I was really bowled over this week. I attended the launch of Almenkerk wine estate in Elgin. (And herewith a warning…. I intend to mangle as many cricket metaphors as possible, since I’ll be attending the one day international between the South African Proteas and England! The omens are good – sunshine, light breeze and a South African team which has already lost two games in the series. Nothing like a little hurt pride to foster a nail biter!)

What knocked me for six was the realisation of how impressive a wine region Elgin has become. Driving along the Viljoenshoop road I was immediately conscious of standardised signage for all the wine farms. Gone are the days when Paul Cluver and Oak Valley were the only two proudly Elgin producers. There’s a single “look and feel” to all the wine producers’ signs and lots of evidence of the ramped up tourism offering in the area too. Lots of guest houses, B&Bs and even a tented safari camp.

Putting a new spin on things, some locals have already dubbed Almenkerk wine estate “Elgin’s Tokara” courtesy of its stone clad exterior and impressive vantage point overlooking its 105 hectares of vineyards. The Belgian Van Almenkerk family bought the former fruit farm five years ago and have invested heavily in ripping out pretty much all the apple and pear trees and replacing them with vines. This is definitely a producer to watch…a bit like JP Duminy during last year’s Australian tour.

Young winemaker Joris van Almenkerk scored a four straight off – four stars in the 2010 Platter Guide, that is, with his inaugural 2009 Sauvignon Blanc. While some would say he’d played with a straight bat, others would say the result was a foregone conclusion based on terroir and location: Almenkerk neighbours both Arumdale and Thelema’s Sutherland vineyards which have already established a solid track record for Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Riesling.
The list of Elgin producers has grown substantially over the past few years and now includes Cathy Marshall, Ross Gower, Elgin Vintners, Paul Wallace, Kingsbridge, Shannon, Iona, Highlands Road, South Hill, Glen Erskine and Belfield. And it’s not just white wines which are gaining respect but reds too – Pinot Noir, Merlot, Shiraz and even Malbec and Cabernet Franc.

So, overall, the Elgin ‘pitch’ looks good and while it may swing and seam a bit with different vintages, the team look set for a good score!

One final snippet: the Vineyard Hotel was the chosen lunch venue for the King and Queen of Norway’s visit to Cape Town this week. Sources reveal that the Royal couple and their entourage enjoyed Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel on the manicured lawns with their stunning vistas of Table Mountain before enjoying Meerlust Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Rudera Robusto Chenin Blanc, Kanonkop Pinotage and Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance.

“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!