Wednesday, 28 February, 2018
Wines of South Africa, Malu Lambert
The soils of this Stellenbosch region have shaped him as if out of clay and made him into the person and celebrated winemaker he is today. The Steytler family have farmed Kaapzicht Wine Estate for over 70 years, and Danie is the third generation with 40 vintages of winemaking behind him.
It’s been some career. The walls of the tasting room are papered with awards. Danie clad in a green shirt, looks fit and healthy as he relaxes over a glass of Steytler Pinotage. From the get-go his marketing strategy has been simple, enter the awards—and then win them. He smiles at this: “The awards put us on the map.”
Notably among the accolades, the Cape Blend Kaapzicht Steytler Vision 2001 received the Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Trophy for Best Red Blend in the World in 2004 by the International Wine & Spirits Competition in London. Kaapzicht also clinched the Decanter Trophy for Best South African Blend (both for his Cape Blend “Steytler Vision”). In 2009 his flagship Pinotage won the Decanter Regional Trophy for South Africa’s Best Single Red Varietal and went on to win the Decanter International Trophy for Best Single Red Varietal in the world.
Not bad for a farm boy of humble beginnings. “This is the oldest building on the farm,” says Danie gesturing around the tasting room. “It used to be the horse stables.” His grandfather bought the farm in 1946 and was then mixed farming. “We didn’t have much money, but slowly my dad started replanting the tobacco with grapes.”
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