Visit to the Old Vine Project in Stellenbosch

Michèle Shah tasting with Rosa Kruger

Michèle Shah, our Regional Ambassador for Italy, takes a trip to South Africa to find out more about The Old Vine Project and how they have set the standard for old vine projects around the world.

By Michèle Shah
My recent visit to the Old Vine Project in Stellenbosch was made possible by a very welcome invitation to judge in South Africa’s Michelangelo Awards competition, this year held at the beautifully landscaped premises of the Lourensford Wine Estate.  Being based in Stellenbosch, the traditional heart of the South African wine industry, presented a great opportunity to visit with André Morgenthal and Rosa Kruger of the Old Vine Project in South Africa, who started the search and documentation of old vines in South Africa and consequently founded the Old Vine Project in South Africa. 

My acquaintance with André goes back a number of years, to when he was Communications Manager for Wines of South Africa (WOSA), so it was especially nice to reunite and share in his passion and dedication to the Old Vine Heritage Project.  While I had never met with Rosa Kruger, I had read about her and seen her on video presenting the Old Vine Project, which gave me a mere introduction to this feisty, fearless Afrikaans ‘Mevrou’ (lady), fired by determination and passion in her mission to save the old vines.  Meeting her in person was even more inspiring.  Rosa’s strong personality and dignified presence are quite perceptible as is her conviction and confidence which is matched by few.  As we walked among the vineyards I watched her interact with them and I could almost picture her ‘whispering’ to the vines. When it comes to viticulture her philosophy is to follow nature and plant accordingly, rather than to dominate it. 

André Morgenthal and Rosa Kruger

I was especially excited by the opportunity to join Rosa and André in a field trip and bear witness to how they tend to the old vines and in particular to the pruning method used.  It was a special experience visiting the two old vineyard blocks based in Stellenbosch.  We first met up with Sofie, who had recently graduated from the pruning course curated by the Old Vine Project.  Sofie was heading a group of farm workers pruning Ken Forrester’s FMC block.  I was impressed with her knowledge and skill, knowing which shoots to cut away and which to keep in order to sustain and strengthen the plant.  As André explained to me, dealing with old vines is like dealing with old age pensioners.  It’s all about ‘planting to grow old’ and with the pruning its necessary to make sure the plant is not overloaded, that it is nurtured and sustained in order to age gracefully.  We then met with Frik Kirsten who owns the oldest Chenin blanc in South Africa. Producer Eben Sadie tends to this block and vinifies the grapes for his Mev Kirsten label and here Rosa explained how they manage the soils for old vines by planting cover crops in between the vines to maintain and enrich the soils with natural nutrients.   

Michèle Shah with Sofie (pruning)

From these two brief vineyard visits, I was able to get a glimpse of a sustainable model of viticulture that not only takes into account the nature of the vines and the concept of ‘planting to grow old’, but also that of empowering the farm workers with the necessary skills and knowledge of how to interact and preserve such a heritage.  As global weather extremes become more commonplace, something that also applies to the drought in the Cape winelands, the belief that old vines have a crucial role to play in the future of the wine industry struck me as a very realistic one. Just as quoted by Rosa and André  ‘we can learn so much form them, they hold so much wisdom’. 

André Morgenthal and Rosa Kruger with Frik Kirsten

From these two brief vineyard visits, I was able to get a glimpse of a sustainable model of viticulture that not only takes into account the nature of the vines and the concept of ‘planting to grow old’, but also that of empowering the farm workers with the necessary skills and knowledge of how to interact and preserve such a heritage.  As global weather extremes become more commonplace, something that also applies to the drought in the Cape winelands, the belief that old vines have a crucial role to play in the future of the wine industry struck me as a very realistic one. Just as quoted by Rosa and André  ‘we can learn so much form them, they hold so much wisdom’. 

Back in Stellenbosch we sat down to a tasting at Simon Wine Emporium at De Warenmarkt, a beautiful, old building with loads of atmosphere and a good collection of local fine wines in addition to a selection of wines from Stellenbosch based Old Vine Project members.   The tasting mainly featured wines made from old Chenin vineyards and for me it was one of the highlights to taste some of these old beauties.  On all accounts it was a very entertaining afternoon and clearly both André’s and Rosa’s passion and dedication to the Old Vine Project came across loud and clear, each wine and vine had a story to tell, my favorite was the vine that was uprooted and replanted!  The vineyard was Die Ou Bosstok a 1 ha vine which was transplanted from the Paardeberg to L’Ormarins in Franschhoek and to this day is doing just fine. At the time, a project entirely overseen by the Rosa and her team.

Heritage Old Vines in the Michelangelo Awards

Just before my visit to Stellenbosch came to an end, as we wrapped up the judging at the Michelangelo Awards, André came over to the Lourensford Wine Estate to lead a special tasting, open to all the judges form the 20 different countries, dedicated to the old vines that were submitted to the competition.  Though there are still only a handful of Heritage Old Vine wines submitted and not enough to justify an individual judging category, hopefully in the future this could become a category of its own.

On returning to Italy, which I represent as Ambassador to The Old Vine Conference, I realized we are just at the beginning of this exciting journey and there are a number of great opportunities for old vines, of which Italy confidently boasts a significant number spread out over its 20 regions, but to date lacking in a national certified category specific to old vines.  The Certified Heritage seal which is unique to South African old vines, offers a great business model and opportunity, which not only guarantees authenticity and traceability through detailed planting data, but caters to a growing category of passionate consumers, happy to buy into the ‘added value’ of drinking a wine from a heritage old vine with its very own individual story. This makes it not only a sustainable, cultural experience, but a viable commercial opportunity, something many other wine regions with old vines could and should follow.

Find out more about The Old Vine Project: oldvineproject.co.za
@oldvineproject

Words & photography: Michèle Shah