Nic van Aarde joined the Oldenburg team in 2018 as winemaker, and things escalated quite drastically from there. In wine, it’s only natural that greatness takes TIME. It’s the thing that imbues it with its story and elevates it beyond a mere consumable. Thus, let me set the scene. An inconspicuous driveway following the river course, a tree-lined lane, revealing an amphitheatre of mountains (flanked by Dwarsberg and the Jonkershoek Mountains), a modern, elegant structure sits incongruously amongst the natural wildness of the place, a valley within a valley, the diversity of Stellenbosch not only a FACT but breathtaking. The Banghoek Valley in Stellenbosch is the only ward with a Continental climate, the climate of surrounding wards, tempered by False Bay offering up more Mediterranean conditions. The large diurnal shift between day and night-time temperatures offers beautiful tension and amazing flavour development in the resulting wines. Which, paired with ALL the other natural attributes of the place and avid custodians such as owner Adrian Vanderspuy, winemaker Nic van Aarde, viticulturist Christo Crous, and consultant Etienne Terblanche, all committed to understanding the terroir in minute detail, there’s just no way but UP.
Rondekop
And there’s A LOT to understand about the terroir at Oldenburg. Rondekop - the round-headed hill at the centre of the farm, is made up of a whopping three different main soil types. Granite at the top, sandstone and koffie klip (coffee stone) on the mid-slope, and alluvial soils near the valley floor. Thus, though diminutive in comparison to the mountain ranges surrounding it, Rondekop packs a punch in terms of terroir. The Granite imparts freshness in their Chardonnay and Syrah. The deep red clay and sandstone soils add body and depth to the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlots. And the alluvial soils near the river imbue their Chenin Blancs with finesse and fruit. In a recent video for 67 Pall Mall, a film crew follows Adrian, Nic, and Christo as they taste and divide the blocks into ever smaller sections for harvest - the level of detail and the natural diversity of the place, both backbreaking and deeply exciting to see. *You can also watch the video here: https://bit.ly/OldenburgDetail
2019
2019 marks Nic’s first independent vintage at Oldenburg, and as in all things, nothing worth having is ever easy. Of the 2019 vintage, he says it was one of the most challenging vintages he’s ever worked - just coming out of a three-year drought, with late winter, a turbulent start to flowering, and wet conditions during harvest meaning greater threat of disease. The 2019 reds, however, have a finesse and elegance that frame their difficult start merely as the required struggle for greatness and champion the Oldenburg team’s no compromise winemaking approach. 2019 ALSO heralds the completion of their new winery, uniquely designed for small batch fermentation, with a cold room and state-of-the-art machinery - to act as a foundation for what is to come. Nic has had the benefit of many years of experience in the industry, uniquely suited to the task with a mother who worked for Nederburg, and no doubt established a firm understanding of fine wine from an early age. Having done vintages in Margaret River, Marlborough, St Emilion, and Sonoma, followed by the assistant winemaker at Mulderbosch, winemaking consultant in Nashik, India of all places, and head winemaker at Warwick for eight years - Nic wanted to get back to the essence of the job - MAKING WINE. These days at Oldenburg, he says he's back on the winery floor, micro vinifying small batches and spending a good part of his day in the vineyard. “The passion has returned!”
67 Pall Mall
Nic recently travelled to London, where he introduced his 2019 reds to the august audience at 67 Pall Mall, a group of private Member’s Clubs founded by wine lovers, the beating heart of fine wine. Launched during the June 2022 Jubilee weekend in London, the euphoric atmosphere of the city, allowed to celebrate for the first time after two years of lockdown, was the perfect accompaniment to this complement of Oldenburg wines. "Oldenburg has been making wine for a few years but the style of the wines has changed significantly with the building of our cellar in 2019. A strong focus on viticulture and restraint on extraction and oak has allowed the wines to express the coolness and mysticism of Rondekop.” says Nic. The task of successfully translating that mysticism to the international, fine wine cognoscenti - a victory in itself.
The THING about Chardonnay
When Nic responded to my line of questioning for this piece, he had just come from Elgin, having spent the day with the Chardonnay forum working on a master plan to make South African Chardonnay the next big THING. Which, given the quality of the wine I don’t understand how it’s not THE thing yet. {If you ask my mother, she’ll swear high and low it’s been a THING all along.} You can feel Nic’s excitement around the variety. Oldenburg has planted five Chardonnay vineyards in three years, from Echalas trellising to the French Guyot method. You can tell they KNOW something and are working hard to tease out the very best Rondekop has to offer. Though, when it comes to THIS hill, you can’t throw away the Cabernet Franc, a passion Nic shared with former employer Norma Ratcliffe that has found exciting expressions in the soils of the Banghoek. And given the diversity of the place, don’t forget the Syrah and the CHENIN- which, if the Trophy Wine Show, Decanter, and Prescient reports are anything to go by - report STELLAR vintages.
As such, the team at Oldenburg has put together a beautiful case encapsulating this benchmark vintage of theirs. Definitely, something to hold on to as Oldenburg continues to discover the magic of Rondekop in the glorious Banghoek Valley. An exclusive Port2Port offer.
