“This is an old trick; if there is life in the soil it should smell like spice—can you smell the coriander, nutmeg?” He asks proffering the crumbling earth, shot through with clover, lupin and mustard flowers. “When there is no cover crop it just smells neutral, like water. An absence of life.”
We’re on the South Eastern slope of Sinai Hill, overlooking False Bay; the ocean is cerulean stripe in the distance, a chilled sea breeze funnelling off it whips around us. Next to the chenin is a cinsault vineyard planted in 1988, the grapes go to the Heldervallei single-varietal cinsault, while the cinsault for the Nomadis blend hails from another vineyard, planted in 1975, in the sandiest part of the area.
Bernhard is a 7th generation grower and producer of the Lower Helderberg. In a tribute to his deep roots here, in both actual vines as well as family heritage, he started his own-label project Scions of Sinai Wines in 2016. The range is made up from five single-vineyard bushvine sites, which were once farmed and owned by his immediate family. He now purchases the grapes, though he takes care of the viticulture.
The Scions of Sinai Wines and the stories behind them all follow the same narrative, respect and preservation of the past, for future generations. The name reflects this commitment to both land and family: a ‘scion’ being both the upper part of the vine or a young shoot as well as a generational descendant.
Sinai Hill is about 12 clicks from Stellenbosch mainland, and from this unique perch you can see the kingdom laid out in 360-degrees, ringed around us are the peaks of the Simonsberg, Jonkershoek, Hottentots Holland, and off into the distance the Schepenberg. And while much of Stellenbosch gentrified, adding tasting rooms and restaurants to wine farm offerings, the Lower Helderberg has remained rooted in farming. “We often forget that wine is a product of agriculture,” says Bernhard. “A natural product made from grapes grown in a certain soil and environment which we can’t take for granted.
“I grew up in these vineyards with my grandfather.
“My grandfather [Koos Bredell] was a huge mentor for me and my family, not just in agriculture and vineyard knowledge but as a person with exceptional moral standards and kindness,” he shares. “He was always in the vineyards he planted, even after retirement. My grandfather believed that the best fertiliser for the vines was his footprints.”
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