I had reason to reflect because of a chance remark someone made at the recent launch of the Old Vines Project’s recent heritage seal. Wines which have signed up will now carry a decal which is not just proof of the wine’s claim to having being made from old vine fruit, 35 years or more specifically, but this South African initiative is believed to be the first of its kind in the world.
But it wasn’t about the decal or seal. What stopped me in my tracks was a comment about the paucity of South African wineries which have been making wines for 50 years or more.
As someone who has written about South African wine for at least the past 25 years, it was startling to think that even as I began, some wine labels were only 20 or 30 years young. It truly was something I’d never actually thought about.
The country’s wine making history is well documented – going back to that diary entry of Jan van Riebeek’s in the 1650’s: “Today, praise be to God, the first grapes were crushed at the Cape of Good Hope...” or words to that effect.
Simonsig recently celebrated its 50th anniversary – and it’s entirely appropriate that it’s one of a virtual handful of wineries to be able to make that claim. Certain brands are well documented – and the one which immediately springs to mind is Chateau Libertas which is fast approaching 90! However, that wine and others in the KWV stable, for example, were commercial brands. My mind wrestled with the labels and brands not attached to corporates. Excluding those and the co-operative wineries made the list a very short one. How many were there and what were they?
Prior to 1968 – the 50 year threshold – there were precious few private labels or brands, literally a handful. Alto started bottling its own wine in 1933, but the Joubert family of Spier had done so since 1930.
Rustenberg predated them both with the 1990 Platter Guide stating that it had been bottling “since about 1900”. The slopes of the Simonsberg boasted Muratie “since the 1920’s” while Delheim was started in 1954.
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