History’s a funny thing. It can announce itself in a blaze, all bombastic glitz and glorious pageantry. And then sometimes history happens quietly. In the unassuming hills of Bottelary, one family in particular have woven themselves into South Africa’s wine story. For more than 75 years, four generations of Steytlers have lived here, seeing the landscape turn from tobacco to wine country. Born in 1952, Danie Snr saw Kaapzicht’s cellar turn from a rudimentary no-electricity-hand-press-only affair to a thriving winery able to process almost 1500 tonnes of grapes. He took risks, stepping away from the powerful SFW cooperative to bottle wine under Kaapzicht’s own name, and, in 1996, Kaapzicht was the first winery to have “Wine of Origin Bottelary” on their label; no coincidence — it was Danie Snr who registered Bottelary as an official ward of Stellenbosch. He began the Steytler range to showcase the very best of what Kaapzicht can do, a legacy he passed on to his son, Danie Jnr, who took on these wines of power and concentration, reimagining them in the present.
Representing Bottelary's five hills, as well as the five red grapes of Bordeaux, the Pentagon honours Stellenbosch’s favourite grape, Cabernet Sauvignon, as the leading component of this Bordeaux-style blend. “I love that it’s a super serious wine,” says Danie Jnr. “It’s got great power and great structure, as well as ageability.”
For the Steytlers, Pinotage might as well be a synonym for patriotism. “It’s like loving braais and loving rugby,” laughs Danie Jnr. “It’s unique to us. Nowhere else on earth do they make it like we do.” The first Pinotage vines were planted in Bottelary, almost a stone’s throw away from Kaapzicht. Not even a handful of years later, Danie Snr’s father, George Snr, planted the variety on the farm — a radically pioneering move, considering how unknown Pinotage was at the time. Danie Snr went on to dedicate more than forty vintages to Pinotage, releasing the first Steytler Pinotage in 1999, the year Danie Jnr matriculated. While back then, the mandate of the 90s was “more is more”, the style of this wine has evolved over time. Maintaining its concentration and power, it’s become more refined, deliciously velvety in its plushness.
So great was his love for Pinotage, Danie Snr was part of the Pinotage Association, and integral in discussions around a blend that would represent South Africa: the Cape Blend. The Steytler Vision became Danie Snr’s dream of the best possible red blend. Really, it took no time at all for everyone else to agree, as the 2001 vintage won Decanter’s best red wine in the world, making it the first Cape Blend ever to achieve such an accolade. “It’s still our best wine today,” says Danie Jnr. “I often think that. Cape blends just make the best possible wines.”
While the Steytler reds might be a baton passed on from father to son, the 1947 Chenin Blanc is an acknowledgment of all the generations that came before. With only about one hectare remaining of the original six planted in the wake of the Second World War, it’s South Africa’s second oldest surviving Chenin Blanc block. “It’s a vineyard that my great grandfather planted, which my grandfather looked after, which my father made for forty years and something which I can now carry on,” says Danie Jnr. “It’s genuinely still the same vineyard which has been here all these years. I love that.”
The Steytler wines are more than just a flagship range. They’re a letter passed on from one generation to the next. They’re heirlooms.
