The oldest rootstock block was planted on Elsenburg in 1937 by prof CJ Theron. The rootstocks were obtained from Groot Constantia and Rondebosch, which directly linked to the rootstocks imported after Phylloxera was discovered in South Africa. 85 Years later this historical rootstock block was demolished to make way for better and upgraded vineyards on Elsenburg.
I was working as a viticultural lecturer at Elsenburg somewhere in 2012. Just above my office, I came upon a small rootstock block. It was only 24 rows with about 12 vines in each row. At the head and tail of these rows were planted long poles, and on the front pole was a small aluminium plate with the name of a rootstock engraved upon it.
This tickled my brain, and the sleuth in me started investigating this block. Elsenburg played a considerable role in establishing oenology and viticulture as the state oenologists were settled in Elsenburg. The first State Oenologist was Baron von Babo. His successor was SW van Niekerk followed by Prof Abraham I Perold, who established the Oenological Institute at Elsenburg. Prof Christiaan Jacobus Theron succeeded AI Perold.
Jumping back in time to 1886. It was in January 1886 that Phylloxera was first identified on the farm of Mr Kotze in the Mowbray area. It was a great shock for farmers at that stage, but luckily the oenologists knew how to solve the problem. Rootstocks and seeds were imported from America, and the seedlings and rootstocks were planted in quarantine stations in Rondebosch and Groot Constantia, which was a Government farm at that time.
About 50 years later, Prof Theron decided to fetch some of those rootstocks and plant a mother block on Elsenburg. His reason was twofold: to use it for future research and act as a mother block in case something like Phylloxera hit South Africa again. So, he planted the oldest rootstock block in South Africa on Elsenburg in 1937.
Sadly, most of the diaries written by Perold and Theron were thrown on the garbage heap when the new government took over Elsenburg. Those diaries and experiments are gone forever.
The second sad thing that happened was that Elsenburg demolished this historical rootstock block in their noble decision to upgrade their vineyards (Figures 2 & 3). This block with rare rootstocks is gone forever, and no one will ever do research on it, look at it, or use it for educational purposes.