Ultra 2022

ULTRA - an old bush vine, single vineyard Chenin blanc - a vintage of celebration - an outlet… something to make one's heart beat faster.

The Story:

When I met this farmer many 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.