2009: Biography of a Vintage
the high density plantings of Shiraz, Mourvèdre and Pinot Noir below the winery. “I play French music when I make my wine” he admits. Although he doesn’t hold GNJ’s taste in music against him – he asked him to be his best man at his wedding. French:SA production runs at 4:1 at the moment, but a 50:50 split is the long term aim. All good news for lovers of elegant wines that have a minerality that is positively Gallic. Grapes for the 2009 vintage hail from a vineyard at Kaaimansgat, high in the mountains above Villiersdorp. A site made famous by Peter Finlayson with his Kaaimansgat Chardonnay for Bouchard Finlayson. At around R100 a bottle, to say that it is competitively priced is like saying that Albert Einstein was good at maths. It is the product of a natural ferment – wild yeasts growing in the vineyards do the business, rather than commercial critters from Anchor – a technique Julien laughingly calls “base-jumping winemaking” as the downside is a barrel full of vinegar. While Villiersdorp may be a little too rustic for base-jumping, it certainly provides their terroir for elegant wines with great balance and an invigorating freshness.
Wednesday 7 th Requiescat in Pace, Alex van Heerden
EUROPE FREEZES AS THE RUSSIAN BEAR HALTS GAS SUPPLIES THROUGH UKRAINE “DAMN YOU!” shouted neuropsychologist, Mark Solms, shaking a fist at the sky and slamming shut the front door of his 18th century Franschhoek manor house. For what had been billed as a quiet supper at the new Fyndraai restaurant on Solms-Delta had been overtaken by the road hog of fate when the farm’s musical director, Alex van Heerden, died in an accident on the N1. Even the meaning of fyndraai (the point of no return during intercourse) fell flatter than an expired Viagra prescription. Spicy chilli couscous with mussels, boiled new potatoes wrapped in bacon and rooibos tea cheesecake were still on the menu but the farm was closed and the other diners were shocked friends and mourning family still coming to terms with a black hole that has opened up in their lives and the brave social, wine, art, historical, linguistic, musical (and most recently culinary) developments taking shape on the remarkable farm. Like many others who spoke during the memorial, I met Alex only once: At the Lekkerwijn guesthouse, at breakfast after the inaugural oesfees (harvest
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