“My name is Pierre, and I’m a purist, I make terroir-driven wines,” Pierre Wahl of Survivor Wines warmly greeted a congregation of oenophiles on a cloudless day in the Karoo.
The Survivor Cellar Master Series The Pendulum 2019 is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot from Tradouw in the Klein Karoo. The Pendulum is a tribute to the swinging tail of Survivor, the cow who leaped from the back of a truck that was destined for an auction and meandered to her survival into a vineyard. The 2022 vintage, Survivor Cellarmaster Series Cabernet Franc Merlot 2022 is a blend of 75% Cabernet Franc and 25% Merlot.
Gazing at the motherrock, the Langeberg Mountain, from whence the soils came, Pierre spoke of a mushroom, mint and forest floor aroma from the Cabernet Franc and a black fruit aroma from the Merlot.
Previously dubbed ‘the pope of Pinotage’ by his faithful, Pierre has proved his prowess with a breadth of terroirs and cultivars.
The romance of the grey and red mountains in the distance frames Cabernet Franc and grants the congregants perspective.
“On my bucket list, I wanted to create a blend, a reunion to bring the family together,” Pierre promises Survivor Pinotage, Pinot Noir, and Cinsault.
The fragrance of the Cabernet Franc blend reveals a promise that many would want to keep.
Cabernet Franc has often suffered the fate of its own success. In a blend, it adds structure, tannin and aromas such as mint and bell pepper. Cabernet Franc provides parentage to Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère. Depending on where it is grown and made, it can exhibit tobacco, pencil and red fruit such as cherries and plums. Around the 1600’s, Cabernet Franc was crossed with Sauvignon Blanc in Bordeaux, France, which resulted in Cabernet Sauvignon.
At its worst it can be pungent, overly herbaceous, overly full bodied, overly tannic and resembles the feeling you have when you are standing next to someone who has smoked a bad cigar. Cabernet Franc’s herbaceous character is derived from a group of aroma compounds known as methoxpyrazines or pyrazines which is also found in Sauvignon Blanc.
Aroma and atmosphere
At the top of the amphitheatre at Almenkerk in Elgin, the tasting room weaves into the cellar. In the cellar, winemaker Cameron Corney weaves behind a large table towards steel tanks. In each steel tank, Sauvignon Blanc is receiving a different opportunity to become. Alongside Joris van Almenkerk, Natalie Opstaele, and their dogs, Cameron and the team work like a band producing a new hit song. They weave together various iterations of Sauvignon Blanc from the tanks to reach the style that will be most cadent. It is these herbaceous characteristics, alongside a tropical character that play to a beat that they desire.
Joris van Almenkerk with winemaker Cameron Corney
51km from apple country in an amphitheatre in Stellenbosch, on a misty winter morning, Alex Starey meandered to the top of the hill. As the vineyard team pruned the vines, he held a bulbous protea between the palm of his hands. The 4x4 parked alongside a water source. We surveyed the amphitheatre with the same discerning eye that he used to study each vine and protea. All of the grapes for Keermont come from the property, and Alex formed part of the team that had planted the vineyard, after being beckoned to assist the Wraith family from the neighbouring De Trafford vineyard, where he worked in 2004. In 2005, Alex took over the vineyards and became responsible for the wine at Keermont.
The initial acclaim for Keermont Merlot is a precursor to the allure of Keermont Cabernet Franc. Towering above upper Blaauwklippen, Keermont reveals itself as a previous bottling source. Rows of vines between 250m-400m above sea level planted neatly amongst indigenous vegetation stand regally in conversation with one another.
With the mint character that it has given to its Merlot offspring, Cabernet Franc keeps its cool. This wine is sagacious in its ability to draw the character, body, and beauty of its terroir into a glass as you taste it. It exhibits power with grace, and is generous in its complexity. Alarmingly calm and understated, like its winemaker, this wine would be just as relaxed on a cool evening, overlooking rows of green vineyards with a protea in one hand and a spiced leg of lamb in the other.
Seth Shezi, Alex Starey (Keermont) & Tsepang Molisana
19km from Keermont, along Polkadraai Road, Raats Family Wines has been willing to stick a flag into the Cabernet Franc domain, as is evidenced by Vlag Cabernet Franc. The Family Cabernet Franc 2020 has a story of its own about family, friendship and a sense of place.
The world renowned MR De Compostella was dreamed on a stoep under the stars by friends Bruwer Raats and Mzokhona Mvemve. The 2021 vintage is a blend of 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot, 17% Malbec and 2% Petit Verdot. The Jasper red blend, a tribute to Bruwer and Jasper’s father, Jasper Raats is a blend of 53% Cabernet Franc, 36% Malbec, 5% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Petit Verdot.
The Polkadraai Hills have warm and strong hands to hold all of the talent that call them home. Bruwer, known as The Chenin King on Twitter has a special star-specked glimmer in his eye when he considers how quality, consistency and provenance have gifted Cabernet Franc a home in these Stellenbosch hills.
For 12 years, he has been making Dolomite Cabernet Franc and says: “it feels like we released it yesterday. We are raising a flag in Polkadraai Hills, we are telling the world ‘this is what we’ve got and this is what we are making.”
Beyond The Vlag and Dolomite, his intense fervour extends to Eden high density Cabernet Franc. From 100% decomposed dolomite granite, in a high density, single vineyard environment the wine is a revelation of cherries, spice, cedar and and surprise.
92km from Raats, Restless River is relentless in its pursuit of purity and unparalleled excellence.
“If it’s not what I’m looking for, I throw it out,” explains an otherwise relaxed Craig Wessels.
Craig, who surfs, has made waves internationally with Ava Marie Chardonnay and Le Luc Pinot Noir, named in honour of the children (Ava Marie and Luke) that he and his wife, Anne Wessels have dreamed into the world.
For two decades, they have made wine in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. While the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir have been at home amongst their neighbours in Hermanus, their roguish Cabernet Sauvignon takes the road less travelled by. Named after the vineyards from whence it comes, Main Road & Dignity Cabernet Sauvignon is an utterly beguiling cool climate Cabernet Sauvignon. In many ways, this wine beckons with its herbaceous, cassis, and dark fruit characters. Its tannins hold you in place while it holds you in its grippy gaze.
In 2004, when they first formed their dream Restless River was a different place. The yeasts that have formed in the winery are as unique to the place as much of the frenetic dreams that have formed around them.
However, the Cabernet Sauvignon speaks as much to purity of fruit and a sense of place as its proprietors desire to.
While the near medium body of Main Road and Dignity speaks reverently of the power and potential of Cabernet Sauvignon, an offspring of Cabernet Franc, it’s a wine that also reflects the success and sagacity of Stellenbosch and its faithful.
Not so fast
In 2023, the Cape Winemakers Guild welcomed three new members: Reenen Borman from Boschkloof Wines, Christo le Riche from Le Riche Wines and Hannes Storm from Storm Wines. Etienne Le Riche was amongst the founders of the Cape Winemakers Guild in 1982 and achieved great acclaim for his Cabernet Sauvignon throughout his career.
“We’ve been doing Chardonnay since 2006,” Christo says earnestly about a wine that has become as rare as a family treasure. From two vineyards overlooking False Bay, near Jordan Wine Estate in Stellenbosch. Le Riche Wines became renowned for their Cabernet Sauvignon, previously sourced sagaciously by its founder, Etienne Le Riche.
Christo is pensive when he considers his fathers mentorship, confiding the ways in which his father, himself and his sister Yvonne have worked alongside their father since 2010. Cape Wine Master, Yvonne Le Riche, alongside Ettienne and Christo, huddle in discussions while they taste and blend the wines from 10-15 vineyards from Jonkershoek and Simonsberg and the Helderberg Mountains foothills.
Christo is resolute in his desire to show reverence to provenance and heritage, with Cinsault forming part of their narrative. However, Cabernet remains king with various iterations of the cultivar weaved throughout their portfolio.
“Cabernet is inherently an hourglass wine,” Christo says as he considers the blending power and potential of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot which add intrigue and round out the mid-palate.
In pursuit of balance, Christo and the team are attune to the soil types and the clone – Clone 163 – which provides their Cabernet Sauvignon with texture, flavour and colour - as well as his desire to tame the ‘tannic beast’.
“My philosophy is regenerative,” Christo says when considering the farmers he works with. The Bosstok, Simonsberg and Steynsrust Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 are each a revelation and tell Le Riche’s secrets in their own ways.
“I’m excited about the 2021 vintage, that’s the year my son was born,” Ettiene says pensively.
The Le Riche Wines
Ettiene’s Stellenbosch neighbour, Hartenberg, situated 26km away have harnessed their own regenerative farming philosophies.
“We have a responsibility to conserve and preserve,” Carl Schultz, Hartenberg’s cellarmaster and a fellow Cape Winemakers Guild member, explains, citing multiple species of birdlife and wildlife, which call Hartenberg home, including 40 individual duikers, alongside cheetah and other animals.
Hartenberg’s viticulturist, Wilhelm, was part of the team’s decision to introduce regenerative agricultural practices to the estate. Many of these philosophies were in effect from the Mackenzie family’s acquisition in 1986 and fed into other ways of living and working at the farm.
Beyond the introduction of cattle in 2017, which promote soil health and the protection of wetland reveals the significance of the agricultural philosophies and practices.
“The 190ha estate has a central, indigenous wetland with about 85ha of vineyards,” Carl says. Carl explains that the safeguarding and restoration of 65ha of wetland, the use of biological pest control in lieu of pesticides and composting form part of their regenerative practices.
The improvement of agricultural practices at the property in Stellenbosch’s Bottelary Hills has extended to the upliftment of people and the community. The first estate shiraz in South Africa was bottled at Hartenberg in 1968.
Although the Hartenberg Estate Syrah, the Gravel Hill is the oldest Syrah in South Africa, the property continues to keep a nuanced view of the future.
During her tenure as a Cape Winemakers Guild Protégée, Mahalia Kotjane interned at Ernie Els, Hartenberg and Steenberg. In 2017, Mahalia’s CWG PTG Shiraz Blend 2016 was amongst the wines that were auctioned during the 2017 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction in support of the Protege Programme.
The proprietor of Three Quarters Wines, Mahalia, is a Vosloorus native with deep and meaningful roots. The 2022 Syrah is emblematic of her own family, its rich textural story and the synchronicity of time and place. This Stellenbosch Syrah reveals top notes of white paper, with a fistful of red fruit.
The release of Three Quarters Syrah is emblematic of study and mastery. Like sands through the hourglass, the grapes we receive and the wines they give us reveal the magic of the days of our lives.
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