What to make of Stellenbosch farm Blaauwklippen?

Date: 20 July 2007

Prior to 1971, the property had seen no winemaking for decades. Then former industrialist Graham Boonzaier acquired it and under his stewardship, the farm quickly became one of South Africa’s hottest properties. Top winemaker Walter Finlayson made a key contribution, working there from 1975 until 1989 before leaving to concentrate on what was then his own property, Glen Carlou. In particular, Finlayson achieved the remarkable feat of winning the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year Award two years running with Blaauwklippen Zinfandel 1980 in 1981 and Blaauwklippen Cabernet Sauvignon 1980 in 1982. By the end of the 1990s, it is not unfair to say that Blaauwklippen’s reputation was slipping. It had remained under Boonzaier’s ownership all that time, and you speculate that he was starting to run out of steam. On the market for some time, it was finally sold in1999 to German real estate magnate Stefan Schörghuber. If anybody is going to bring about this property’s renaissance, then it’s Schörghuber. According to the 2007 list of “The World’s Billionaires” in US business magazine Forbes, this German real estate magnate ranked jointly 287th overall with a net worth of $3 billion dollars (this puts him equal to Hollywood film director Steven Spielberg, for instance). Part of Schörghuber’s portfolio includes breweries and the ArabellaSheraton hotel chain, so locally Blaauwklippen has the Paulaner Bräuhaus and Restaurant at the V Waterfront as well as the ArabellaSheraton Grand Hotel in Cape Town and The Western Cape Hotel and Spa with golf club near Kleinmond as strategic partners. The new management at Blaauwklippen certainly understand the need to make the wine experience more accessible to the general public. The famous annual blending competition, open to all local wine clubs and begun in 1984, remains an important fixture on the calendar, while there are plenty of reasons to visit the farm: in addition to a well-fitted wine centre, there’s also a museum featuring antique horse-drawn carriages and the deluxe restaurant on the property is called Barouche after a type of carriage. There are also extensive conference and function facilities. Should you wish to throw a banquet on the lawns, you can invite your closest 600 friends. All well and good, but what about the wine? Rolf Zeitvogel found himself both general manager and winemaker as of late 2003 and talks a good game. German by birth and training, has worked off and on in South Africa since 1992. In 2002, he completed the winemaking at Cape Point Vineyards after Emmanuel Bolliger left and before Duncan Savage took over and in 2003, was understudy to Hungarian flying winemaker Tibor Gál (maker of famed Super-Tuscan Ornellaia) at Capaia. This Tygerberg property’s Bordeaux-style red blend from that vintage rated 5 Stars in WINE magazine and Zeitvogel is not too modest to claim some credit accordingly. “Tibor wasn’t here when we picked the grapes…” Blaauwklippen currently produces 32 000 cases of wine. There are 16 different labels across three different ranges, which might seem overwhelming, but Zeitvogel advises that he has already reduced this from 38 labels when he first started. At entry level is the Landau range, offering wines in a fruit-driven, lighter style selling for between R30 and R35 a bottle from the farm.


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Sound, if somewhat uninspiring stuff. Next is the Cultivar Selection, which supposedly aims to “best reflect the typical characteristics of each cultivar” but this is a non sequitur because in addition to single varietal examples of Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz, there’s also a white blend called Calash and a red called Barouche (both after carriages). The Calash 2006 is an intriguing blend of Viognier and Gewürztraminer, and Zeitvogel describes it a “fun for the winemaker”. Yet to be released, it will sell for approximately R60 a bottle and is worth looking out for. The so-called Vineyard Selection is the property’s premium range, and it is here that Zeitvogel seems to be making a real impact. There are five wines in the range consisting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Zinfandel and a Bordeaux-style red blend called Cabriolet (again after a carriage). Of the wines, I’ve tasted the Zinfandel 2005 (R80 a bottle) is one of the better expressions of what nevertheless remains a curious variety to me. No need to qualify my appreciation of the Cabriolet 2005 (R82 a bottle), however. Though Zeitvogel describes restricting the alcohol levels on his red wines while simultaneously avoiding green flavours as “a narrow path to walk”, he’s on track with this wine. It has plenty of good fruit expression, structure and complexity without sacrificing freshness and it’s all achieved with a relatively low alcohol by volume of 13.5%. It’s perhaps the Vineyard Selection Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 that suggests to me most of all that Blaauwklippen is turning a corner. Of the 90ha currently under vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon makes up the most comprising 38ha. Blaauwklippen is, after all, in Cabernet country with other accomplished producers of this variety like Blue Creek, Waterford and Webersburg in the general vicinity. This wine again has plenty of character without being at all overblown and thoroughly deserves its bronze medal awarded at this year’s Old Mutal Trophy Wine Show. Zeitvogel describes it as a “huge honour” to take over the legacy left by Finlayson in the 1980s but you feel he just might be the man to do it. Time to re-look the Blaauwklippen wines. Cheers

Christian Eedes

Deputy Editor, WINE magazine

webeditor@winemag.co.za