Mammoth Wine Safaris – the Swartland…
text by Gareth Hardres-Williams
14th February 2018
The crisp cool air is refreshing and exhilarating but the threat of real heat is not far away as the sun begins its relentless push at the horizon. It is a quarter to six in the morning and golden wheat fields of the Swartland stand juxtaposed to the verdant green vineyards, the still quiet of the morning is broken by excited chatter and the clatter of an old tractor carrying a trailer load of pickers to the vines. It is harvest time in the wine growing regions of the Western Cape and Mammoth Safaris took a trip out to South Africa’s hottest (in more ways than one) wine region to join in the excitement…
Save water, drink wine…
Much of the talk in the Western Cape at the moment is about water, or at least the absence of it and the chatter amongst the vines is almost entirely water related. The drought has done one very obvious and expected thing to the 2018 harvest, and that is to reduce yields. The limited ground water available to many of the dry-land vineyards translates to smaller bunches, smaller berries and generally lower yielding vines. All of this is perfectly understandable when one considers that about 80% of the grape is water. What this means for the 2018 vintage is that there will be a lot less wine to go around, but we should expect wonderful concentration of flavour and colour. 2018 – look out for a low supply and a high demand.
The Swartland has been at the forefront of a resurgence in the South African wine industry of late. Once home to a largely “bulk wine” industry, the Swartland region has undergone a rebranding and a rebirth thanks largely to a group of young, innovative and entrepreneurial winemakers who selected the Swartland as a base for quality wine production. Many of these mavericks will tell you that it was less them choosing the Swartland and more that the Swartland chose them. Escaping much of the “innovation” of New World wine making in the planting of trendy cultivars and clones, the area remains home to some older and more established vineyards (many of which are pruned to the goblet-shaped bush vine) that managed to avoid being grubbed up in favour of “flavour of the month” vines. It is these vineyards that attracted a new generation of winemaker – craftspeople looking to make their mark in the wine world. Here are some of these fabulous producers…
AA Badenhorst Family Wines…
As the name implies, this pioneering Swartland producer is very much a family affair. Adi Badenhorst holds the creative reigns in the constantly evolving cellar on the Kalmoesfontein farm, although one might be forgiven for being lulled into a very false sense that there are no reigns at all here. Adi has everything very much under control on this enormously innovative and supremely productive farm. Not only does he oversee the production of exceptional wines, but he has also pioneered the rebirth of “Caperitif” a Cape vermouth and a “soon-to-be-released” Mescal. For those wanting to escape the normal, there are some stunning self catering cottages on the farm from where this Swartland gem can be explored.
Mullineux Wines…
Chris and Andrea Mullineux have quite simply smashed it on every level of wine production – from the sourcing of incredible fruit, to superbly managing the vineyards under their tutelage and ultimately to crafting some of South Africa’s (if not the world’s) finest examples of Rhone Valley inspired red and white blends as well as some stunning single varietal offerings. Over and above this, the Mullineux team also do a quite remarkable job of marketing brand “Swartland”.
The dynamic duo divide their time now between their Swartland base of “Roundstone Farm” and a very swanky tasting and production facility in Franschhoek on the spectacular Leeu Estate.
Sadie Family Wines…
Eben Sadie is quite simply a phenomenon who has been at the forefront of the evolution of the Swartland wine growing region and indeed South African wines for the past 2 decades. His singularly perfect wines are hard to come by, but when one does they should be cherished and savoured. A recent string to Eben’s bow is as that of “environmentalist” as he campaigns against the scourge of sand mining that is threatening the beauty and serenity of this area.
Porseleinberg…
Porseleinberg is home to the prolific winemaking talents of Callie Louw, who joins many of the Swartland producers in understating their impressive skill. Callie is responsible for the production of wines here on this farm owned by the Boekenhoutskloof stable and has developed a terrific reputation for the production of Shiraz. Porseleinberg flies under the radar in so many ways, but the wines Callie makes (when you can get your hands on them) scream superb quality.
Lammershoek Winery
This is another of the pioneering and organic producers of the Swartland region, with a small collection of expertly crafted wines. The farm is owned by a trio of German investors, including the football great Franz Beckenbauer (pictured above) and is scoring goals particularly in the Swartland Syrah production.
Image credit ©Lammershoek
Keeping it simple…
A wonderfully refreshing reality about the production of all the Swartland wines listed above is that they are all crafted in a very “simple” way. Attention to detail is key and the processes involved shun modernity at many levels. All these producers seem to embrace the notion that winemaking is fundamentally a very simple art form. The departure point being that winemaking is but the well-managed fermentation of a fruit juice and the subsequent storage and or maturation thereof, not much more to it than that. Key to the production of these quality wines is the focus on the development of the fruit in the vineyards – this is key for all these producers and it is in the vineyards where you will often find them.
Mammoth Safaris specialises in taking you behind the scenes, offering intimate and unique view of these wineries and more…
Contact us now to plan a trip to the Cape winelands. Please contact a member of our sales team by sending an email to info@mammothsafaris.com and be sure to share as much detail as to your ideal wine safari with us. Also keep visiting www.mammothsafaris.com for more destinations and journey ideas.
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