And with almost a blink of an eye, we roll into the end of another year! On one of my daily Rondekop walks, I snapped the header photo of the rolling of the cover crops, and the song Rawhide from the Blues Brothers popped into my head. Apologies for those of you who know it – it will now possibly be rattling around your head for the next few hours. It’s a great movie – and a hilarious rendition of the song…. rollin’, rollin’, rollin’…
Rolling the cover crop is a simple action. However, it is also a viticultural choice; to protect the soil’s moisture level, rather than mowing it which would cause the soil to dry out more. The cover crops also add to soil health by adding carbon back into the ground, giving energy to the soil microorganisms. Adding organic matter to the soil provides a food source for bacteria, fungi, and other beneficial microorganisms. These microbes are crucial in nutrient cycling, breaking down organic matter, and enhancing soil fertility. Walking around Rondekop is one of life’s pleasures – having a few moments to be in nature is a total joy. And being able to learn the science that underpins many of the simple interventions is nothing short of fascinating. I fear I am becoming what one of our Margaret River hosts earlier this year called a “dirt nerd” – so be it!
With November comes the release of the Platter results. The Platter Guide in South Africa is the (wine) equivalent of the Michelin Guide – published yearly, covering approximately 900 wineries, and rating 8000 wines, spirits and fortifieds. About 650 make it through to the 4 1/2 star or 93 point rating, at which point all are blind-tasted to determine the 5 Star, 95 point winners – of which there were 226 this year. We had seven wines in the final tasting, and were awarded two 5-star winners – our Oldenburg Vineyards Rondekop Stone Axe Syrah 2021 and the Oldenburg Vineyards Chardonnay 2022. The two Five Stars combined with the other five 93/94-point wines make this our best result ever and speak volumes about our wine quality trajectory.
After our recent pre-bottling tastings, I am comfortable predicting strong momentum on this front in 2024. Congrats to Nic and the team on these outstanding results! We were privileged to host the Stellenbosch Cabernet Collective’s tasting mid-month, where we had forty-five Masters of Wines from around the globe. Given there are only about four hundred and fifty MWs as they are known, this was indeed a rare honour. My ‘big picture’ take on this is further evidence that the wine world’s interest in South African wines continues to proliferate. I discussed with several MWs how these years would mark a solid inflexion point in the Cape’s journey onto the top table of global wines. They agreed the story unfolding in the Cape was a remarkable one.
Demetri Walters MW, a friend of Oldenburg’s, said: “Having spent the last two days at Oldenburg, I come away feeling buoyed and optimistic. This is not through realising big changes at the property; rather, a coming-to-fruition of long-laid plans. Having walked amongst the vines with him, I can see that Christo is nurturing his newly planted plots and continues to create a vineyard organism -working with, rather than against, nature. Nic is experimenting with some new ideas, which will come clear soon and having tasted the ’22s with him, I’m confident many of the labels are their best selves this year. Everything is well in this unique corner of the Banghoek Valley, and Oldenburg is becoming more of itself.”. In addressing the MW group, I noted that I was most proud of the culture of learning we have now firmly established at Oldenburg. Getting this right involves focusing on education and training across all aspects of our business, and we are seeing some great successes from this focus.
Greg Lorimer is now Head Sommelier in The Tasting Room, working closely with Stefan Reinmuth, our Private Client Sommelier. Stefan and Greg have successfully attracted some new talented sommeliers, joining ‘P’, who continues to receive plaudits from many of our guests. We have rebuilt a great team here, with passion and knowledge for everything about wine. Please remember to make a reservation, as we are fully booked most days.
As this will be our final Oldenburg Vineyards’ Views for 2023, I thank all our customers for your trust. It has been a pivotal year for our business, reflected in the quality of our wines and our overall growth – we are indeed on a ‘roll’. Our promise of creating exceptional wines from our extraordinary place is accelerating.
To the team that makes this all happen – Respect! Your individual and collective passion and energy for our business will drive us further and yield many successes in 2024 and beyond – Thank you!
(Amazingly, I did not even mention the rugby once!)
Happy Holidays, and Roll on 2024!
