Falstaff Magazin International Nr. 1/2022

wine / SOUTH AFRICA

wine / SOUTH AFRICA South Africa’s wind-ravaged, mountainous Western Cape – at the jagged edge of a great continent – is a place that has been haunted by the icy, tempestuous Atlantic since time immemorial. Its wines, sprung from geology and the eternal onslaught of weather, are inimitable. Originally named the Cape of Storms by Portuguese explorers in the 1480s, this exposed strip of land juts out into the ocean but has long made its peace with the extreme conditions. Its location on the fringe of the continent has given the Cape some of the world’s oldest soils. Above is a dominance of soaring peaks, like many giant creatures sleeping beneath the earth’s crust. Add it all up and you have a wine-producing region that can’t help but express its sense of place. Some wines shout, like the fleshy, sun-kissed Chenins of the Breedekloof; or whisper, like the nervy, salty Sauvignons of Agulhas. Or ignore you altogether, like the cool, limpid Chardonnays of the Overberg. These wines have something to say, and increasingly, winemakers are favouring a hands-off approach to allow the distinct character of a specific region to shine through. Nowhere is this most apparent than in single-vineyard wines. WINEMAKERS ARE FAVOURING A HANDS-OFF APPROACH TO ALLOW THE SPECIFIC CHARACTER OF A REGION TO SHINE THROUGH. There are currently 1,731 registered single-vineyard sites in South Africa, right across the varietal spectrum. When we talk about South African wine though, the conversation starts with Corlea Fourie, head winemaker at Bosman Family Vineyards (left). Sunset over vineyards near Stellenbosch on the Western Cape. Photos: Peartree Photography, Shutterstock, RODGER BOSCH / AFP / picturedesk.com, Tasha Seccombe Photography 44 falstaff mar – jun 2022

Zebras roam over the plains in the Western Cape flanked by jagged mountains. Chenin Blanc. For centuries this Loire-born white grape, whose arrival in South Africa can be traced back to the 17th century, has been used as a base for brandies and bulk wines. It is still the country’s most widely planted grape; it is in fact more planted here than anywhere else – and the wines are increasingly fine. VINES DREAMING DEEP A winter hush lay over the Wellington valley, a gauzy mist draped like a veil across sloping hills, verdant with the season’s incessant rain. The vineyards fanning over the slopes, free of their summer canopies, slumbered in the cold. I had come here to find a grand dame, a Chenin Blanc vineyard called Optenhorst, planted in 1952. Is there a better time to visit a vineyard, to understand it, than when it lies dormant? The pomp and flamboyance of leaves and grapes is stripped away to reveal what lies beneath. Wellington has a long history of wine farming, and importantly in vine propagati- HEAD WINEMAKER CORLEA FOURIE HALTED THE GRUBBING UP, SUGGESTING “LET ME GIVE IT A TRY”. A quintessential Cape landscape with old bush vines, rooted in deep red sand over clay. on. The region supplies up to 85 percent of the Cape’s vine cuttings, known as stokkies, which come from the Bosman Adama Nursery, a branch of Bosman Family Vineyards. They have been farming in Wellington for eight generations. It was the Bosman family who took custodianship of Optenhorst when they bought a neighbouring farm. They did not know what riches they had acquired: Optenhorst was due to be uprooted, it was very old and haasbek, which literally means gap-toothed, where vines had died. Head winemaker Corlea Fourie halted the grubbing up, suggesting to the Bosmans: “Let me give it a try.” The name Optenhorst means ‘perched on top of a hill’, as the bushvine site sprawls over a mound, overlooking the valley, the town’s historic white church in the distance. I walked with winemaker Natasha Williams to a stone monument at its centre. Williams, who has since taken over the making of this wine from Fourie, uncorked a bottle of the 2019. The scent of honeyed fruit and oranges joined the electric < mar – jun 2022 falstaff 45