A maiden wine at Lands End
Wednesday, 21 February, 2001
Graham Howe
The southernmost harvest in Africa
The southernmost harvest in South Africa is underway - at what are indisputably the most southerly vineyards in Africa. If you guessed Cape Point Vineyards or Walker Bay, youre way out west. Try again. On a lonely dirt road to Cape Agulhas, the dramatic headland where the Atlantic and Indian oceans really do meet, the maiden crop of reds is ripe for the picking at Elim Vineyards in the Overberg. Any further south and youre in on the rocks and in the drink.
Seven gravel roads lead to Elim. You wouldnt expect to find the newest wine ward in the Cape on the outskirts of a Moravian mission station with a sobering history as a haven for runaway slaves. Fifteen kilometres from the sea as the crow flies, Elim is better known for its brass bands at funerals, its twelve fountains, seventy palm trees, and rows of whitewashed cottages with thatched roofs. The quaint country village with the biggest water wheel in the country is a long way from any wine route - and anywhere else.
The maiden Lands End wines are the private initiative of a few well-known viticulturalists and winemakers. Innovators like Hein Koegelenberg, the experienced cellar-master at La Motte in Franschhoek, who is well aware that a vineyard in the midst of sheep farming country is bound to set tongues and tails wagging. I spoke to him after coming across his maiden Lands End Sauvignon Blanc 2000 on the wine-list at the Arniston Hotel, a classic wine with a sense of place as delightful as the Cape Agulhas lighthouse on the label. (A nice touch from designer Anthony Lane.)
After finding an export market for their maiden wine, Hein says hes now convinced that theyre on the right track. Elim Vineyards are going from strength to strength since planting 35ha of vines over the last five years - Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The proof is in the stunning Lands End Sauvignon Blanc - a signature Cape version of the variety, a wine with a rich floral nose, tropical flavours and weight on the palate made through a process of reductive vinification at La Motte. It explains why coastal vineyards cooled by sea-breezes and maritime vineyards are all the rage in the Cape, a region where inland wineries have felt the heat of four searing harvests in a row.
Of the 2001 harvest at Elim Vineyards, Hein reports, "The grapes this year are even better - more concentrated fruit than were used to in Stellenbosch or Francshhoek. Our first crop of Semillon is exceptional. Were also harvesting our first Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Im not sure if well get as good fruit on the reds. Its been a learning curve for all of us. Sauvignon Blanc flourishes in the longer ripening period and cool climate at Elim. One thing is for sure - you cant go further south!"
The investors behind the vineyards believe that the southerly terroir of the Overberg is capable of producing complex wines that are similar in style to the legendary white wines of New Zealand. Hein says they were deliberately looking for somewhere they could do something different. Inspired by Cloudy Bay, they sat down with viticulturalist Johan Wiese and asked, "Where can we produce the same kind of fruit as the winemakers in New Zealand?" After conducting soil tests and looking for lower temperature areas, they planted the first vineyards at Elim.
If youre thinking of joining the grape-rush to the coast, you would be advised to move fast. Kleine Zalze of Stellenbosch have developed new vineyards of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon Chardonnay and Merlot on the outskirts of Elim, and also planted Pinot Noir and Gamay near Cape Agulhas. In another venture, retired cricketer Adrian Kuiper has reportedly joined one of South Africas major wine corporations in another new vineyard development in the Bredasdorp hills. Watch this space.
Graham Howe is a well-known gourmet travel writer based in Cape Town. One of South Africa's most experienced lifestyle journalists, he has contributed hundreds of food, wine and travel features to South African and British publications over the last 25 years.
He is a wine and food contributor for wine.co.za, which is likely the longest continuous wine column in the world, having published over 500 articles on this extensive South African wine portal. Graham also writes a popular monthly print column for WineLand called Howe-zat.
When not exploring the Cape Winelands, this adventurous globetrotter reports on exotic destinations around the world as a travel correspondent for a wide variety of print media, online, and radio.
Over the last decade, he has visited over seventy countries on travel assignments from the Aran Islands and the Arctic to Borneo and Tristan da Cunha - and entertained readers with his adventures through the winelands of the world from the Mosel to the Yarra.