“For my part, I deem those blessed to whom, by favour of the gods, it has been granted either to do what is worth writing of or to write what is worth reading; above measure blessed are those on whom both gifts have been conferred. In the latter number will be my uncle, by virtue of his own and your compositions.” - Pliny the Younger of his uncle and adopted father, Pliny the Elder.
The title, Book XVII, refers to the work of Pliny the Elder, a Roman author, naturalist, and naval and army commander in the early Roman Empire (think 79 AD), celebrated for the first scientific encyclopaedia entitled Natural History, made up of 37 books. Do note that Natural History was his only work to SURVIVE. The man himself was said to have been obsessively curious and nocturnal, the author of several notable historic works which he completed at night after his commander day job. Book number 17 is entitled: “The Culture of the Vine and the Various Shrubs which support it.” A historic script detailing the nuance of the vine. The fact that it remains relevant today is a sign of the natural world’s constancy and potentially our own insignificance.
“Hail to thee, Nature, thou parent of all things! And do thou deign to show thy favour unto me, who, alone of all the citizens of Rome, have, in thy every department, thus made known thy praise.” - Pliny the Elder.
This ancient grip on the mechanics of the natural world spoke to the founders of De Toren Estate in the Polkadraai Hills of Stellenbosch. Emil Den Dulk, the original owner and founder of the Estate, pioneered a previously unseen level of detail and precision in the vineyard. Studying and deliberating over the soils inherent to their 25 hectares situated on the Polkadraai Hills overlooking Helderberg, False Bay, and even Table Mountain in the distance, they identified a whopping 15 different soil types. Employing Pliny the Elder’s penchant for detail, they planted 25 clones of the traditional Bordeaux five, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. Having ascertained the terroir’s predisposition to these grapes and Bordeaux-style reds. Not a big stretch, given the area and Stellenbosch’s flair for red in general.
I was fortunate to meet Emil den Dulk before he sold the farm in recent years. Though the Estate retains Albie Koch, longtime COO, and Charles Williams, previously winemaker, now cellarmaster, with young Martin Fourie making the wines today. Emil was one of the first Stellenbosch ooms to employ a permanent team of ladies to tend to the grapes. Etched into my memory are the ladies sitting at a sorting table, with white gloves, meticulously sorting grapes, ensuring only the top quality ones make it to bottle. In conjunction with THEIR level of attention, Emil also installed the first gravity-fed cellar in the country, utilising the landmark tower De Toren is famous for in the area. These efforts did not come cheap, and De Toren was known for some of the most expensive wines of their time in the early 90s. Since then, their Righ-Bank (Merlot-dominant) Z and Left-Bank (Cabernet-dominant) Fusion V have gone on to enthrall the international wine world and have become benchmark wines in their own right, worthy of the price tag.
The team at De Toren always strives for MORE, which they have done in their Book XVII Bordeaux Blend and The Black Lion Shiraz. (Shiraz does PARTICULARLY well in the Polkadraai Hills, you’d be well-advised to remember that.) These wines represent the apex of De Toren’s preoccupation with detail, which, given that the ladies are ALREADY sorting, and the team is already decoding the terroir, it would make sense that they’d stumble onto something extraordinary in their 28 years of operation. The Book XVII Bordeaux Blend is only made in exceptional vintages and minuscule quantities, having attained the highest scores ever for a South African wine by international wine publishers such as America’s Wine Enthusiast. It represents the coming together of all their experience, passion, and the natural ability of these 25 hectares on the Polkadraai Hills, with Table Mountain on the horizon.
In a time when so much is uncertain about the human world, it is frankly a relief to be able to fall back onto the ancient mechanisms of the natural world. As such, we’ve been afforded a TINY allocation of the latest Book XVII 2020 release and suggest you invest your time and interest in this sure thing. And if you’re looking for something to drink NOW (The Book XVII is said to have a life expectancy of over 30 years), we’d suggest you stock up on any of De Toren’s well-thought-out reds. Nature at its best. The ultimate Cult Find.
