Maps are more than pictures with YOU ARE HERE scrawled across them. Maps are stories of what is, and sometimes of what isn’t, of Here Be Dragons, There Be Allies, and all the colourful squiggly lines in between – or simply put in the words of Terry Pratchett: “Geography is only physics slowed down with a few trees stuck on it.” But perhaps the true beauty of maps is that they are all three tenses at once: they tell you where you are, where you’ve been and where you’re going.
The view from Uva Mira atop the Helderberg mountains would make any cartophile swoon. Some 620m above sea level, the Stellenbosch valley unfurls below, a patchwork quilt of green and yellow. False Bay, a mere 9km away, lies to the left, while Robben Island glistens in Table Bay and the Swartland mountain range rolls out in the far distance. Above, some 420 lightyears away, lies Uva Mira’s namesake, the pulsating star known as Mira the Wonderful.
A mosaic of vineyards
Mark Jenkins has said that maps are cryptic love letters that encourage boldness and make anything seem possible. If this is so, then winemaker Christiaan Coetzee and viticulturist Christo Crous wield the pen to a great love epic. Having spent time in Champagne and Germany with stints at Graham Beck, Nederburg and KWV, Christiaan joined Uva Mira in 2013 and quickly took on the role of cartographer as well as winemaker. While it might be the ultimate cliché to declare one’s wines as “terroir expressive”, I’m sure you’ll agree that when done on THIS scale of scientific zeal it is anything but: Every block, pocket and row of Uva Mira’s vineyards are carefully studied, using radiation and satellite photos to accurately draw up each microclimate and understand the flavour profile of each specific pocket in the vineyard. With a total of 33 hectares under vine, the smallest of these parcels is an area of 0.2 hectares, belonging to the Uva Mira Chardonnay, while only a mere 0.9 hectares comprises the biggest parcel. The result is an ability to have multiple single varietal examples of the same cultivar (3 Chardonnays and 2 Syrahs) that are all uniquely expressive, but also a mosaic of vineyards – a cryptic love letter to the wonderful grapes.
The Destination
Uva Mira’s destination is clear: to make some of the best handcrafted wines in the world and become an internationally renowned high-end New World wine. Already, they’ve charted new territories for South African wine along the way – they were one of the first wineries in South Africa to value their Chardonnay at over R500 a bottle, thereby resetting the benchmark for the entire industry. When looking at their success thus far, we cannot help but feel that their destination is not too far out of reach, having been hailed as “one of the World’s Great Chardonnay Makers” by 2017 Global Chardonnay Masters, the first South African winery to win a trophy for Best Bordeaux Blend at the Six Nations Wine Challenge, winner of Platinum Best in Category Bordeaux Varietals for The Dance Cabernet Franc at Decanter World Wine Awards, AND consistent winners of 90+ points by the likes of Decanter, Tim Atkin and Christian Eedes – to name but a few.
A map of legends
Key to the wines are the stories and legends dotted across the vineyard that have inspired them. Their Mira Collection is named after the Mira star, forming a point in one of the sky’s largest constellations Cetus the Whale, with a comet-like tail that stretches 13 light-years in space. The beauty of Mira is that it’s a pulsating star, appearing and disappearing in the night sky, not dissimilar to the Uva Mira Chardonnay, which is only made when Christiaan feels the vintage to be truly deserving. The Single Tree Chardonnay is named after the lone candlewood tree in the centre of the Chardonnay vineyard, while The Dance Cabernet Franc is inspired by the Verreaux’s Eagles nesting on the cliffs behind the Cabernet Franc vineyard, who are known to take a partner for life in an elaborate dancing ritual. The D.W. Syrah is a nod to the founders of Uva Mira, the Weedon family: Desmond, the Visionary, Denise, the Matriarch and grandson Derrick, the Artistic Engineer. Uva Mira’s Bordeaux blend O.T.V., on the other hand, commemorates current owner Toby Venter’s father, Ockert Tobias Venter, remembering him as a “mentor, advisor, oracle, guiding light and inspiration for family and friends” and described as a wine for visionaries; predicting the future while imagining evolution.
We invite you to try this limited edition, vertical mixed case of both O.T.V. and The Dance Cabernet Franc through 2013, 2014 and 2015 and taste for yourself where Uva Mira’s been, where they are, and where they’re going. We hope you enjoy the journey.
