Cape Town - Spring is slow to arrive in some pockets of the Cape. One of these is Elgin, where mist and cloud swirl around highland peaks and dales, proving its synonymity with Scotland goes beyond sharing a name.
Not only apples, pears and roses thrive in this climate, but so do vineyards, yielding some of Africa’s finest cool climate wines from vines slotted between fynbos in the Kogelberg Biosphere.
Oak Valley is one of a handful of historic farms outside Grabouw, where Sir Antonie Viljoen established an estate of nearly 1 800 hectares on a highland plateau. Great-grandson Anthony Rawbone-Viljoen extended apple, pear, cut-flower and free-range beef operations to include viticulture.
After growing quality grapes for several cellars, he joined neighbouring farms like Paul Cluver in making wine, debuting with a brilliant sauvignon blanc in 2003. Seven years on, Oak Valley produces half a dozen wines of exceptional elegance, with son Christopher – who has taken over marketing and is equally enthusiastic about the farm’s free-range beef and pork which star on the Pool Room restaurant menu.
A tasting of vintages began with the 2012 sauvignon blanc (R85). Aromas of peach blossom precede minerality and fruit in zesty harmony, free of astringent verdancy. The Mountain Reserve sauvignon blanc semillon has long been a personal favourite, a praiseworthy expression of highland quality, and the soon-to-be-released 2009 (R130) continues the tradition. This complex balance of flint, silky citrus and honey, gently oaked, will enhance complex salads and yield much future pleasure if cellared.
The 2012 chardonnay (R150) is hard to fault; another well balanced, subtly wooded meld of stone fruit and citrus. I would order it alongside the Pool Room’s grilled calamari and, at home, team it with exotic free-range (Elgin, of course) chicken dishes. I also enjoyed the stylishness of the Oak Valley pinot noir 2012 (R200), combining berry and characteristic earthiness in untypical ethereal mode; wine that should enhance the restaurant’s gnocchi with wild mushrooms, baby spinach and brandy cream.
The 2011 shiraz (R150) is likely to appeal to most syrah fans; it’s unshowy, but rich in fruit, with hints of spice and chocolate, nicely oaked. I first sampled winemaker-cum-viticulturist Pieter Visser’s Oak Valley Blend 2007 (R135) a few years ago. Comprised of just over half merlot, with cab franc and cab, it has softened into a delicious wine with an appealing feel. Both reds would make fine companions to the estate’s Angus beef, which comes as sirloin, rump or burger choices.
The free-range farm pork is lent nuttiness by acorns from the 4 000-strong oak forest. Today, the latter also generates income as a film set for short films and ads. Sherwood in Elgin comes to mind.
Oak Valley offers more than memorable wine and great fare, being renowned among mountain bikers for its stimulating trails.
Vineyard celebrates bottling of its maiden vintage
Another region where spring is slow in arriving is Newlands, home to the headquarters of SA Breweries, which makes good use of the mountain spring waters that tumble down to join the Liesbeeck river.
Until recently not an area associated with wine production, this has now changed, albeit in a small way. The Vineyard Hotel, unsurpassed as a venue for vinous events, can now exhibit evidence of its new status as wine producer.
In February, the maiden vintage of the sauvignon and semillon from the hotel’s vineyard, planted in 2008 on the banks of the Liesbeeck, was harvested and taken to Klein Constantia, where winemaker Matt Day pressed the grapes and made the white blend.
Last month, a group of stalwarts made an early start to their weekend, gathering in the hotel foyer at 7am, before heading to Klein Constantia’s cellar to witness a historic event. Most had been present at the harvest and returned for the bottling. Some of the blend had been pressed directly, the rest left on the skins for three days.
The difference is quite marked, and the pair will sport separate labels. In all, just over 60 bottles were filled and corked. Guests took enthusiastic, if occasionally unsteady, turns in dunking and twisting the bottle tops in hot wax to seal them.
The wine, destined to raise money for charity, is unique in more than one aspect. Wine was made on farms along the Liesbeeck river from the 17th century, not long after Jan van Riebeeck planted his vineyard at Boscheuvel, now Bishopscourt.
When Lady Anne Barnard built her country home, The Vineyard, in 1800, it was surrounded by more than 20 000 vines, harvests being crushed by Daniel van Reenen at Papenboom.
As Vineyard Hotel general manager Roy Davies remarked, wine production has returned to Newlands after a break of at least 150 years, in an area where wine-making predated that of Constantia.
Free burghers had been making, even exporting, limited quantities from their vineyards along the Amstel – now the Liesbeeck – since around 1765. - Weekend Argus