As wine legends go, the pioneering farmers who carved out agricultural land in the Klein Karoo must have been among the bravest and most intrepid. A somewhat unforgiving landscape defined by desert and soaring mountain peaks, dinosaur fossils slumbering some substrata down below, with the sun always hot and relentless.
Though in this Mad Max like territory there are oases of green, where crystalline rivers flow, supporting life through the centuries; and ultimately sprouted the crops and homesteads of the early mavericks who first broke this rocky ground.
The history of cultivation dates back to the late 1800s, and some of those original farms not only still stand but are flourishing under generational custodianship, producing still dry wines as well as a range of fortifieds from port-style wines to muscadels.
The vanguard, Carel Nel of Boplaas
Carel Nel is currently working his 42’nd vintage. That’s just how the Nel family operates; they’re all in it for the long haul. Their legacy dates back to 1880, when Nel’s great-great grandfather, Daniel Nel, exported his first consignment of Boplaas Brandy to England. Distilled through the decades this commitment to fine spirits was picked up by Carel: he was the first South African winemaker to craft a certified estate brandy. This was neatly followed by producing high quality port-style wines; a passion that led him to conceive the Cape Port Producers Association, with the aim of maintaining a strict quality level for the category.
The first Boplaas Estate wines were released in 1982 and the SA Champion Port was made in 1986 – straight out of the gate being awarded the title at the National Young Wine Show, one that they have consistently won through the years.
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