Tuesday, 12 February, 2019
Daily Maverick, Christi Nortier
Achim von Arnim built a classic South African vineyard and brand from scratch, and seemingly not much has changed at Haute Cabrière in the six years since his son took over the reins from him. However, ‘it’s an evolution, not a revolution’.
When the Von Arnim family first started visiting Franschhoek, it was for the scones and whipped cream at the Swiss Farm Excelsior Hotel on a Sunday. According to the matriarch of the family, this was the town’s only claim to fame back then.
Years later the patriarch would describe the town as Sleeping Beauty and exclaim that “…someone had to come and kiss her!”. Along with other wine estates in the region, the Von Arnim family contributed to the rise of the Franschhoek wine region at Boschendal and then at Haute Cabrière. Now, 30 years after Achim von Arnim made one of South Africa’s first Méthode Cap Classique (MCC) wines, his eldest son Takuan is at the helm of the ship. He too is waltzing with Sleeping Beauty, tracing the same steps his father did.
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