The Seventh Sense | Cederberg Harvest | Part 1

The five basic human senses are sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. The sixth, paranormal ability. The seventh? David Nieuwoudt. David and the Cederberg team invited me to spend a few days with them at the tail end of harvest, alongside a small group of industry people, all there for the same reason – the wines, in one form or another. Strangers at the start, and somewhere between punch-downs and late dinners, no longer. I’m told this is not the kind of invitation you decline. At the time, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was saying yes to – which, in hindsight, was exactly the point. This is my story of Cederberg, and of an experience that, at the very least, rewired a neural pathway or two. Back home, and for once properly on holiday, I found myself on the stoep of a house in Aurora – a place where you can quite literally watch the main road arrive before it leaves again. In hand, a glass of Glup Chenin Blanc – a small Chilean detour I’ll come back to. “Is this one of your trend wines?” Eckart, my husband, asked. Somewhere between my answer and the last sip, it struck me how much I’d learnt, how much I’d come to love, and how comfortable I was leaving the harder science to someone else entirely. Not a bad place to land, all things considere...