Malu Lambert: Has Breedekloof managed to shift bulk perception?

Do wine lovers still have tunnel vision when it comes to the Breedekloof? High on the slopes of Signal Hill on the rooftop terrace of the Dorp Hotel, I put this question to WS Visagie who was presenting Daschbosch’s new releases.

The Breedekloof brand is the boutique arm of uniWines Vineyards, a co-op that manages 2 800-hectares, of which 122 qualifies for heritage certification (vines 35-years-old and above) by the Old Vine Project. Only 4.5 hectares of this they deem suitable for Daschbosch’s Heritage range – which we are tasting today, namely an old vine chenin, small batch clairette blanche, old vine cinsault and a hanepoot from the oldest vineyard on the African continent. The block is guessed to be around 124 years old, if not older – as recording keeping of vineyard plantings began in the 1900s, so it’s difficult to ascertain dates before that. This, alongside the ‘Experimental’ range, comprising a méthode ancestrale from verdelho and a dry, skin-contact blend of chenin and muscat.

Daschbosch has been in production for around a decade. It’s been just as long since the Breedekloof Makers were formed to promote high quality chenin from the Breedekloof. Coincidence? Visagie admits that while they had released a chenin-based blend in 2013,  it really was the Makers initiative that ignited the new direction for Daschbosch.

“We were told you can do whatever you want, but do it with chenin.” 

The project was the brainchild of Attie Louw, 7th generation winemaker and marketer at Opstal Estate, located on a ridge in the Slanghoek, a ward of the valley.

The Breedekloof controls 22% of South Africa’s production, and one-fifth of all chenin is planted here. Louw realised that to make a statement they needed to focus on chenin, both the high quality that’s possible as well as the wealth of old vines they had access to. Using his forbear Carl Everson as inspiration he made a chenin bearing his name in 2012. The wine was the opposite of the inoculated commercial chenins of the time. Instead it was made from a single vineyard planted in 1981, naturally fermented in old French oak, then left on the lees for extended maturation. The inaugural vintage received high praise from critics. This was the proverbial turning of the tide; and with it the genesis of the Breedekloof Makers.

Visagie reflects on the last ten years. “It’s great to see how everyone has fine-tuned their styles. I don’t think we’ve arrived just yet, but we’re finally on the map.

“Even though it’s just an hour away, there’s a resistance about driving through the tunnel,” he admits referring to the famous toll, the Huguenot Tunnel which you need to drive through if travelling from Cape Town to get to the valley.

However he has noticed an uptick in interest in the region, quantified by cellar door visits and resulting sales. More often than not he says visitors cite it was the marketing efforts of the Breedekloof Makers that got them there.

The other side of the mountain or ‘annerkant die berg’ was once a pejorative term used to describe the region, it is now widely embraced by the farmers with a sense of tongue-in-cheek pride; they’ve even named an annual festival after it.

And, it’s beautiful. When you do pop out of the tunnel, expect dramatic Tolkien-esque mountains and rolling vineyards as far as the eye can see. Eminently suited to agriculture with plenty of water to spare, grapes grow easily and in abundance here.

This has been a double-edged sword. The perception of being a ‘bulk wine’ region has hurt their image for the production of fine wine, hence the creation of the Breedekloof Makers in the first place.

It also means that Breedkloof crops consistently, resulting in more profitability in wine growing than in many other regions. With this they have the ability to invest back in vineyards and infrastructure as well as the custodianship of heritage plots.

Such as the 1977 block from which the Daschbosch’s Avon Clairette Blanche hails. “It’s not about making money,” says Visagie when asked why make the wine. “It’s about keeping the vines in the soil.” They can only make around four barrels per vintage, and in fact reduced yields in 2024 saw only three being filled.

“You’d fall over if you heard what we have to pay to keep some of these old blocks in the ground,” adds Pieter Cronje, head of marketing for the brand.  He hints they are paying far more for heritage grapes than in other regions, such as the Swartland. He asks rhetorically, “Why should a farmer keep these low-yielding crops when he can get 20-times as much for high volume colombard, or even butternut?

“These farmers are commercial farmers, whereas with these plots it’s all about heritage and emotion. You have to get the grower’s buy in.”

Security of fruit

Premium wines with a story to tell have the added bonus of attracting attention. This is part of the reason that some of South Africa’s most well known producers can be found happily shopping in the Breedekloof for fruit. “It’s no secret that some of Stellenbosch’s top estates source their fruit in Bonnievale,” says Cronje.

The other is that the crops are consistent. “Breedekloof is in a sweet spot,” relates Opstal’s Louw when we jump on a call, along with contemporaries winemaker, Ivy du Toit of Jason’s Hill and Ed Beukes, marketing manager of Du Toitskloof Wines – both estates members of the Makers.

“We discussed at the recent Old Vine conference how it is one of the most sustainable regions in Western Cape, because we have the security of fruit.”

“Of course we do bulk wine. With the luxury of water, bulk means we can harvest a lot of grapes, and we need to start seeing that as a strength rather than hiding away from it.”

“If we want to plant bushvine grenache on a raised slope, we don’t need a French aristocrat to invest to do so,” says Louw. “We have the sustainability of profitability on a farm level to take on such a challenge.”

Beukes points out that from anecdotal observation the Breedekloof Makers project has worked. “The stats from our tasting room show that our old vine chenin is one of our top-sellers, remarkable when you consider Du Toitskloof is known as an easy-drinking brand. He also notes how members are consistently bottling current vintages of the Makers’ chenin, whereas that wasn’t the case in the beginning.

Conversely Du Toit points out how the Makers initiative has had another effect: “We now know how many people still don’t know about us.”

This underscores the importance of sticking to the message.

“The market needs to expect to enjoy quality chenin in the Breedekloof,” says Louw. “And we still have a lot of work to do in bringing that message to the world.”

For reviews of the latest Daschbosch releases by editor Christian Eedes, see here.

• Malu Lambert is freelance wine journalist and wine judge who has written for numerous local and international titles. She is a WSET Diploma student and won the title of Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer of the Year 2019. She sits on various tasting panels and has judged in competitions abroad. Follow her on Twitter: @MaluLambert