As a wine aficionado (or at least as one who enjoys drinking wine), when forced to admit that there may be wine from some place other than France or the Napa-Sonoma Valleys, one of the first places that comes to mind is South Africa.
The wine industry dates from 1690 when some Hugenots settled in the area and planted wine grapes. The wine area is located just a bit north of Stellenbosch and the route there is very picturesque.
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| Route to Boschendal |
The winery we were visiting is called Boschendal from the Dutch words for “wood” and “dale.” It claims to be one of the oldest wineries (or wine estates) in South Africa and while it most certainly is old, it is not quite as old as it is commonly claimed.
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| Boschendal Sign |
There are definitely vineyards at Boschendal, covering about 2.5 km².
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| Boschendal Vineyards |
The winery is best known for its Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc wines although recently there have been plantings and bottlings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Shiraz. We also had their dessert wine, Vin d’Or, which is described as a “natural sweet wine” and a blend of Syrah, Chenin Blanc, Viognier, Roussanne, and Grenache Blanc.
Earlier I mentioned that Boschendal is a wine estate. It consists of vineyards, tasting rooms, cottages where you can stay overnight, and houses that can host receptions. The full extent of the estate can be seen in the following map.
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| Map of Boschendal |
Our visit was to the main tasting area (item #4 on the map above).
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| Main Tasting Area |
As you can see, we were there in winter. The clouds were low and it did rain off and on. If it had been warmer and drier, we might have had our wine tasting outside using the tables and serving area set up for that.
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| Outdoor Tasting Area |
Instead we were happy to be served inside and given a wine and chocolate tasting, using chocolate which they get from Knysna.
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| Tasting Setup Inlcuding Chocolate |
We got four glasses of wine and 4 pieces of chocolate, and each of the chocolates was matched to a particular wine. It was an interesting concept but I’m not sure I’d care generally to match wine and chocolate. And it distracted from what the wines would be like for other purposes. Still, it was enjoyable.
Boschendal claims to have its origin in 1685 and proudly proclaims that on its bottles.
The front label notes that it was founded in 1685.
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| Front Label |
The slogan on the back of the bottle a bit more accurately states that “The legend of Boschendal’s wines goes as far back as 1685.” Well, according to the source of all knowledge (Wikipeida) – not quite.
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| Rear Label |
A brief history notes that the title deeds for the farm are dated 1685 “but this is likely to be a clerical mistake.” The first owner, a Jean le Long, a French Huguenot refugee, was granted the land by the Dutch East India Company in 1688 although the title deed wasn’t written until 1713. In 1887 the estate was bought by Cecil Rhodes – a very well known figure in South African history, who founded Rhodesia (now Zambia and Zimbabwe), was prime minister of the Cape Colony, and established the international educational scholarships that bear his name. The property is now owned by some consortium of investors. So, not quite 1685 probably, but are we really going to quibble about 3 years of 330? They make very nice wine and have a very nice piece of property.
One of the houses on the property, just around the corner from the wine tasting center, is the Cape Vernacular Manor House, which dates from 1812. It is both a museum about the family that developed Boschendal and a location that you can rent for a meeting or a wedding reception.
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| Cape Vernacular Manor House |
One of the things to know about South African wines is something they have in common with French wines, susceptibility to phylloxera, which is closely related to the aphid. Phylloxera feed on roots of the vines, which eventually girdles the root and prevents any nutrients and water from getting from the ground to the vine. The vine dies.
Phylloxera is a North American pest which came to both Europe and Africa probably by steamship transporting some grape vines. By 1863 some vines in the Rhône Valley of France began to die due to this infestation, although the reason wasn’t discovered until somewhat later. Some estimates state the between two-thirds and nine-tenths of all European vineyards were destroyed. In the Cape region, the blight occurred in the 1880 and 1890s and effectively destroyed the vineyards before a cure was found.
Many of you might know what the cure is. It turns out that since phylloxera is an American pest, our grape vines which are of vitis berlandieri, riparia, and rupestris types, are naturally resistant to phylloxera while the European vines (vitis vinifera) are not. Solution – graft grape vines used for making wine onto the American rootstock. The only problem to this solution was where to get good grape vines for grafting, since much of those in Europe had been killed. So American grape vines, particularly those from the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, were shipped back to Europe and South Africa where they are still in use. So, when you’re drinking French or South African wine, you’re drinking wine made from grapes grown on American grape vines (although originally from Europe) grafted onto American rootstocks. It certainly does make the debate about which country produces the best wine a bit more complex, or maybe nuanced. We’re more of a global village than we might think.
Coming up: A bit of France in South Africa, an appropriate town for the wine country.
Link to Full Resolution Photos
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