Cape Town - A boutique wine farm with a nursery school, two restaurants, a hairdressing salon and a mountain biking track suggests something out of the ordinary. They all mesh beautifully at Durbanville’s Nitida, where the emphasis is on family and conservation, allied to making wine “that we love to drink”.
There’s a rural village feel as late diners leave the bistro and peals of laughter drift across the lawn from a bunch of active children. Wander on, around the back of the cellar, and a team of workers is transforming the bar-style tasting room to a more trendy lounge area, which will embrace sofas and armchairs. The back wall consists of compacted earth – Hutton clay – illustrating the soil in which the vines flourish on the hill beyond.
About two decades ago Bernhard and Peta Veller bought this small neglected sheep farm and set about making it home and livelihood. They planted 16ha with cab and cab franc, petit verdot, sauvignon blanc, riesling and semillon. From a small but rewarding start with an acclaimed maiden sauvignon, the cellar now produces 18 000 cases annually, plus quality labels for clients like Woolworths.
Chemical engineer Bernhard morphed into viticulturist and cellarmaster and Peta took on marketing, for which she was well qualified, while bringing up a family in an enviable environment. It did not take long for their wines to establish a reputation for consistent quality at palatable prices, while awards followed with pleasing regularity.
Bernhard was the first Durbanville producer to be invited to join the Cape Winemakers Guild, a fact shared as winemaker Brendan Butler – talented, knowledgeable and enthusiastic – poured a wooded sauvignon blanc destined for this year’s auction. Matured in old and new oak, this is an exciting and enjoyable wine, showing impressive complexity and promising a long, elegant future: one for Guild investors to watch.
Nitida makes around a dozen wines in their well-balanced range. Recently I sampled three vintages of the five-star Coronata Integration, a sauvignon/semillon classic that’s outstanding proof that our classy white blends should be cellared. The ’08, no longer available, is probably at its peak now, but the 2011 and 2012 are available and 2013 will join them shortly.
The highly rated sauvignon blancs are Durbanville at its distinctive best, the riesling is a well-balanced charmer and the merlot-dominated Bordeaux-style Calligraphy makes the perfect partner to Warren Swaffield’s winter fare on Cassia’s menu. This is a very appealing venue, light, airy, with a deck overlooking a lake. Families with small children head up the hill to the easy-going bistro, Tables at Nitida. And there’s a bubbly to start with and a Noble Late Harvest to end with should you be planning a celebration.
The vexed subject of creeping suburbia came up as we did a circuit of the farm. Developers are champing at the bit to descend on farms from Altydgedacht to Durbanville Hills to build housing estates. Ever practical, Bernhard Veller waves an arm around his land, and across the highway: “We need to realise some development is inevitable, consider giving 30 percent for developers, then we can preserve this valley for wine… To see it all go to housing would be a travesty.”
Think of that as you visit Nitida.
Try their new attraction – four crunchy pairings of preservative-free dried fruit and nuts with Nitida wines for R50.
* See www.nitida.co. za
Wine calendar
* Ten top Cape potstill brandies, world-class in quality, have been paired with custom-made tapas by the Mount Nelson’s chef Rudi Liebenberg, and can be enjoyed throughout winter at the hotel’s Planet bar and restaurant. Quite substantial, the fare includes duck bitterballen paired with a 15-year-old spirit while citrus petits fours are matched to an alambic brandy. To book, e-mail [email protected]
* The popular Breedekloof Soetes & Soup fest takes place on Friday and Saturday, July 18-19. This celebration sees hearty country soups served, free of charge, alongside the affordable reds and fortified wines of the Rawsonville, Slanghoek, Goudini and Breede River cellars. Wines include hanepoot, muscadel, jerepigo and port. The R70 festival pass can be bought at the first farm visited . Discounts will be offered on many of the wines. The programme includes activities from pairings to hiking. See www.breedekloof.com for the full programme. Call 023 349 1791.
* The Pepper Club hotel is hosting a free series of Christmas in July wine tastings this month. They are held in the Paparazzi bar from 5.30pm- 7.30pm every Thursday, accompanied by festive Christmas-inspired snacks. The estates taking part include Steenberg, Groot Constantia, Fairview and Saltare. Bookings are not required.
Weekend Argus