|
putting you in touch with the SA wine industry community
|
|
PREVIOUS WINELAND ARTICLES | WINELAND HOME
Vision ahead and capital behind Text and photo: Henry Hopkins
Talk about wresting wine from a beautiful but inhospitable earth and the name that comes to mind is Cape Point Vineyards - the name of a brand new champion, one who occupied centre stage at this year's SA Young Wine Show. HENRY HOPKINS visited the vineyards and took the photos.
First one has to dig through sand, then clay, and finally layer upon layer of red stone ? barren earth, all of which must be moved to make terraces and build dam walls. Then one has to lug soil and sand from the lower marsh areas to the sparser sections, which have to be delved with lime, as much as 40 tons per hectare. Next comes the organic fertiliser, 1 500 cubic metres of pig manure. Lastly the fragile vines must be enclosed in growth tubes for fear of the grysbokkies, who are not unwelcome otherwise. It remains to be seen what the Scarborough baboons will do to the bunches of Cabernet and Shiraz ? but these worries will be dealt with later, says Sybrand van der Spuy, who moved to the Cape from the Transvaal to mine kaolin and found himself bitten by the wine bug.
At the time, the Serina mining project was highly controversial. Environmentalists were concerned about the effect it would have on the extremely vulnerable South Peninsula mountain chain and as a rule rich, restless entrepreneurs such as Van der Spuy (an investment banker) do not assuage their fears. But in the end they did arrive at a compromise, namely that the packaging plant would not be erected at the mine above Noordhoek, but instead at Red Hill, closer to Kommetjie.
In time the warring parties settled their differences to such an extent that the chairman of the conservation group opened the mine. Meanwhile Van der Spuy acquired a piece of land close to the mine, indicated that he was not without sensitivity towards the Cape environment by restoring an old Cape Dutch homestead for himself and planting yellowwood trees where previously the despicable Port Jacksons flourished, and then wondered - what next?
A large tract of land was still lying fallow against the southern slope of Constantiaberg. The then MP for the area, Jannie-Bek Momberg, agreed with him that vines might work, but suggested he first consult with soil and viticultural experts such as Eben Archer and Dawid Saayman. The chaps were quite positive and reckoned it would be a delightful challenge, what with the southern slopes and balmy air currents fluctuating between the Atlantic Ocean and False Bay. And of course the poor soil. Volume-wise the crop would not amount to much, but the quality would be top class. And do consider Sauvignon blanc, they added with canny foresight.
Van der Spuy called in Emmanuel Bolliger, previously of Steenberg on the other side of Constantiaberg, as winemaker. No fewer than 50 labourers were given permanent employment to prepare the soil and plant the vineyards. In-service training was included, for it is no mean feat to attempt viticulture in the face of salt laden westerly winds and wearisome south easters.
According to Bolliger, who grew up in the Cape and studied viticulture and oenology at Stellenbosch, where he learnt Afrikaans, a lesser sort than Van der Spuy would have given up a long time ago.
"What I like about him is his vision, the fact that he does not follow, but lead, and is undaunted when it comes to money for long term investments. He wants everything to be tip-top, in the most difficult of places. And as you can see, it does not come cheaply," he indicates as we hobble along the stones in a block of Shiraz.
"In places we went down more than two metres and still there was nothing but stone. Each hollow was later filled with stone to get them out of the way; dongas were levelled; these roads have two metres of solid stone below them. That dam wall was built with stones."
Instead of giving up, the 42-year-old Van der Spuy's resolve was strengthened. Since establishing the first vineyards in Noordhoek three years ago, a start has been made to clear a tract of 16 hectares above the kaolin packaging plant between Fishhoek and Kommetjie where mica waste had previously been dumped. The growth tubes are now lined up like miniature tombstones in a mammoth cemetary. The buildings themselves were painted a considerate green to make them softer on the eye and two of the big spaces now accommodate a well-equipped cellar with light brown floors and pale pink walls. On the outside, the word "Cellar" in modest lettering is the only indication that this is the birthplace of the wine that won the Jan Smuts trophy at this year's SA Young Wine Show.
What is more, the possibilities have not been exhausted. A partnership has been formed with the Kopser brothers to transform their farm above Scarborough, which is spectacularly situated though infested with Port Jackson, into a wine farming operation. According to Van der Spuy, their best red wines will come from this spot. This shallow little valley, sloping uphill, is caressed by the wind from Cape Point. But as far as the soil is concerned, it was literally also a case of necessity being the mother of invention. Long ago large volumes of topsoil had been removed by the Administration to build roads and the slopes had to be recovered, specially trucking in load upon load of soil. The first step, however, was to uproot the Port Jackson trees which grow like hair on a dog's back (pretend it's a Labrador, for it is truly terrible); once the rock banks had been broken and large volumes of lime delved into the soil.
At the moment, therefore, Cape Point Vineyards comprises:
The Noordhoek vineyards with three-year-old Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot noir and S‚millon, altogether 24 hectares, with a hectare of Muscat de Frontignan under way;
The Two Oceans vineyards above the kaolin packaging plant and wine cellar; altogether 16 hectares planted to Cabernet franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot;
The fledgling vineyards above Scarborough, where altogether 11 hectares of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon have to contribute to the 60/40 ratio of red to white envisaged for the entire undertaking.
The vineyards as a whole have been granted Wine of Origin status by the Wine and Spirit Board.
The 62 hectares are trellised, some on four strand systems and some on five strand systems, depending on the quality of the soil. Where necessary, some vines will be approached to the soil to benefit from increased heat and ripeness, since the Constantia region (which faces mostly north) already harvests several weeks after the rest of the country.
But perhaps the stone could prove to be a blessing in disguise, reckons Bolliger. The large volumes remaining in the vineyards may radiate the heat absorbed in the course of the day and so assist ripening.
He does not believe in measuring yield per hectare either. As soon as the mechanical work is done and the current plantings established, he will begin experimenting with more rows in between, in the French manner. Yield per vine will then be the yardstick.
Triticale is a common sight between the rows: it creates a good windbreak for the young vines and stops the sand from whirling. Elsewhere Bolliger uses North American Fescue or Australian Wimmiea grass. But he is also keen to conduct trials with an indigenous grass.
As far as vinification is concerned, he steers clear of the reductive method.
He believes in the French approach, having worked in Bordeaux for more than three years. He also gained valuable practical experience in California, and in Australia at the Tarra Yarra winery in the Yarra valley. (If you can survive a name like that, you can do anything.)
But above all he is grateful for his practical experience at Klein Constantia, where he spent student vacations with the very capable Kobus Jordaan in the vineyards and the experienced Ross Gower in the cellar. That is where he met a lot of his French contacts and his wife, Wendy.
Already the fruits of these considerable efforts are being reaped. The Scarborough label, with a less serious Sauvignon blanc, is on the liquor store shelves. With regard to the 2000 vintage, 600 cases of the wine that was responsible for their sudden fame will be bottled soon.
Waiting in small barrels are two kinds of Chardonnay, one with more wood character and another version, very elegant with a litchi aroma. In addition there is a noble late harvest.
And then there are the reds to look forward to. But first they have to tread the straight and narrow path of the environmentalists, looking carefully at spraying programmes in a fragile environment, and allowing the baboons and grysbokkies to be curious to their heart's content.
But having come this far, they will be able to do the right thing in an environment where far worse sins have been committed than establishing good green vineyards for the pleasure and prestige of the Cape. And wouldn't a good Shiraz be just punishment for the Australians whose legacy to us was the Port Jackson?
|
|
Visit our sister sites:
 2009/10 Directory Now Available! Facts, figures, contact details and much more...
|
Right: A winning combination: Sybrand and Emmanuel.
| UP |
COPYRIGHT (C) 2000 WineLand |