It requires imagination to picture the outcome of this landscape artwork. For now, from afar, an outline of a winged creature can clearly be seen against the steep slope of the mountain.
In a few weeks that will be obscured by vines; and then later, in winter, the vineyard will lose its leaves, and red Chasmanthe floribunda bulbs will flower en masse among the endemic fynbos in contrast to the vineyards around them.
Elevage, the name of the winged creature, will be bold against the mountain.
The project, at Bartinney, a wine farm on the Helshoogte Pass near Stellenbosch, brings together land art on a steeply sloping vineyard, rehabilitation of a formerly-terraced vineyard using endemic fynbos and the environmentally conscious use of land.
It’s an ambitious and fantastical project: a vineyard block over two hectares is being transformed into a mythical winged figure, Bartinney’s emblem Elevage. Elevage is a French winemaking term for the art of creating wine by liberating grapes to reveal their most noble characteristics. This specific block reaches 550m above sea level.
The project is a collaborative effort of landscape artist Strijdom van der Merwe, owner Rose Jordaan and landscaper Danie Steenkamp, seen above, and of course nature and its vagaries. I visit on the afternoon the epic November storm is brewing, and again a few weeks later: the hard work of the previous months is intact, despite the deluge.
“We started in February, identifying plants, harvesting seeds of the local Renosterveld to be propagated,” says Steenkamp.
“We made exclusive use of species that are endemic to the area and that will improve the biodiversity of the area.”
Around 54 000 plant plugs and 18 000 bulbs were planted, using 200m3 of mulch, 10m3 of compost and 3 000m3 of bidim geotextile. Plant species include Helichrysum, Hermannia, Lampranthus, Otholobium, Pelargonium, Plecostachys, Selago and Ursinia and various grasses.
The criteria were that they be low-growing, hardy and endemic. The installation took a 16-man team over a month to complete and will eventually cover an area of two hectares, with the silhouette covering over 3 000m2.
Up close, in the walk-in vineyard – which is too steep for tractors or even wheelbarrows – it’s difficult to see the bigger picture.
Small fynbos plants and grasses grow along the drip line of the vineyard’s irrigation, and the vines are still young. It’s only from the road below you can still see the winged creature’s outline, which has been heavily mulched.
“We didn’t want to terrace the slope, as the roots get too warm on one side,” says Steenkamp.
Steenkamp’s enthusiasm for the project is inspiring: “Strijdom knew how to do art but not how to use plants. Rose is into biodiversity and wine, and wanted to combine fynbos land art and wine in the newly planted chardonnay vineyard,” he says. Steenkamp, from landscape company DDS, is the man who knows plants.
And foreman Jannie Simonse was not phased: “When I told him what needed to be done, he said ‘okay, where do we start?’”
Survey pegs were laid out to mark the silhouette, and the image was manipulated to make sense from the angle it is viewed.
“The vineyard was planted across. Inside the silhouette we placed bidim underneath the drippers. We planted low growing Helichrysum, mulched the bidim, and the fynbos outside. A lot of fynbos grows in the area; we’ve used the 17 endemic species here.”
Now they wait.
“It will be best in July and August, even September, when the vines die down,” says Steenkamp.
It’s an artwork that changes with the seasons: for part of the year the image will be invisible under the green vines, and will then emerge in winter, only to disappear again when the vines grow in summer.
Undaunted by what is an adventurous project with an uncertain outcome, Steenkamp says: “I think all of us know the project is open-ended. You can’t control the outcome. It’s new to all of us.
“All that remains to be seen is how the fynbos influences the taste of the wine.”
The idea for the project began when owner Jordaan decided to replant an old vineyard block and return the soil to its natural slope. Because of the severe steepness, effective water and soil management was critical.
“We decided to establish a walk-in vineyard that would not utilise any machines for maintenance, and to use fynbos as a cover crop instead of conventional methods of soil maintenance,” says Jordaan.
The two rehabilitated fynbos kloofs (previously blue gum forests) on either side of the block gave it a natural hourglass shape, and the Chardonnay block was born.
Landscape artist Van der Merwe says this is probably the first project of its kind in the country.
“I haven’t come across anything similar internationally either. I’ve been involved with many exciting projects in the past, but the use of indigenous plants and seasonal changes to achieve the impact of this installation definitely makes it unique.
“It will also be very interesting to see the progression of the project as it continues to develop with the cycles of nature.”
* For more information, visit www.ddsprojects.co.za
Cape Argus