The setting is most appropriate. Dinner tonight is happening at a double-storey, three-gabled house whose foundations were laid in the 1800s. We’re here to reflect on a long and auspicious heritage of Durbanville and its wines. Durbanville is gearing up for its 200th anniversary next year. To promote the occasion, a series of experiences have been hosted to showcase the history of local farms.
We’ve gathered at the farmstead home of Sir De Villiers Graaff and Lady Gaedry Kriel Graaff, at De Grendel Wine Estate. Few families of the region have a history so well documented and strongly linked to significant turning points in Cape Town’s and, indeed, South Africa’s history. Within the Graaff legacy is the introduction in the late 1800s of refrigeration, as well as electricity and sewerage for Cape Town. The homestead is littered with art and antiques. Among them is an armoire with its secret drawers, and a fire shield bearing the coat of arms of Kaiser Wilhelm II – a gift from Louis Botha.
De Grendel’s wine history
The relatively short rise to prominence of wine from Durbanville is shared by De Grendel. Grapes have, however, been farmed here for far longer. De Grendel was acquired by the Graaff family in 1890, although the farm’s original title deed is dated 1720. “In a list of movables [on that title deed] for some reason, vines are listed,” says De Villiers. “But by the time my great-grandfather bought the farm, there were no vines here. We believe phylloxera had wiped it all out.”
That changed in 1991. De Villiers was at Stellenbosch University at the time, when he heard of the impending development of the Durbanville Hills winery. “Distell had identified the Durbanville area for growing cool-climate sauvignon blanc.” Naturally, he passed the titbit to his father and grandfather. Until then, De Grendel’s 800 hectares had been dedicated to wheat and stud farming. “It took some time before my grandfather agreed.”
In 1999, Durbanville Hills had produced its first vintage. But De Grendel’s planning was done. “Unfortunately, my grandfather died and never saw the vineyards planted the following year.” For the first time, South Africa’s most authoritative guide at the time, Platter’s, mentioned Durbanville at the turn of the millennium as “a region in transition … starting to move out of the anonymous shadow of bulk-wine production into the glare of solo stardom”.
De Grendel’s first bottling happened in 2004, and current cellar master Charles Hopkins was appointed a year later. The farm’s wines, however, made their first appearance in Platter’s only in 2006. By then, De Grendel had a new cellar and more than 100 hectares under vine. Today, there are 75 hectares under vine, delivering about 800 tons. The 1 800 12-bottle cases of wine produced in 2004 have multiplied to some 82 000 cases.
The tasting of wines
With each passing year, wines of De Grendel have evolved – not only shaped by accumulated knowledge of the vineyard locations, but also imbued with the Graaff family’s stories and personalities. Our evening begins with canapés and a glass of Proposal Hill Brut Rosé Cap Classique, named after an outcrop on the farm where De Villiers’s grandparents got engaged in 1938.
This is followed by a tasting of six wines: the 2017 and 2023 Koetshuis Sauvignon Blanc; the 2023 Op die Berg Chardonnay and the 2021 Op die Berg Syrah – both named after the high-altitude location near Ceres where the grapes grow – and the 2010 and 2019 Rubaiyat, flagship wine and De Grendel icon. With each, comes a description of harvest, of chemistry in the winemaking and of perspectives of philosophy.
The menu of the evening
We break from the dining room to allow the long, solid table to be prepared for dinner. When we return, the amuse-bouche and wine – Namibian oysters with The Gaedry Blanc de Blanc 2020 – takes me on a tangent. I’m thinking about the Graaffs and refrigeration, and how impossible this dish, or any others, would have been without it.
The starter is delicate langoustine tortellini with scallop, asparagus and a creamy cognac bisque – perfect with the De Grendel Winifred 2023. The wine, dominated by Sémillon with a side of Chardonnay and touch of Viognier, was named after De Villiers’s mother.
The main is most suitable for the subject of the evening, too: rack of lamb. During his time as a POW – or “guest of Adolf Hitler”, as De Villiers says his grandfather called his time in northern Germany – Sir De Villiers Graaff noticed sheep that impressed him. After the war, he imported them and, as such, these became South Africa’s first merinos.
The wine with which the dish comes is named after the first baronet of the family, Sir David Graaff. It is the pinnacle of the portfolio. This version is made from one of South Africa’s finest vintages – 2015.
A light, fresh and sweet mille-feuille dessert follows, suitably paired with an equally delightful De Grendel Sauvignon Blanc Noble Late Harvest, also from 2015.
By close of dinner, my notebook is replete with anecdotes. But the evening did the trick in reaffirming a legacy – not just of the Graaffs, but of Durbanville, too.
See also:
Suid-Afrikaanse brandewyn bly ’n trotse 350-jaar geskiedenis weerspieël
