Cape Town - In front of the moisture-smeared plate-glass window is a steel sculpture that artist Jaco Sieberhagen calls Bits and pieces man. It’s a back-lit silhouette of a fellow with jigsaw-puzzle pieces in his hands and similarly shaped holes in his torso… one distressingly close to his heart.
Looking at the photograph even now, I think of myself just a few weeks before I took it and how I fell in love for what I knew would be the last time in my life. How I came to the Hemel en Aarde valley as a bits-and-pieces man and found one huge unfitted part of my soul.
I cannot be objective about the first 7km of the R320 as it leaves the outskirts of Hermanus and winds north uphill to Caledon. To me it is simply one of the most stunning pieces of South Africa – gorgeous scenery, superb wines, lovely eating spots – replete with unbelievably happy memories.
Top that off with wonderful people and, no, you’ve not only got heaven and earth… you’ve got paradise at your fingertips.
The Sieberhagen piece is one of several in the tasting room/restaurant of Creation, not the best-known wine estate on the “glamorous” part of the Walker Bay wine tourism route but fast becoming its worst-kept secret.
The room is full and fires are lit throughout the place, causing the picture windows overlooking the vineyards to fog up while steady rains – after all, it’s been the wettest Western Cape winter in decades – persistently wash down the outside of the glass. The dam – a placid pool reflecting the not-too-distant BabylonsToren Mountains on wind-still days – is shrouded in mist.
It’s a perfect day for wine (isn’t every day a perfect day for wine?), good food and exuberant conversation. Co-owner Carolyn Master places a long wooden two-person platter bearing a dozen canapé-sized offerings (six for each of us) from the newly opened kitchen on the table in front of us before sitting down with a bottle of the Creation sauvignon blanc.
The sauvignon blanc is paired with a pineapple and basil gazpacho with scallops. This is followed by a viognier accompanied by a sweetcorn, ginger and apricot spring roll. The third pairing is a chardonnay with avocado, prawns and citrus topped with a vanilla mayonnaise.
“This has been a fantastic year for our wines,” she enthuses. “We had a slightly cooler summer with very few rains during the December-March growth period for our whites, while heavy rains during the 2012 winter really benefited our reds, especially the merlot.”
The merlot we sample with a cauliflower and gorgonzola soup with sourdough herbed croutes. We follow that with rare roast loin of springbok with cranberries and sautéed valley mushrooms washed down with a reserve pinot noir. The pairing experience costs R125 per person whereafter you can opt for one of the dishes as a main course.
Carolyn’s earliest memories of wine are from Hartenberg estate outside Stellenbosch. “I did my first wine-tasting when I was five years old. Guests arrived and my grandmother, who did the cellar tours and tastings, was nowhere to be found.”
Her father went on to Blaauw-klippen and Glen Carlou but her family’s wine pedigree extends into the Hemel en Aarde; her uncle Peter Finlayson owns Bouchard Finlayson lower down the slopes.
Carolyn decided to get out of the wine industry and studied brand design. “I was living and working in London when my mom called me, raving about this brilliant, cute winemaker who was working with my dad at Glen Carlou.
“I told her there was no way I was getting involved with a winemaker but, four years later, I met him in Switzerland where he was furthering his studies.”
The winemaker was Jean-Claude (“JC”) Master, her husband and partner at Creation.
“We came out to visit Uncle Peter in 2002 and were having a fishbraai at his home in Voelklip. JC said he could easily live and make wine in a place like this: all he needed was a cool climate and decent soils.
“My uncle said he had a fantastic place to show him and the two of them jumped into the Land Rover and drove off. They came back an hour-and-a-half later and JC told me he’d just bought a farm.”
Cool climate and good soils are what make Hemel en Aarde wines so special. There are a total of 15 estates in the valley, starting with Hermanuspietersfontein at the bottom (Hermanus Pieters is credited as being the town’s founding father) to Domaine Des Dieux at the top.
In between you’ll find well-known estates such as Hamilton Russell, Bouchard Finlayson, Ataraxia, Newton Johnson, Spookfontein, Mount Babylon, Southern Right, Whalehaven, Sumaridge and La Vierge.
Walker Bay is the most southerly of South Africa’s wine routes.
Creation is not the only worthwhile dining experience in the valley. Further down the slope – driving from Caledon through blooming canola fields on a fine late-winter day before descending into the valley is a lot more pleasant than toiling in the opposite direction on a mountain bike – are Moggs Country Cookhouse and La Vierge.
Both offer spectacular views. My favourite is La Vierge simply because, as outlined at the beginning of this story, that’s where my love affair with the Hemel en Aarde began.
It was during a more recent visit to the restaurant that I met the delightful Geoff and Charlise Elske, owner-operators of the small Mountain View Manor guest house in Sandbaai, which is reached by going right down the R320 towards the sea and crossing over the main road from Cape Town to Hermanus.
This new facility comprises four suites – one suitable for family use – and prices are exceptionally reasonable.
Charlise is an executive chef by trade so breakfasts, light meals and dinners (by request) at her bistro are an added attraction.
If I had to be curmudgeonly about any aspect of Hemel en Aarde, it would be the fact that accommodation in the valley itself is extremely limited but, what the hell, it’s a farming area anyway.
If you’re happy with the self-catering option, however, you can stay in the valley at one of the High Season luxury farm cottages. There are seven four-star-graded cottages, which sleep from two to six guests, set a couple of hundred metres back from the road.
Also, make an effort to turn off to the left, halfway up the valley, on to the dirt road to De Bos and Karwyderskraal. The first part of the road is rather potholed (easy-peasy if you come from Gauteng or Mpumalanga) and challenging after heavy rains but it’s worth the effort because the route is particularly scenic.
Oh, and another madly romantic thing about the Hemel en Aarde valley? Cellphone reception is very, very limited. - Saturday Star
If You Go...
Creation: 028 212 1107, www.creationwines.com
Jaco Sieberhagen art: www.jacosieberhagen.com
Hamilton Russell Vineyards: 028 312 3595, www.hamiltonrussellvineyards.co.za
Bouchard Finlayson: 028 312 3515, www.bouchardfinlayson.co.za
La Vierge: 028 313 0130, www.lavierge.co.za
Moggs Country Cookhouse: 076 314 0671,www.moggscookhouse.com
Mountain View Manor: 083 386 6948, www.mountainviewmanor .co.za