Walker Bay’s Great Whites
Friday, November 6th, 2009
“The way you ring the bell determines whether you’re a teacher or a preacher – and consequently the wine tasting I deliver,” said Kevin Grant of Ataraxia.
We were standing on the balcony of his distinctive ‘Chapel’ of wine that is set on a unique hillock high in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley outside Hermanus in Walker Bay. I was on a mission to take two Austrian friends to see the whales and go shark diving at Gansbaai. Unfortunately our scheduled departure was set back a few hours because of boat trouble (not exactly what you want to hear when about to jump into icy waters with a few bars separating you from the JAWS lead characters…). We were set to head out after 2pm so decided to visit a few wineries in the area.
Ataraxia isn’t open to the public just yet but Grant hopes it soon will be – and he’s hoping that the bell ringing becomes a tradition. “I want the folks elsewhere in the valley to hear the peals and be aware of how many visitors we have!” he joked. We apparently rang it well enough to be papal material… But the thing that strikes the right note is Ataraxia’s location, the fanatical attention to soil and site that Grant insists upon and the quality of the Chardonnay. After years at Hamilton Russell, Grant knows the Hemel-en-Aarde valley well and he snapped up the site when it became available – because it was where the best fruit for Southern Right wines was grown! As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding – and the fact that Ataraxia achieved the highest price for a still white wine at the recent Cape Winemakers Guild auction, fetching just shy of R600 per bottle of 2008 Chardonnay, speaks volumes. “That is the biggest validation of what I do because that price wasn’t determined by anything other than the consumer.”
Creation wines are worth the drive along the gravel road. It’s scenically spectacular and the wines have a wonderful fruit purity which impressed the Austrian lads – who are both wine fundis based in Vienna. Until the Ataraxia tasting, Hamilton Russell had been the best Chardonnay they’d tasted during their visit and they were equally impressed by the focus and attention brought to bear on just two wines by this pioneering operation.
Unfortunately time didn’t permit visits to Newton-Johnson, Sumaridge, Southern Right, Bouchard Finlayson, La Vierge, Whalehaven or Hermanuspietersfontein. Nor did it allow for stops en route to Gansbaai and its Great Whites for Misty Mountain, Raka or Springfontein – but I made a mental note to spend a weekend in the area in order to experience more of the wines. It’s also a great springboard to the wines of Elim – Black Oystercatcher, The Berrio, Strandveld, Zoetendal and Lomond, the latter being front of mind after the 10-course with 10 different wines blowout Cape Legends presented at the One & Only this week. The Lomond Pincushion Sauvignon Blanc 2007 was a standout in a line-up of impressive wines.
But the real highlight of the day was those feared ‘denizens of the deep’ who got a bad rep in Jaws. Having seen them mere centimetres away from my mask (and reflexively pulling my fingers out of harm’s way…) I must admit they are graceful, beautiful and above-all curious. There’s no doubting their power and killing efficiency but in four hours of observation, either in the water and from the boat deck, there was little aggression or even overt interest in the fish heads attached to a line. At best a juvenile took a bit of a nibble at it, never launching itself at it fully committed.
So there you have it – great whites, both in the water and out!