Revolution wines5/8/2023 “I’m trying to walk the long road with them”. It’s not necessary to uproot vineyards every 25 years”! Putting organic matter back into the soil. “Small decisions are important”, he explained, “When you look at how pruning used to be done, promoting balance, not expecting the vine to overproduce. The water retention is better, and earthworms are coming back, he digs with a spade in the vineyards and counts worms with his son at the weekend! Verdant cover crops He’s also a geek when it comes to regenerative agriculture: he prepares the soil for the long term, and has seen an improvement in energy and vine vitality in the last 4-5 years. It’s not the bush vine’s fault, it’s your soil’s fault”! Farmers stopped doing this in the 90s to bump up the crop, and couldn’t understand why the vines weren’t producing a higher crop. Pre 1980s – lupins, rye, and oats were grown over winter and ploughed back: “It’s the only way these bush vines survive the summer without irrigation. He’s always been a soil fanatic: when he had taken over management of these vineyards, he let cover crops grow, and can’t understand why farmers don’t leave them in winter. Bernhard is focusing on restoring vitality and soil health in a few special plots. The vineyards were farmed organically in the past, but in the 90s farmers chasing higher yields started to use chemicals. You can’t harvest a small crop from a very fertile soil type and vice versa”. “Not everyone realises that vineyards and soil type need to talk to each other, not overwrite each other. Areas high in silica (quartz) fragments absorb light during the day, and reflect it at night, which enhances aromatics, especially in reds. The decomposed granite has good drainage and low fertility. The area is dominated by three hills – Bottelary, Polkadraai and Sinai Hill, as Bernhard explained: “You don’t find many east aspect sites, close to the ocean in South Africa, with good morning sun”.īernhard describes it as: “A terroir carved out from granite, similar to Fleurie in Beaujolais”. The Lower Helderberg is around 3.5km from the ocean, where prevailing winds from False Bay moderate the temperatures, especially during November to February. In 2017 Bernhard returned to South Africa, to make wine where he grew up. There he met a lot of inspirational winemakers, discovered a passion for Grenache Blanc, and has returned on several occasions. Antoine knows the owner at Clos Figueras in Gratallops, and so Bernhard went to Priorat to work. But he didn’t return to South Africa just yet.Īntoine and Bernhard were talking late at night over a bottle of Chatreuse, and began discussing the drought in South Africa and the schist soils, and the similarities with Priorat in Spain. The passion for the earth and the vine – over fancy winemaking techniques – that he experienced there reminded him of his family farm at home. He fell into a very good crowd in France: he worked with the Graillot family in Crozes-Hermitage with Maxime Graillot at his own project Domaine Equis and then joined Antoine Graillot at Domaine de Fa, based in St Amour and Fleurie in Beaujolais. But Bernhard decided to stay, working at another winery for a few years before heading to France. In 2012 the family sold their farm, and his father and grandfather went out of the industry. Bernhard grew up here, he was born and raised in a rural grape farming family, he helped around the winery and often joined his grandfather pruning in their vineyards. It’s not just the terroir and cool ocean microclimate that attracted him. “It’s slightly frustrating to be grouped in to the wider Stellenbosch region as they are quite different”.īernhard on Lower Helderberg: “No fancy tasting rooms, no palm trees… just plain old wine farming”! Pinotage bush vines planted in the late 70s When we spoke to him recently, he explained how Lower Helderberg has different soils, terroir and a distinct microclimate to the wider Stellenbosch region, and he feels strongly that it should be recognised as a stand-alone Ward. Bernhard Bredell, talented young owner/winemaker at Scions of Sinai is one of them. It isn’t demarcated, but a few people are starting to rediscover the old-vine heritage and start projects here. There’s an area in the south, towards False Bay, which is referred to as Lower Helderberg. Money poured in when larger companies arrived in the 80s and 90s, many of the smaller grape farmers were pushed aside, but some older vineyards with bush vines survived, seasoning the Cabernet blends. Stellenbosch is South Africa’s Napa Valley, one of the most historic wine regions, and a centre for tourism.
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