High up on the Helderberg where vineyard meets mountain, live a pair of rare Verreaux’s eagles. Not ones to hand over their hearts in acts of blind faith, Verreaux’s eagles rely on far truer forms of commitment. With an eye on a potential mate, a female eagle will fly down to the ground to select a stick. Taking off into the sky — with the male in hot pursuit, of course — she will let the stick drop to the ground for the male eagle to plunge after, never letting it touch the ground (this is considered dating end game for Verreaux’s eagles). Once retrieved, the female will fly even higher, dropping the stick again and again for the male to chase. It’s a dancing ritual that can go on for hours. But proving your commitment, even towards a plummeting stick, shouldn’t come easy, I guess. And by the end of it? Once the intricate choreography of spirals and dives and somersaults has been executed? Why, then they mate for life.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that a Verreaux’s eagle couple has nested behind Uva Mira’s Cabernet Franc vineyard. Some 400 metres above sea level (and 420 lightyears away from the winery’s namesake, the pulsating star Mira the Wonderful), the rocky vineyard is only accessible by the most extreme of cars — even then inducing new-found fears of vertigo. In the early mornings when the mist twists its way around trellises and all that can be heard is gentle birdsong, this vineyard gains an almost mystical quality. When tasting Uva Mira’s Cabernet Franc, you know the eagles aren’t the only things in this vineyard that have bonded for life.
Cabernet Franc can be a tricky grape to get right. “Not everyone can grow it,” confides winemaker Christiaan Coetzee. “It’s naturally high in acidity, can be very thin, and its DNA is very green.” Surprisingly, the top west-facing slopes of the Helderberg receive such low radiation that its climate is closer to the coolness of Elgin than typical Stellenbosch temperatures. Combine that with the proximity to the ocean and high altitudes, and you have a hang time that gives the grapes the grace period to develop red fruit and floral flavours, expressing elegance and delicacy. In the hands of Uva Mira, you have perfumed wines of purity, weightless concentration and fine tannin structure, able to display both pencil shavings and minerality — a rare combination in a red wine.
While Uva Mira boasts three Cabernet Francs, you’d be wrong to think any distinction would get lost. “The Mira is the most accessible and drinkable of the three — it really over delivers,” says Christiaan. Light, yet displaying incredible depth, it shows notes of lush red fruit and tobacco leaf. The Dance, a single vineyard named after the Verreaux’s eagle duo, has a densely layered nose urging you to peel back its complexity as it evolves in the glass, enticing you with notes of graphite, jasmine and black fruit. Finally, while blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, the O.T.V. still leads with Cab Franc. “This wine epitomises the property,” says Christiaan. “It has the seriousness of a right bank Bordeaux, showing structure and depth.” These are wines you need to spend time with to understand their power. Beyond elegance, they show mastery through subtlety and finesse.
We invite you to journey through the Cabernet Francs of Uva Mira. You might just find yourself bonded for life.
