One of my favourite childhood memories is the long summer days when it felt like time stood still – waking up late, having a quick breakfast (cooked, obviously), then pool time. The memory that comes back most often is that almost everything was done barefoot – shoes were a drag, and shoe shopping was total torture! To my mind, being barefoot allows one to stay connected to nature. I think that connection to nature is something inherent to South Africans. Indeed, in the Cape, surrounded by the incredible natural beauty connecting and respecting nature comes, well, naturally.
During the month, Nic was in London hosting a masterclass at 67 Pall Mall. One of the exciting messages he was discussing was his extensive use of natural fermentations, a practice central to his winemaking philosophy. This involves using wild yeasts found in our vineyards, which he relies on to ferment the wines. Like many things where we rely on nature – it comes with less certainty – a.k.a more risk and, indeed, a few more sleepless nights. In an article by The Drinks Business, Nic has been labelled the Yeast Whisperer for his philosophy. Our progression in making wines that speak to their place and are in harmony with nature has accelerated in the past few years; I am delighted this sits at the core of our activities.
Christo and the vineyard team have been busy finishing their winter schedule and quickly morphing into early spring activities. We added to the list of pruning tasks by planting a new pecan orchard. In an area where we previously had vines, we determined the soil was conveying too much vigour to the vineyards, and was actually better suited to pecans. Through rigorous soil analysis, we have carved out the best parts for the vineyards, where we now have Chenin Blanc and a small section of Semillon planted. Our Fynbos plantings have also been a winter focus, with new plantings occurring in some areas adjacent to our Cabernet Sauvignon blocks. Again, subsoil moisture here led to unwanted vine vigour, and these margins are now natural vegetation. The double benefit will be optimised vigour in the blocks, and the wild margins of Fynbos serve as habitats for nature to add balance to our farming. Our guinea fowl population is growing nicely and doing their part by feasting on some vineyard pests. One of our other new ideas is to plant some truffle oaks on the southeast side of Rondekop. This area is the coolest section of the farm as the surrounding mountains and Rondekop itself extensively shade it. We are still in the research stage of this idea; however, the thought of having a little truffle-infused olive oil is exciting!
Earlier this month, Nic and Jurgen were pouring at the Tim Atkin “best of the best” tasting in Cape Town. Our Oldenburg Vineyards Rondekop Rhodium 2021 (unreleased) was in attendance. Overall, our performance in Tim Atkin’s ratings was our best ever, with most of our wines receiving 94 points! The tasting in Cape Town was an excellent chance for our entire team to attend and taste the exceptional wines that South Africa is now producing.
The month was busy for the team. We visited the UK, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland to spread news of our exciting journey and to show our wines. They say it is easy to make wine; the real challenge is to create a market for it. On the contrary, making great wines is no easy task; every detail matters, and intense patience is necessary. Nonetheless, we enjoy telling our story and are proud to show the gems we have produced, even if that means wearing out our shoe leather (old school phrase) in the process! So if you do make out to the farm, look around for Nic rolling his barrels in the yard or even having a quiet word to them as he practices his yeast whispering. It has also been said that he may actually be a ‘clone ranger’, but that’s a story for another day!
