He’s got a handicap of one, an interesting juxtaposition to the surfing winemakers of the Cape. Golfing is ALSO a team sport, which is how Francois basically knows everyone. But instead of the primal survival urge of surfing, golfing is a game of strategy, patience, and people. You know where I’m going with this, right?
The Right and Left Bank
I like Francois. He’s HONEST, opinionated, and funny. He’s been the winemaker at Laibach, now Ladybird Vineyards, since the 1st of December 1999. Laibach was owned by a German family until recently, when neighbouring Kanonkop purchased it in April 2022, effectively adding a Right Bank to their Left Bank. Ladybird Vineyards is Merlot-focused, but we’ll get to that.
Living Earth
Ladybird Vineyards went fully organic in 2000, making them the first South African winery to have done so after Bon Cap. The owner at the time was a leading figure in cancer research in Germany and firmly believed in the importance of organic farming as the foundation for a whole slew of things, chief among them sustainability. In fact, the name Ladybird comes from the organic practice of sending ladybirds out into the vineyard to eat the mealybugs that prey on the vines, and seasonally you’ll find whole swarms of ladybirds patrolling the vines here. As Francois tells it, it’s all about creating living earth, and the terroir they’re situated on is imminently suited. Organic farming won’t help make stellar wines if the terroir isn’t any good. There’s a reason this part of Stellenbosch was called the Golden Mile back in the day {there are now other Golden Miles / Triangles as well, so a muddy metaphor to be sure – though the essence of it remains true}.
The Hill
Francois took me up to the lookout point on Kanonkop. The REAL Kanon of Kanonkop stands there, where they used to signal inland when ships arrived in the bay. And it makes sense that it should be there. From there you can see a grand total of 9 appellations from the Swartland, to Constantia, Helderberg, Stellenbosch, and Simonsberg. It might just be the best view in the Winelands. This HILL is where Ladybird Vineyards and Kanonkop meet, on clay soils, PERFECT for Merlot and reminiscent of some of the Bordeaux greats.
The World in 40ha
Francois has done ten harvests abroad, learning from the winemaker of the hallowed Château Petrus. Francois says he wanted to learn English at the time and told him EVERYTHING as a result, quite rare for a Frenchman. From Rioja to Serbia, Francois believes in training his palate internationally and learning from his peers abroad. He says his only South African winemaker friend is Abrie Beeslaar, fitting given their new working relationship. It’s funny because Francois says he never went very far in his winemaking career, only from Elsenburg to Ladybird, which are virtually next to each other – and yet he has brought the world to these 40 hectares.
Biblical
The combination of Kanonkop and Ladybird Vineyards isn’t really a stretch of the imagination, with their 25-year-old, organically grown Pinotage having gone into Kanonkop wines all along. The majority of Ladybird’s 40ha lies on the Kanonkop side of the R44 (There’s still a story angle to be mined about the opposite sides of the R44, something Biblical I feel). He says the existing Kanonkop land is just a tiny bit cooler with its aspect facing the ocean, accounting for their predisposition to Cabernet. Ladybird’s aspects make for a slightly warmer micro-climate, thus Merlot.
Merlot
Francois’s love of Merlot is fervent though he leaves space for Chardonnay – he says he loves MAKING Chardonnay and DRINKING Chenin Blanc, the diversity of the terroir allowing him all these things, including the rest of the traditional Bordeaux five. But Merlot is an interesting subject in South Africa, Mads MW recently wrote about it in detail. She comments on how it has gotten a bad rep around the world, though it is mostly made incorrectly. Francois says a good Merlot is sexy, voluptuous, and velvety, the problem being that it grows fast and well and has a tendency to produce too many leaves, which offers too much shade, and makes for a GREEN wine. Thus you have to PRUNE it, plant it on Clay, allow it to get old, and make it with 100% new oak. One of the main things to take away from this is that organic farming takes time. Time to establish an ecosystem, and Ladybird Vineyards has had 22 years to create one and is now reaping the benefits.
The Ladybirds
Ostensibly, Ladybird Vineyards was acquired by Kanonkop to increase their production while staying true to the terroir, though they are getting so much more. The Ladybird Range of wines will live on in four wines. A Claypot Merlot, a Sur-Lie Chenin Blanc, a traditional Red Blend, and Chardonnay. For once, also showcasing the value of white wines from this stretch of decidedly red wine country, and the proverbial Right-Bank-yin to Kanonkop’s Left-Bank-yang.
Not Flashy
Of the team, Kanonkop is gaining people who have been with the farm a lifetime. Viticulturist Michael Malherbe and his wife Anel started here in 1994, and Francois in 1999. I asked Francois what it was that kept them here their whole careers – an astonishing feat in modern terms and representative of people you can trust. “We’re not flashy people.” Francois is from Robertson, Michael from Ceres, and Anel Moorreesburg. They’ve given it 110% and just focussed on the work, under their leadership Ladybird Vineyards turned a profit every year for 20 years, mostly selling to big retailers like Woolworths, flying under the radar of the hip and happening, preferring the ancient machinations of organic farming. More in tune with the land than her people.
Meant to Be
Eventhough this is business, the coming together of these two farms seems rather fateful to me - something about the longevity of both, these people labouring side-by-side for so many years, now coming together. It might just be, meant to be.
*And now I have another Merlot to add to my shortlist of noteworthy South African Merlots!
