2 winter whites from the Swartland

Releasing white wines in winter seems odd, like when “jakkals trou met wolf se vrou” (the sun shining when it rains). 

Yet the wines we like to drink in winter snuggled up in front of the fireplace or solving the world's problems around our dinner tables are full, spicy, food wines and conversation pieces. It’s with this in mind that I invite you to experience two whites hailing from the same farm on a remote site in the Swartland - Ultra 2023 & Kortpad Kaaptoe 2024. Read below how I discovered that this farmer is a closet raver.

ULTRA 2023

Chenin Blanc from a single site. The bushvines are old, unirrigated, and towards Darling's side of the Swartland. Sandy topsoil with “Koffieklip” subsoil 100 meter above sea-level. A fresh textured wine, sunshine-saturated palette with a surprisingly low alcohol at 12.5%.

When I met this farmer 14 years ago, he immediately came across as an extremely traditional kind of farmer (little did I know). He’s a young guy, and farms in the Swartland flatlands. To understand the remoteness of this site, go to Google maps and connect the location points of 3 towns: Malmesbury, Hopefield and Darling with straight lines - this will form a triangle. If you pinpoint the center, that's about as close as you’ll get to spotting this vineyard. 

I’ve only ever seen him wearing blue overalls and kaki two-tone shirts. So there I was a few years ago, sitting in his kitchen having a cup of tea when he mentioned that he was super excited for the upcoming weekend. When I asked why he replied: “Do you know the Ultrrrra?” (pronounced with the very typical Swartland rolling r-sound). I had no clue what he was talking about so he started explaining and to cut a long story short - he is a raver. None of his neighbouring farmers know this about him, but his way of blowing off steam and getting rid of some stress is to go to this rave party in Cape Town once a year. He books himself and his wife into a hotel and they dance the night away! In our modern day lives, stress is a reality and so many friends of mine struggle to get an outlet. And here we have a farmer, a traditional guy who lives in the middle of nowhere with a passion/an outlet - his way of coping with life!  I think it’s brilliant. And I felt that this is a story that needs to be told.

The Label: I did a rave-like scene sketch, grafiti'ed a DJ and got the farmer to dance - so you’ll find him in the crowd on the front label.

KORTPAD KAAPTOE 2024

100% Fernão Pires from the same farm where ULTRA grows. The grapes were picked in 4 lots 3 days apart. Fermented spontaneously in Concrete egg shaped fermenters, Amphora and old french oak barrels. The final wine is a blend of the 4 pickings. Acidity and freshness coming from the first picking and texture to ripe fruit from the riper pickings. The wine is spicy and full with a touch of perfume.

One day, thirteen years ago now, I asked the owner of the farm for a shortcut to Cape Town from his farm (or “Kortpad Kaaptoe” in Afrikaans) - I had to get there urgently. He proceeded to give me directions using his vineyards as reference points. But then he said: "you take a right at the Fernão Pires", which is where I stopped him. Needless to say, it took me a bit longer to get to Cape Town, but I had found my next vineyard.

Up to that point I had never heard of Fernão Pires before. Knowing what I know now, the appearance of the plants that day in the sweltering Swartland heat explained it all. You see, being a Portuguese grape varietal and a  product of thousands of years of mutation, the cultivar adapted in order to handle heat and an excess of sunlight. Picture the lightly coloured sandy topsoil reflecting the sun from below and the ball of fire from the top in scorching Swartland summer temperatures - hectic conditions to say the least.

The bunches are loose, the berries thickly skinned. And with its fine powder-perfume, fragranced-flavour tasting profile and lower natural acidity, the grape is suited to do 4 pickings in a season, each 3 days apart. This enables me to capture 4 different ripening stages in 4 different batches, which I ultimately combine to form the final wine.