Cape Town - Tourism is a lucrative money-spinner for any country, and in South Africa, wine tourism is rapidly transcending other travel sectors. No longer are wine estates merely offering a dreary tasting room facility with spittoons, wine and a few crackers to cleanse the palate – they’re catering to a variety of tastes, interests and requirements.
This doesn’t come cheap or easy: not all estates are necessarily attractive, and not all estates have boodles of cash to spare to invest in visitor attractions.
Over lunch at Pierneef à La Motte in Franschhoek, the estate’s chief executive officer, Hein Koegelenberg, pleased with La Motte’s recent Great Wine Capitals (GWC) Best of Wine Tourism Award for sustainable wine tourism practices and a string of other accolades, said South African wine tourism had come very far.
“When you visit an estate in Bordeaux, you get to taste the wines, but you don’t get an amazing meal and accommodation on the estate.
“Italy is better (than France), but South Africa is so much better at it.”
At Pierneef à La Motte, the kitchen showcases heirloom vegetables and fruits from the organic gardens, which guests enjoy while sipping on certified organic wines. They’re also part of the Cape Leopard Trust project, a predator conservation group.
In 1970, the late Dr Anton Rupert, the cigarette industrialist and founder of the Rembrandt Group who famously started his business in his garage hand-rolling cigarettes, bought the property.
While Rupert owed his wealth initially to cigarettes, the gentle giant was also a renowned conservationist. The farm is now owned by Rupert’s daughter, Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg, a leading mezzo-soprano.
Last month, the GWC Best of Awards were held in the US, to celebrate innovation and excellence in wine tourism throughout the 10 greatest wine regions in the world.
The programme gives wineries and other “visitor-serving businesses” exposure for their commitment to presenting wine tourism options, while giving visitors a one-stop list of the best places in the world to experience.
The competition – which involves Bilbao (Spain), Bordeaux (France), the Cape Winelands, Christchurch (New Zealand), Firenze (Italy), Mainz-Rheinhessen (Germany), Mendoza (Argentina), Porto (Portugal), Napa Valley (California) and the newest member, Valparaiso (Chile) – is first and foremost a regional one for each territory.
Overall regional winners are then given a global award., which rewards businesses in each member region that have distinguished themselves in terms of facilities and quality visitor experiences.
Awards are given in the following categories: accommodation; wine tourism restaurants; sustainable wine tourism practices; architecture and landscape; art and culture; innovative wine tourism experiences; and wine tourism services.
This year, Vergelegen, outside Somerset West, won the international Best of Wine Tourism Award for the third time, excelling in nearly all the contest’s categories. The results were announced on November 7 at a Napa Valley, California function, attended by global wine tourism leaders.
The Helderberg winery won both the arts and culture and the restaurant categories, and came second in architecture and landscapes, innovative wine tourism experiences, sustainable wine tourism practices and wine tourism service categories. It didn’t enter the accommodation category as the estate doesn’t offer this facility to the public.
As an international GWC winner, Vergelegen is recognised among the world’s “best of the best”: Spain’s Bodegas Dinastía Vivanco in Rioja, a museum and winery complex, celebrated for its Enoturismo y Experiencias that offers a wide range of exhibitions, courses and other experiences; France’s Château de Rouillac which was built in the 17th century and once belonged to the Baron Haussmann who introduced major urban planning reforms to the new Paris under Napoleon III; New Zealand’s Brancott Estate Heritage Centre at Brancott Vineyard, the site of the original Marlborough sauvignon blanc plantings; Italy’s Castello di Gabbiano, which has a medieval castle dating to the 16th century; Germany’s Weingut Eppelmann Stadecken-Goslar recognised for its cutting-edge use of QR codes in communicating with hikers; Argentina’s Bodega Ruca Malen in Mendoza, at the foot of the Andes and celebrated for its restaurant; Portugal’s The Yeatman, a luxury wine hotel with an award-winning wine cellar and a Michelin star restaurant; and California’s The Hess Collection Winery in the Mount Veeder area, renowned for its extensive private collection of international artworks.
Innovative Wine Tourism Experience winner is the Spice Route Destination in Paarl. It’s so much more than a wine estate – there you can also sample bean-to-bar chocolate at DV Chocolates (which produces chocolates from cocoa nibs and sugar – no cocoa butter); Cape Brewing Company craft beer made in a state-of-the-art facility on the property; sample biltong; taste grappa in the Wilderer Distillery; eat pizza in the La Grapparia; relax with tea and cake; buy glassworks in the Red Hot Glass studio; enjoy dinner at the Spice Route restaurant.
Dating back to 1685, Vergelegen is renowned for the preservation of its historic buildings and its gardens. The estate is also highly regarded by wine connoisseurs, gastronauts and art lovers. Its award-winning restaurant, Camphors, is named after the ancient camphor trees on the farm that are said to be over 300 years old.
The winery’s signature eatery, it was recently revamped with PJ Vadas, formerly of the Roundhouse, appointed as the executive chef.
The Vergelegen manor house and associated buildings have been refurbished and its interiors reflect the property’s 300-year history. Built by Willem Adriaan van der Stel, the estate boasts five original camphor trees and probably the country’s oldest oak tree, which is hollow in the centre.
Antiques, objets d’art and ceramics dating from the Dutch East India Company days are displayed alongside artworks from the Permanent Collection of Iziko Museum’s SA National Gallery in Cape Town.
Visitors to the estate can wander through the camphor forest, walk through the manor house’s gardens (which has hosted functions for 13 openings of Parliament) and take in Cape cultural history in the museum.
The Stables bistro at Vergelegen, once the property’s stables, showcases artworks by landscape artist Strydom van der Merwe, William Kentridge and other renowned artists.
The gardens, complete with a growing maze and a fantasy play area for children, are laid out according to the grand VOC axis design, which included rectangular plant beds grouped into fours with corners cut away at central focal points.
A newcomer to the competition, Babylonstoren, also in Paarl, came second among the South African contenders, winning the accommodation and the architecture and landscape categories and taking third place in the restaurant category for Babel.
The estate, renowned for its exquisite gardens and water features, luxurious “farm-style” accommodation complete with gumboots, a “plaas dam” with tractor tyre lilos, and spa, also produces its own wine, fresh produce and olive oil.
Wine tourism service winner Delaire Graff prides itself not only on superb service, but on one of the country’s finest collections of art (property owner Laurence Graff is one of the world’s top 10 art collectors), award-winning restaurants (Delaire Graff Restaurant and Indochine), and a chic terrace overlooking the spectacular Helshoogte Mountain Pass.
This property, founded by Simon van der Stel in 1679, was bought in 1983 by John and Erica Platter and sold to Graff 20 years later.
Graff, a renowned international diamond trader, has transformed it into one of South Africa’s leading luxury destinations.
Here, traditional peach pip floors, vaulted ceilings, stone walls and a glass-encased wine cellar are framed by “hanging gardens of Babylon” gardens and the most picturesque views.
Last Friday, the estate unveiled Vladimir Tretchikoff’s Chinese Girl for public viewing.
Graff’s personal collection includes works by Damien Hirst, Basquiat, Pablo Picasso, Banksy, Andy Warhol and Renoir.
At Delaire Graff, Dylan Lewis’s cheetahs (hugely popular in the winelands) and Deborah Bell’s African-Asian figurines dominate, while works by Sydney Kumalo, Fred Schimmel, Durant Sihlali and Cecil Skotnes are evident throughout.
Their gardens, planned and landscaped by Keith Kirsten, are designed to bloom 365 days a year. More than 300 new and mainly indigenous plants, shrubs and trees have been planted, including milkwoods, yellowwoods and sneezewoods, while camellia and swathes of coffee jasmine provide privacy for the luxury lodges. Water features, Cape Dutch-inspired streams and reflective pools add tranquillity.
For now, the GWC contest is constrained by the fact not many wine estates also offer accommodation, which limits the pool in South Africa.
It is hoped that more wine estates will expand their tourism offering. Besides, it’s a win for everyone. - Saturday Star