We had a
lovely weekend away, re-discovering the Bot River valley. We were invited to come
and stay at Wildekrans by owner Amanda Harlow when we met her and farm
manager/viticulturist Braam Gericke last year at the Nedbank Green Wine Awards. They received the Best Farming Practice Award, Leadership in Community
Development and for Best Value IPW for their 2015 Sauvignon Blanc. With busy
schedules and lots of overseas visitors this year, it took a while before we
could take up the invitation but we had a lovely weekend staying in their
cottages
The road into
the farm werf is lined with Tahitian Lime trees
... was quite
busy when we arrived on Friday afternoon
Braam Gericke,
the farm’s General manager and viticulturist, very kindly spent the afternoon
with us telling us all about the farm, its history, the accommodation, the
changes that are happening with the restaurant and their green farming
philosophy. The farm is vast, over 1000 hectares of mixed farming stretching
from the mountains near the Houwhoek Pass, right across the plain to the hills
on the other side. 71.8 ha are under vine
We did a
comprehensive wine tasting with him. They produce Chenin, Chardonnay, Sauvignon
Blanc, Pinotage, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Tempranillo,
Grenache Blanc and plantings of more Rhône and other dry country grapes are
planned for the future
These are the
new labels. We liked their 2014 unwooded Chenin so much that we bought some,
it's on special at R30 a bottle. Francois Naude helped make their flagship
wooded 2014 Chenin and the Pinotage. The current wine maker is William
Wilkinson. We also liked their Cape Blend of Pinotage, Shiraz, Cab, and Pinot
Noir with hints of expensive wood, raspberries, rhubarb and some dark liquorice
– it’s as soft as silk on the palate. And the MCC Brut Rosé, made from
Chardonnay and Pinot noir, shows well too. The 2013 Premium Shiraz with warm
spice and lovely fruit is extremely drinkable. Even Lynne (not a fan of
pinotage) found the 2014 Estate Pinotage, full of smoky red fruit with some
violet perfume and a liquorice end, very lekker
Some history:
M Kannemeyer was the owner of the farm in 1930
A once off
commemorative bottle in the cellar
Braam then
took us on a trip around the farm in his bakkie. These are old chenin bush
vines
They also grow
a huge crop of olives, mostly for oil, and we have never seen such healthy
trees, absolutely groaning with ripening olives. And they have orchards of
plums and pears
The olive
plantation with wonderful views of the Houw Hoek mountains and the edge of the
farm in the distance
Looking across
in the opposite direction at the Babylonstoren mountains, the farm stretches to
those black hills
They do have
water on the farm from the mountains, but this is one dry pan, with what is left of the water in the dam
in the distance
End of season
vines; all the grapes have been harvested and no more water is being provided.
We wait for the winter rains
And
a rain storm was sweeping in over the mountains from Elgin as we stood there
Time to check
in to our cottage for the weekend. They can sleep 34 in the various 2 and 3 bed
cottages
The lounge,
dining area and fitted kitchen. There is DSTV with a limited
selection of programmes. We were able to watch the 20/20 cricket in India and
the Super rugby
The very
comfortable bed gave us two good nights’ sleep
The second
bedroom. Both bedrooms have two single beds which can be zipped together
Looking back
through the living room
The outside
terrace has braai facilities, with wood supplied, shared with the cottage next
door. There is a table and seating to enjoy the lovely views..
..which look
across the vineyard of table grapes towards the hills. It is very quiet and
tranquil
We relaxed a
lot, just watching cloud formations and birds while enjoying a glass or two of
Wildekrans Sauvignon Blanc, which they kindly supplied
There are two semi
detached cottages in each house
and there are two rows of cottages
A stand of
trees in the distance
Sheep, egrets and guinea fowl patrol these now harvested canola fields
We self-catered
the first night, as they were in the process of changing the restaurant that
weekend. The previous restaurant called Once has closed and Wildekrans have
brought in Ilze Henderson and her husband Greg, who is a chef, to run both the
restaurant and the cottages. She is Managing Director of the Endless Group and
will run the cottages as the Endless Vineyards. They have properties in Durban
too
Because the
restaurant was being refitted, we had breakfast on the tasting room terrace
Good black
coffee
and a selection of juices awaited us
And a selection of teas and fruit
It was rather
a chilly morning. Polar fleece blankets were provided
Lynne had the
Eggs Benedict au natural
John had them
with freshly smoked snoek and apricot jam
Also on offer to be served with the
eggs were pulled pork and salad; creamed spinach and mushrooms or a charcuterie and paté board
On the second
morning, John cheekily asked if he could have scrambled eggs and bacon rather
than Eggs Benedict and he got it, beautifully soft and creamy egg with smoky
well-done bacon! Lynne repeated the plain
Eggs Benedict. We both had toast with marmalade
Sunday morning
breakfast. It was warmer
The tasting
room and restaurant staff: L to R Enny, Alexonia, Nazlie, Zaidee, Marlon and
Annaline. Enny, from Zimbabwe, was very professional, friendly and helpful
Herbs and veg
in wine storage boxes for the kitchen. Chef Greg says he wants to forage
locally too
They have a
chapel for the weddings that are held on the farm
There are also
toilet facilities for guests
Lovely views
from the circular swimming pool ...
.... which is
enclosed by wrought iron gates to keep children safe
And this is
where the marquees can go, with the dance floor in the centre. It is right
opposite the restaurant
Local
birdlife. This is a fiscal shrike. There are many birds on the farm, it’s a
great place for bird watching
A view of the
farm from the internal gates
Old farm
buildings and equipment
Vineyards
looking towards a house on the estate
An old part of
the farm with a stand of gum trees that look like dinosaur bird legs
Vida, the farm
character, loves to play with sticks and stones. She has a lovely soft nature
The farm has
many lovely dogs - this one took John for an early morning photographic walk
Such elegance. Vida says "please play with me". But she has had a dislocated
shoulder, so must not be thrown things to fetch
Announcing the
opening of the Henderson's new restaurant, to be called Forage
Chef Greg and
MD Ilze Henderson. Ilze's third baby was due on Wednesday this week, we wish
her a speedy recovery as she has taken on a huge job. We think they did a
valiant job entertaining us and other guests, having just arrived to begin setting
up the restaurant on Friday
Our meal was
laid out for us on Saturday evening, when we returned from visiting friends and
wine farms in Bot River
The menu
Our starter was a cheese platter with farm pears poached in Wildekrans
pinotage
We had to put
the Traditional Hoenderpastei (plain shredded chicken pies) in the oven to bake
for 40 minutes. It came with a small Greek salad. Braam, very kindly, gave us a
bottle of the unlabelled 2014 Pinot noir to try. It was very elegant with
lovely soft fruit, drinking well now, but should mature well
Dessert was a
rather soft, squidgy, underbaked chocolate brownie, a small pecan pie and a small
chocolate topped caramel tart
Early morning
light on the farm is always more charming. The sheep on the hill in front of
the deck in the vineyards
Lynne
encountered a klipspringer buck on the path that morning, he stood a while then
raced off for the trees
Misty
mountains over the canola fields. They will be beautiful when full of acid
yellow flowers next season
Oh, we forgot
the mention the very pretty pink pigs which are in very large enclosures
They came to
inspect John
It turned out
to be a lovely hot day
The table
grapes in front of the cottages
No one was
stirring except the photographer
Each house has
a name of a previous occupant
Waiting for
the worms to rise?
More herons in
front of the Houw Hoek mountains that are still black with ash from the
devastating fires this summer. Luckily the fire did not reach the main farm
Thank you
everyone for a lovely relaxing weekend, we had a wonderful time and hope to
return some day soon
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
