since 1980, the winemaking only started in 2003.

He's the one who pointed out that patch of corduroy vineyard. "That belongs to Frikkie Bruwer. It's the most amazing Cabernet Sauvignon - but he just delivers it to the co-op so it gets lost in a big blend.

"There's a misconception about Robertson being hot," Van der Westhuizen contends. "We're only 45 minutes drive from Struisbaai. Can you feel that breeze?" he asks. "There's always a breeze and that helps cool things down and keep the vines healthy. There are amazing pockets of diversity with great soils here."

Van der Westhuizen is the kind of guy who's passionate about row direction, patiently explaining the effect that has on the canopy management - and subsequent fruit quality - of his Sauvignon Blanc.

"By the time the grapes are picked, my wines are already made. I just play around with a few things when vinifying it in the cellar."

Still on the R317, Jan Klue at the private cellar Wolvendrift has big plans. There's a deck at the back of the winery that boasts great views of the Breede River and his vines. He reckons it's perfect for a restaurant - and perhaps there's space for a campsite or chalets on the banks of the river.

The name Wolvendrift is derived from the old Afrikaner term for the place where wolves crossed the river. In this case, "wolf" referred to brown hyaenas which used to trouble settler farmers' sheep. They've long since left or been shot out. It's been farmed since 1903, owned by Jan's dad Michael since 1975, but only bottled its first wine in 2002.

"In the olden days the family farmed with ostriches - and made a bit of rebate wine. My grandfather also bred horses." Something else the Robertson valley's famous for.

The farm has 120ha under vine but Klue focuses his attention on one special block each of Cabernet, Shiraz and Merlot. Although he also makes Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, these reds are his favourites.

Closer to Robertson is Cloverfield, belonging to Pieter and Liz Marais. They make a lot of wine - most of it destined for the bulk wine market, bottling only a small portion of their total production under the Cloverfield label. Their first "own label" wines were made in 2002 and things have gone from strength to strength since then - particularly with their Chardonnay. They also make Shiraz, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc but Chardonnay remains their focus.

The newest - and yet most experienced - kid on the block is Arabella, the De Wet family's new winery near Ashton.

Previously involved with Excelsior, the De Wets launched their wines in August. There's nothing small about them - they've already produced 1,6 million litres of wine "in space begged, borrowed and stolen in friends' cellars," admitted marketing boss Nicky de Wet.

She explains that the name Arabella is a tribute to the Arabian horses the family breeds, and which her dad Stephen and brother Jamie ride in endurance competitions.

"The focus is still on good value, with the wines costing just R30 a bottle across the range - except for the Chenin which is R24.99."

Next to one of South Africa's favourite Sauvignon Blanc producers, Springfield, is Major's Hill - a winery established on what was originally the farm Klipdrift…yes, of that brandy fame!

Winemaker Alkie van der Merwe (brother of Nico at Saxenburg) and Dewald, Johan and Anton Louw began this operation three years ago. They can hardly believe that they now have to expand. But then, having doubled their production and sales in the past year alone, is it any surprise?

"It's been amazing - tough, but amazing," says Van der Merwe. Pinotage is probably his favourite to make but there's Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc too. The latter, by way of example, sold out in seven months so it's obvious they're fast garnering a following.

The majority (100 000l) of their production is for the bulk wine market but they make 15 000 cases of their own-label wine, and the same for private customers.
One such customer is Rosendal, a 4 Star guest house and spa on the Klaas Voogds road. Two Danish couples Geir Tellefsen and Sissel Anderssen, and Asbjørn Johansen and Bente Anderssen own it.

"We don't make much - about 3 000 bottles of Merlot and the same of the Special Cuvée (a blend of Cabernet and Merlot). It's either served in the restaurant or exported to Denmark." That explains the back label written in Danish …
Next door to Rosendal is Kranskop, the farm of Nakkie Smit. He's proud of his little winery, another converted shed, because he and his farm staff built it brick by brick in 2001. Above the barrel cellar is a deck and braai area that boasts fantastic views of his 40ha of vineyards, the dam and valley. Smit admits that he farms the vineyard blocks destined for his own label differently to those which will go to Ashton co-op. He keeps yields down on his Shiraz, Cab and Merlot in order to concentrate flavours. Other than that he "keeps it simple". He believes two of his strongest selling points to anyone who visits Kranskop are James, who's been on the farm for 16 years and who leads the cellar tours - and his father's handiwork. Smit senior is creative with barrels that have served their purpose. But then there's also his horses, and prized Nguni cattle too…

A little further down the same road is Rusticus, another boutique winery that belongs to the Busch family. Pat Busch (he of the adjacent 2000ha private nature reserve by the same name) owned the farm for 20 years, growing grapes for the co-op but never making wine. He has a fascination with old things, happily buying antique ploughs, tractors and cars that are put on display in the winery surrounds. He also found some old winemaking equipment - an old basket press and an ancient destemmer. A friend renovated them and suggested they have a bit of fun, using the old equipment to make a bit of wine. That was in 2002 and the bug bit. Now Pat's son Stephan is in charge of winemaking and 2 000 cases are produced every year - using the vintage machinery, open concrete vats and basket press.

Although production is small, their range is impressive. Rusticus (which is Latin for 'of or from the land') offer a Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, Ruby Cabernet, Pinotage and Pinot Noir.

Just outside Robertson on the R60 towards Worcester is Vruchtbaar, another boutique cellar which first bottled its own wine in 2001. Although the Bruwers (father and son Alwyn and Francois) have 35ha, they make just a few hundred cases of their own wines. They boast vineyards of Cabernet, Pinotage, Merlot, Ruby Cab, Chenin Blanc, Colombar, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, but they vinify just five tons. Under the Vruchtbaar label you'll find a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Cab/Pinotage blend called Island Red and a Sauvignon Blanc.

"The potential's there to expand," says Francois - having already outgrown the garage and converted a stable which saw action for the first time in 2006, "but it'll happen organically, step by step."

A few years ago, when a section of the R60 outside Graham Beck winery was being upgraded, motorists were forced to detour. This loop would have taken them right past Wederom, the farm belonging to Philip and Almien du Toit. It's got a fascinating history with a strong Italian link, and a visit to their tasting room - with its renovated mural depicting an Italian Prisoner-of-War camp - is a must. Du Toit harnesses this Italian link in his Salvadori Shiraz. Although there are 15ha under vine, Du Toit only presses 10 tons. He's having such fun learning about winemaking with help from former Nederburg cellarmaster Newald Marais. "It's not the same as farming peaches or apricots. It's far more challenging - and exciting!"

Nearby is Du Von, established in 2003 - while winemaker Armand du Toit was still studying at Stellenbosch. He logged up impressive mileage travelling between 'varsity and Robertson - but then at just 23 he'd the energy and enthusiasm to do it. It also didn't clash too badly with his studies since it was the beginning of the year and he could catch up later.

Of the 30ha, 80% is planted to white grapes, but in spite of this their wines are predominantly red - Cabernet Sauvignon, Ruby Cab and Pinotage. With Chenin Blanc, Colombar and Sauvignon Blanc on the white side. There's also a sparkling rosé from Pinotage and Sauvignon Blanc.

A little further down the road there is Burcon, where the Conradie family is having fun - as evidenced by the irreverent and whacky wine labels: Oompie se Oeps, Kinteljiesus and Miskien Christine. "We're not frighteningly serious about our wines," says Amanda Conradie. "They're meant to be fun and easy to drink."

The first wine is an unwooded Pinotage/Shiraz blend - that was created in the vineyard where the two vines were planted together by mistake… hence the "Oeps"! The label on Kinteljiesus (an unwooded blend of Chenin Blanc and Colombar) refers to courting couples meandering hand-in-hand through the vineyards after harvest… you can be certain that there will be a babe in arms the following year!

"We only press about 15 tons in total - just for a bit of fun. We sell it in the (Kolgansrivier) restaurant on the farm, at La Verne wine boutique in Robertson or at the Ashton wine boutique. Other than that, if it doesn't sell, it's a small enough production - our family can finish it off without becoming alcoholics!"

Having said that with tongue firmly in cheek, Conradie admits that Belgian and Dutch visitors to their Nerina guest farm love the wines and the labels.

Out at Eilandia, which is reached by taking the gravel turn-off opposite the limestone factory on the R60, are Bon Cap and Cilliers Family Wines. Bon Cap is the most high profile, having been established as a fully organic producer in 2002 (and featuring on WINE magazine's cover in June 2004). Roelf and Michelle du Preez produce just over 20 000 cases of wine a year, ranging from Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage and Shiraz to Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Viognier, plus a port-style wine from Touriga Naçional.

Albie Cilliers of Cilliers Family Wines says there's immense pride involved in making your own wines - even if it is just 500 cases. "We used to sell off all our grapes but it's so much more rewarding doing it yourself. Economic suicide… but rewarding. There's nothing better than putting a bottle of your own wine on the table and being able to talk about the weather during that growing season, or what happened during the harvest or winemaking. It's not the same when you just grow the grapes and sell them."

Cilliers is a friend of Hartenburg's Carl Schultz and admits that he's abused the friendship to glean as much advice and as many tips as he can.

"We'll probably never make any money out of our Shiraz, Cab and Pinotage," he admits ruefully, "but the pleasure we take out of doing it is beyond price."

Cilliers' attitude and pragmatism sums up what it is that all of these new winemakers are about - pride in what they produce, the joy of making wines they can call their own and doing it with enthusiasm and energy.