The wine list at the „La Vierge” restaurant makes great reading. This has recently become one of the leading trendy restaurants, listing a half dozen sparkling wines by the glass, and half of these are genuine Champagne. One must stress this, imported from France for hard Euros, highly valued against the weak South African Rand, yet they are only marginally more expensive than the top local sparkling wines: the low mark-ups on the purchase price, a customary feature of Cape restaurants, make it possible. However, it would be a real shame to just sit here slurping champagne, no matter how chic this may be for the numerous guests of the high society that frequent the place on the weekends - and still almost exclusively white, at that. From here you can enjoy your aperitif while surveying the legendary view of the idyllic Hemel-en-Aarde valley. Even when one turns to the still wines, it is understandable that „La Vierge” has become a meeting point of the rich and beautiful almost from the day it opened its doors. The Sauvignon Blanc produced here - 2006 was the maiden vintage - shows unexpected class and a prominent mineral character, whereas the newly planted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines recently introduced by winemaker Marc van Halderen still need some time. It appears the investors have ambitious plans, not only in terms of the food… 

Gently sloping vineyard sites

Concentrating on the essentials

The climate in the Walker Bay district, of which the valley is a part, is absolutely custom-made for the production of elegant, filigree wines. A cool ocean breeze wafts over the vineyard hills, and the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir display an elegance found hardly anywhere else in South Africa. Peter Finlayson and Anthony Hamilton Russell are producers who have learned to use this to their advantage. The latter in particular is rigorous in concentrating on the essentials: only two wines are marketed under the name of the Hamilton Russell estate, and both of them are frequently sold out at the estate. However, one is likely to find the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the estate, which has a total vineyard area of slightly more than 50 hectares, on the wine lists of practically every highly rated restaurant in the country - and then always at the upper limit of the price range.

Western-style bottle and label design

 
That is a region into which the wines of the Luddite estate are also advancing, slowly but surely. This boutique winery is located in the newly declared district of Bot River, and is one of the most difficult to find estates far and wide. You have to keep on asking the locals for directions, driving over dusty gravel roads, and, when you finally arrive at your destination, you will immediately be greeted by four dogs. „I found one of them by the roadside”, recalls Penny Verburg, a hands-on lady who runs the estate together with her husband Niels - he is responsible for the cellar, she for the vineyards. She is polite but adamant about refusing to be photographed - rather she prefers to put out her wine on the tasting table in the kitchen of the house. Just a single wine, as, with the exception of a minuscule batch of Auction Reserve wine, only one bottling is put on offer each year. Niels Verburg previously worked for the more renowned neighbouring Beaumont estate, but also spent many years travelling around the world of wine: Australia, New Zealand and France were all on his agenda. In 1999 then the Verburgs settled on the outskirts of the sleepy hamlet of  Bot River. „All we wanted to do was to produce the best wine possible according to our ideas”, reports Penny Verburg. Initially, all the Shiraz grapes were bought in, but gradually the vineyard area surrounding the house is growing, and in a few years time the entire production will be sourced from their own, unirrigated vines. The individually numbered bottles are already highly sought after even now, not least because they exhibit a very individualistic style. The 2005 vintage is currently not yet on the market, but the 2004 vintage is most impressive, with a silky structure, finesse, and a remarkable and unusual freshness considering the alcohol content of almost 15 per cent by volume. This is a wine that can even be enjoyed with a pizza in the restaurant at the railway station, the „Shunting Shed”, the only noteworthy eatery in Bot River. If you bring along your own bottle of Luddite Shiraz for dinner, you will only pay a few Rands corkage, and you stand a good chance of meeting the Verburg family there in person, children and dogs included.


Beyond the whales

Nils Verburg

For many Capetonians, the world of wine ends at the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. But there certainly are vines to be found east of the whale-watching metropolis of Hermanus, and their number is constantly increasing. It seems unlikely that the Springfontein wine estate in Stanford will remain the only winery far and wide for much longer. The owners, including Anja and Johst Weber, hail from Germany - and their most fervent wish must be that the terrible potholed road be tarred soon, a road that limits the top speed on the farm to almost zero. „A difficult drive to get here”, sighs Christo Versfeld, who recently took over responsibility for the winemaking here, together with his wife Nikki. A new cellar complex is currently under construction, while the tasting room on the first floor is already in use. The results in the latest Platter’s Wine Guide, the most important wine guide in South Africa, reflect the quality of the eastern part of the Walker Bay wine-growing region. Versfelds Chenin Blanc, an extremely elegant, filigree representative of this variety that is so typical of the Cape region, only just missed the highest possible five-star rating. It seems more than likely that in future even greater numbers of visitors will make their painful way up the potholed road…