.: A celebration and a new vineyard at Ayama

Some of the best wines you are drinking contain grapes that are grown in an area called Paardeberg. It is a small but very fruitful area between Durbanville and the back of Paarl Mountain. Although the direct translation is horse mountain, it is believed that it where Cape Mountain zebra were seen in abundance when the first settlers arrived in the Cape and they mistook them for horses.

Michela Dalpiaz and her husband Attilio bought Slent Farm 10 years ago, renamed it Ayama (a Xhosa word meaning “someone to lean on” – as the owners believe their Slent adventure leans on friendship and love )and have been making their wine and selling their grapes with great success. Now they want to do something different and last week we were invited to the farm to help them plant the first Vermentino grapes in the Cape. And what a fun day they made it. Vermentino which comes mainly from Sardinia and Corsica, is very popular in Italy we quote “Vermentino is a perfect match for our terroir, which is hot and windy and features mostly clay soils with sandy areas from disintegrated granite. The berries and bunches are large and thee grapes are late ripening, all of which fit perfectly with the existing varietals on the farm and the harvesting schedule. ... it produces aromatic white wines which can handle wood and give you a beautifully powerful wine.” We helped to plant it.

Under the trees on the farm, some bubbly to welcome us

It started out as a bit of a chilly day but it brightened later

They presented us with lovely hats to ward off the sun

Trying on the sunhats and the panamas for the fellows

Owner and winemaker Michela Dalpiaz tells us about Ayama

We stand listening under the old oak tree

Michael gets a kiss from friend Simonetta dalla Cia

John can you name these people Simonetta and Giorgio dalla Cia with Dr Augusto Fabbro and the previous owner of Slent farm, Christopher New

We moved for lunch up above the farm in a fleet of 4x4s and sat under this magnificent, centuries old wild olive tree. These are indigenous to South Africa but, sadly, do not bear edible fruit

A light lunch of focaccia, grissini, Tsatziki and crudite as we were to have an early supper

They have wonderful views from this vantage point and can see from the Winterberg right around to Table Mountain

Their vineyards with the Paarl, Franschhoek and Stellenbosch mountains in the distance

Keeping the wine cool in a bathtub

Michela tells us about the vines they have and the plans for the future

Judy New previously owned the farm with her husband Christopher. They still have a cottage there and she loves to drive her Suzuki up the mountain to see the protected fynbos when they are visiting from their current home in Pringle Bay

Time to move down to see the Vermentino vineyard

Near neighbours Tanya and Willie de Waal of Scali farm with Judy New

Michela tells us what is going to happen next. The vineyard needs planting and we are going to do it!

An amused Judy and Christopher look on

Here is the equipment. And we are relieved to see that the holes have been dug

We also had a lesson in planting and an assistant to do some of the hard work. Actually, all of it for most of us

Attilio plants the first vine

And the whole family helps to tamp it in

Each of the vineyards has its own plaque

Each person attending was given custody of five vines they had to plant and a label to help locate them. In the future, we hope to be invited to help prune them and when the vineyard is ready in a few years time, pick the grapes of our vines

Lynne holds onto our first vine and helps to position it as our expert helps to arrange the roots

He then fills in the holes gently so that the soil completely covers the roots

Christine Rudman planting her vines with Attilio

John planting a vine and positioning it against the wire while the soil is replaced

A vineyard full of happy, industrious people. The hats were very useful

and everyone was involved

Ex-Winemaker Jonathan Snashall knew exactly what to do and Georgie Prout was the soil replacer

And Graham Howe did all his on his own, not for the first time. As a gardener, he just questioned whether the holes were big enough

Some people didn’t manage to get there, their vines will be planted for them by the friendly farm workers

Back to the farm and time for the tasting of 4 Italian Vermentinos from Sardinia

The bottles

Georgio dalla Cia noses one

The line-up. We found them all quite salty, with lots of tangy and crispcitrus flavours and with some honey, white peach and tropical fruity flavours on most. There is a definite whiff of herbs, sometime mint and some perfume. They all have that characteristic slight almost almond bitterness on the end. Very refreshing and great with sunny Mediterranean seafood

The tasting was guided by Dr Augusto Fabbro

Hats on, we all pose for the group shot

Some strange clouds appeared over the Boland. Lynne remembered that in Europe, if you see these over the mountains, they mean snow is on the way. And indeed two days later the weather changed remarkably and we had a huge cold snap, with a light dusting of snow on the highest mountains, silly weather for mid November, our late Spring

Dinner was planned in the ruins of the old farm which is being converted into a new tasting room and winery but because the weather looked rather changeable, we move to Vondeling where the tasting room had been converted into a elegant banqueting hall!

The menu was extensive

Wonderful tender country lamb on the spit being carved. Cleverly, instead of doing mushy roast potatoes, the chef had done new baby potatoes. And he hadn’t added a thick over-flavoured coating gravy, just let the natural juices of the lamb herbs and garlic concentrate at the bottom of the spit