Falstaff Magazin International Nr. 1/2022

wine / SOUTH AFRICA <

wine / SOUTH AFRICA < scent of the rain-sodden earth all around us. “You know when Optenhorst is in the cellar, she’s a lady that makes her presence known,” Natasha says. “You get the feeling that this vineyard is exactly where it’s meant to be, it has this unmistakable fragrance of honey that we just don’t find anywhere else.” SINGLE EXPRESSION Mick and Jeanine Craven have been making Craven Wines since 2013 – always from single vineyards and single varieties. Their winemaking is equally transparent with as little intervention as possible. The wines respond to this hands-off approach by delivering a resonant purity of fruit. The Cravens work exclusively in Stellenbosch, mostly in the Polkadraai Hills, seeking out special sites on the outskirts from the more famous areas. Though they don’t own any vineyards, they work closely with the grape growers. “Farmers themselves are an important part of terroir,” says Mick when I meet him for a walk in Karibib, a farm where he sources his Chenin of the same name. Our boots dig into the mud as we walk up the steep incline, rising to 60m/197ft to 400m/1,312ft above sea level. Half-trellised, half-bushvine, it is a peculiar looking vineyard. “It’s called a radial bushvine,” says Mick. “The vineyard had previously been farmed for sweet wine production, and the farmer was happy that we wanted to make dry wine out of it. With a little bit of attention we had a special block on our hands.” Mick says the vineyards in the Polkadraai give them what they’re looking for in their wines – a saline, savoury character, born from weathered granite soils and the light intensity of the morning sun that the block receives. THESE CUTTINGS TRAVELLED ACROSS THE OCEAN IN CHOCOLATE BOXES, CHILDREN’S NAPPIES AND IN THE LINING OF JACKETS An old bushvine at the Bosman estate. He points out vines used by other exciting young gun producers such as Lukas van Loggerenberg and Reenen Borman. “This place has an amazing soul and energy that other, better-known areas seem to lack. There’s a rising community of like-minded wine people here in the Polkadraai, which I think adds to the sense of place of the wines being made.” SMUGGLER’S REWARD To find the original home of Chardonnay in Africa, we veer away from the ocean and go further inland, to the limestone pockets of the Robertson Wine Valley. Chalky soils are rarely found in South African vineyards but as luck would have it, it is on this land that pioneer Danie de Wet of De Wetshof was reared. Danie studied winemaking and viticulture at Geisenheim in Germany, the country’s foremost viticultural school. This is where his desire was born to see Chardonnay thrive in South Africa – at a time when white grape varieties were basically a OLD VINES South Africa has a dedicated programme to protect its ancient vineyards A WOMAN WITH A MISSION Rosa Kruger is one of South Africa’s foremost viticulturists. Inspired by visits to European vineyards and wines that often make much of the claim of being made from old vines – just think of all the French bottles proclaiming Vieilles Vignes on the label – Kruger asked herself where the old vines were in South Africa. Surely, a country with a vine history dating back to the 17th century must have some old vines? THE OLD VINE PROJECT It was in 2002 that Kruger started recording the names of the farms and sites that still had old vines – they are less productive in terms of yield than newer plantings, so many had been grubbed up. Initially, this was real detective work, requiring the input of many farmers and viticulturists, but slowly Kruger’s idea gained traction and the list grew. In 2006, her idea inspired winemaker Eben Sadie to release the first wine under his “Old Vineyard Series”. By 2016, Kruger’s idea was formalised as the “Old Vine Project” with “the mandate to save and preserve South African vineyards”. As of 2018, wines produced from vineyards 35 years or older come with a certified heritage seal. Photos: Bosman, S PHOTOGRAPHY, De Wetshof Estate 46 falstaff mar – jun 2022

monoculture destined for brandy production. “The soils, plus the diurnal temperature swings and cooling, southerly winds added to my conviction it would work here,” de Wet explains. The variety was not yet approved for cultivation by the wine authorities, a process which back then could take upwards of ten years. But de Wet did not want to wait. “My friend and Stellenbosch winemaker Jan Boland Coetzee was working for Joseph Drouhin in Burgundy at the beginning of the 1980s. I asked him to procure some vine-cuttings which he did from Drouhin’s Clos des Mouches vineyard in Beaune.” These cuttings travelled across the ocean in chocolate boxes, children’s nappies and in the lining of < De Wetshof Estate in the Robertson Wine Valley was one of the pioneers of Chardonnay in South Africa. Danie de Wet’s son Peter (above) is now the winemaker. mar – jun 2022 falstaff 47