On the 2nd of February 2023, we celebrated 364 years of winemaking in South Africa. It was recorded in Jan van Riebeek’s journal on the 2nd of February 1659; ‘Today, praise be to God, wine was made for the first time from the Cape grapes, and the new must fresh from the tub was tasted.’
Research has shown that the first arrival of viable vine cuttings reached our shores on the 22nd of July 1655, and although the varieties are not recorded, it is believed that Chenin Blanc was indeed one of them, and was referred to as ‘Steen’.
South Africa currently has the most hectares planted of Chenin Blanc in the world, even surpassing France, where the variety originated from, and we are now responsible for more than 50% of the total production of Chenin Blanc in the world.
This is a very special variety in our country, often referred to as our white heritage grape. It seems to thrive in our soils, adjusts well to our micro-climates in our varying regions, manages drought well and when cared for properly, can live a very long life. Chenin is one of the most versatile varieties and can be produced in many different styles, from a still dry white wine to a delicious dessert wine, sparkling wine and pet Nat, even brandy.
In 2002 the search for Old Vines was started by South Africa’s most well-known and respected viticulturist, Rosa Kruger. Rosa was inspired to find South Africa’s old vines after travelling abroad to many of the ‘old world’ producing countries and tasting the beauty of old vines in the wines produced there. This probed the question for her ‘Where are South Africa’s old vines?’ and inspired Rosa and Johan Viljoen to climb into a vehicle and find them. Rosa has covered hundreds of kilometres in the Western Cape searching for these vines, in 2014 she finally received ‘buy-in’ from SAWIS (South African Wine Industry Information and Systems) who agreed to share the list of the old vines (vineyards that are 35 years or older) which made the search slightly easier. In 2016, Johan Rupert agreed to sponsor the OVP and a team was put in place to run the project.
In 2018 the OVP launched the Certified Heritage Vineyards seal that members can place on bottles of wine made from vineyards of 35 years or older, together with the planting date. The certification seal is a world first and guarantees authentic wines grown according to the OVP viticultural and winemaking guidelines.
This brings me to the story of the Kaapzicht Chenin Blanc.
Kaapzicht is 4th Generation family-owned and run wine business situated in the Bottelary Ward of Stellenbosch. The property was purchased in 1946 by Major David Steytler, after World War 2.
In 1947, the very first vineyard was planted, aptly to Chenin Blanc. This vineyard is still there today and is the 2nd oldest registered vineyard of Chenin Blanc in South Africa. The wine produced from this vineyard is called The 1947 Chenin Blanc and we only manage to get enough fruit for just over 2,000 bottles per annum.
However, today is about the Kliprug Chenin Blanc Vineyard. An old vine-certified vineyard, 4.18 hectares in size. This vineyard was planted as bush-vine in 1982, making it 41 years old this year. The vineyard was given the name ‘Kliprug’ (Rocky back) by the farm employees for its appearance. The vineyard is dotted with rough iron-rich stones which impart perfect texture, balance and that magical old-vine x-factor in the wine.
The grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed and crushed (with skin-contact in the press). The wine is settled overnight after a light pressing and racked into 440l and 500l barrels for spontaneous fermentation.
Fermentation can last between 2-4 weeks, after which, it is aged for a further 10 months in barrel. It is bottled at the beginning of December each year and released at the beginning of February.
Only 3,000 bottles were produced for the first vintage of this wine in 2015. 6 vintages later, we have now managed to bottle the full potential of this vineyard of 26,000 bottles.
Kliprug Chenin Blanc has received many awards over the years, with the 2021 vintage last year being awarded 5 stars in the Platter Guide.
Historically we have sold out of this wine within 4 months after release, which gave us the confidence to take the leap of faith to bottle the entire production.
In the words of Danie Steytler Jnr, 4th generation and Managing Director of Kaapzicht Wines ‘It’s a wine that makes itself.’
In the words of Angela Jordaan (me), ‘This wine is like drinking liquid gold’
And now to finish off, in the words of Rosa Kruger;
‘Old vines make wines that reflect the earth and the terroir they grow in. They reflect the scorching summers and the long icy cold rainy Cape winter days they have endured over decades. They exist because of the people who touched and tended them over many years.’
We hope that you love this wine as much as we do!
