(Photo: Provided)
The corks will pop on Friday when the 130 members of Stellenbosch wine routes celebrate their 55th birthday.
It is not only the largest wine route in the country, but is considered one of the best destinations in the “New World” wine countries.
Elmarie Rabe, wine route manager, is regularly invited to give talks – locally and internationally – about the existence of the wine routes, the business model, sustainable wine tourism and product development, among other things.
Stellenbosch remains the pacesetter in the innovation of wine tourism; an organized network of farms that work together to market their wines and also the region. It is often used as an example or visited.
Michael “Spatz” Sperling, Frans Malan and Neil Joubert will hardly be able to believe how the route has grown and excelled since they first discussed the possibility of a wine route and the subsequent founding meeting was held in 1971.
The three founders. (Photo: Provided)
Since the Stellenbosch wine routes were established in 1971, it has grown to 23 wine routes and a Cape Brandy route, in five provinces.
It is said that visionary people don’t wait for opportunities, they create them. If Frans, Niel and Spatz had decided to start a wine route on the moon, it would probably have been a success.
It is this kind of determination that 55 years ago laid the foundation for the country’s first wine route, which soon opened its doors to visitors.
Elmarie says the seed for this grand enterprise was sown in 1969 in the picturesque Morey St Denis in Burgundy. During a visit to France, Frans (then owner and winemaker of Simonsig) and Niel (then winemaker at Spier) saw how local cellars opened their doors to the public along the Route des Vins.
Frans later said that this simple concept set his “curious brain buzzing”. He realized: Stellenbosch is the ideal district to bring this European model to South Africa, after he had also experienced a similar route in Bordeaux. (Photo: Provided)
Frans was then already a pioneer and Simonsig one of the first wineries to bottle wines under their own label in 1968. This is where South Africa’s first sparkling wine in the traditional champagne style was made in 1971. Other wine farms (Rustenberg, Montagne, Muratie and Overgaauw) also made wines under their own label.
Back on home soil, they involved their friend Spatz from Delheim. However, the challenge was enormous. In the early seventies, wine farms were simply production units.
Before his death, Spatz said on occasion that very little was done to welcome visitors. No tasting rooms, no meals, no marketing. Spatz’s job was to recruit members, but the response was power. Out of 15 questionnaires to other farms that traded as private entities, only one farm showed interest. French’s reaction? “You don’t know my people. They will never answer a letter.”
And so the trio drove from door to door to convince their colleagues.
Spatz later said it was like trying to sell chewing gum, so tough was the resistance in the conservative wine industry at the time. The vast majority of winegrowers delivered their grapes to cooperatives.
On 17 April 1971, the Stellenbosch wine route was officially opened. It consists of 11 members together with the three founders: Blaauwklippen, Hartenberg, Greenland, Koelenhof, Koopmanskloof, Mooiplaas, Muratie, Neethlingshof, Overgaauw, Uiterwyk and Verdun.
The authorities, under pressure from frightened traders and bottle store owners, limited the 11 farms to a meager combined sales of 3,000 cases a year. It’s ridiculous when you think that farms like Simonsig and Spier each produced much more individually.
In addition, customers were obliged to buy a minimum of 12 bottles at a time!
Otto Helmer’s (Delheim’s winemaker in the seventies) wife, Ute, packed the winelands’ very first cheese plate in 1976. Spatz’s wife, Vera, baked the bread, and in doing so they actually became the mothers of the wine farm restaurant.
Moreover, when the wine route was established in 1971, there were very few privately owned farms bottling under their own labels. People like Spatz and Frans were also instrumental in securing wine estate legislation.
Frans Malan and Neil Joubert. (Photo: Provided)
Wine of origin
Two years later, with the establishment of the Wine of Origin scheme (WO), eight of the first 14 registered wine estates that received wine estate status on 1 September 1973 were from the Stellenbosch district. They are Alto, Middelvlei, Muratie, Neethlingshof, Overgaauw, Simonsig, Uiterwyk and Verdun (now Asara).
The WO scheme is internationally regarded as one of the best of its kind and has paved the way for many wine producing countries to establish similar schemes.
This historic scheme achieved the legal protection of South African wine-producing regions and the regulation of wines of a specific cultivar or vintage.
The 50 year commemorative book, Stellenbosch. (Photo: Provided)
At the 50th anniversary of this scheme in 2023, André Matthee (chairman of the Wine and Spirits Council), said that the establishment of the WO scheme was decisive in preserving the identity of South African wines and improving them.
“Without the first 14 wine estates, the South African wine industry would not be where it is today.”
The WO scheme not only gives wine buyers peace of mind about quality, but is also a guaranteed certification system of traceability, in other words where the grapes come from. With this scheme, South African wine producers were several decades ahead of the international trends of sustainability and traceability.
The legislation has changed several times in the past 50 years, but the estate reference on wine labels is for many international buyers a stamp of quality and origin.
More about it here: https://maroelamedia.co.za/kos/drinkgoed/nog-n-hoogtepunt-in-sa-wyndjohesijde-herdenk/.
The well-known Norma Ratcliffe, formerly of Warwick, says three farms, Uitkyk, Delheim and Muratie, dominated the wine industry in the 70s and 80s by selling wine directly to the public. They received people for visits in the tasting room or cellar and thus established wine tourism.
Later, farms such as Spier and Blaauwklippen also formed part of the wine tourism offer.
However, the road for the Stellenbosch wine routes was not always strewn with roses.
Thanks to the founding trio’s “powerful persuasiveness” and their networks, several draconian laws were over time dismantled and beneficial initiatives introduced.
(Photo: Provided)
It took four years to get permission for signposts and it wasn’t until 1981 that the first official logos were put up.
Victor Sperling tells how as young children he and his sister, Nora, stood on the side of the road with makeshift signs to attract the attention of passers-by and lure them to Delheim. If they suspected that it was government officials or official police vehicles driving by, they quickly hid behind the bushes or lay down in a ditch until it was safe to come out again.
Today, they are the second generation of Sperlings to own and manage Delheim, and the farm is celebrating its 88th anniversary.
In 1981, the official Stellenbosch wine routes logo appears on road signs – and Victor and Nora’s hard work is – for now – over.
By the route’s 21st anniversary in 1992, there were 24 members. This coincided with the advent of democracy, which opened the international floodgates for Stellenbosch wine. By the turn of the millennium, the number of wine producers in the district had risen to 120.
However, the route needed a new boost to manage this growth.
In 2000, under the leadership of Johann Krige (Kanonkop), the organization was transformed into an Article 21 company. With a new commercial focus and the support of major sponsors, the membership grew to more than 150.
The late Duimpie Bayly – former head of production at Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery, one of the largest co-operative wineries in the region – has often said: “During the 1970s and 1980s we paved the way for the ‘new’ South African wine industry. With the WO scheme, individual wine farms were attracted to the idea of making their own wines and showcasing their own unique terroir at their best, instead of having their grapes in a cooperative cellar’s unmarked tank disappears.
And with the wine route already well under way, a new generation of wine drinkers was created. They were able to visit farms and gained a better understanding of the winemaking process. And there was greater appreciation for the quality wines they were able to obtain.”
George Young and Elmarie Rabe. (Photo: Provided)
Story is only now gaining momentum!
The five sub-routes – Bottelary, Stellenboschberg, Helderberg, Simonsberg and Stellenbosch Valley – are a further indication of regional quality and terroir within a larger district.
The routes boast the most awards on regional, national and international podiums, and when it comes to wine tourism, it is internationally regarded as the pacesetter for how it can be done.
Mike Ratcliffe, chairman since 2018, writes in the 50 year commemorative book, Stellenbosch. The wine. The people. The storiesthat the route’s story began on page one in 1971, when three pioneering minds realized the potential economic benefit of such a bold endeavour.
He writes: “A small group of just a few wineries who were willing to stand together to drive, support and build the Stellenbosch brand. The original script was dead simple: unity over self-interest. An attempt to utilize the power of the collective.”
“History makes memories fade, but clear-headed octogenarians and astute archivists record stories of deep arguments and reluctant agreements. Stories of red tape and obstruction. Stubborn bureaucracy and a stubborn determination to overcome.
“A small handful of early adopters and a long tail of followers, embracing a shared vision.
“Here the book metaphor begins to lose momentum. Every great opus, regardless of its seriousness, has a conclusion. The end of the Stellenbosch wine routes story is nowhere in sight. Our story may just be gaining momentum.”
The region is known for many things and many awards, but it’s its cabernet sauvignon and pinotage that stand out. Pinotage was born here and cabernet sauvignon perfected here.
More about pinotage here: https://maroelamedia.co.za/kos/drinkgoed/mylpaal-vir-die-mombergs-van-middelvlei/.
Since 2017, Stellenbosch boasts the Stellenbosch Cabernet Collecitve, a collective of Stellenbosch producers who put together the expression of Stellenbosch through cabernet sauvignon. They teamed up to share passion, discovery and knowledge. Together they form the Stellenbosch Cabernet. There are currently 37 members, and of course it is no surprise that the three founding farms of the wine route are also part of this.
Laurie Cooper, Itumeleng Mohale, George Young and Elmarie Rabe. (Photo: Provided)
One of this organization’s members, Christo le Riche van Le Riche, writes in the same book: “Stellenbosch cabernet sauvignon is elegant, refined and yet it retains a wild beauty, similar to our landscape.
“By understanding our winds, sunlight and aspects, we can find the best places to plant our vineyards. However, when these elements are aligned, the wines produced from these vineyards will hold a candle to the best in the world. Cabernet is not a forgiving grape. It must be treated with respect and cared for with a level of understanding that only comes from years of training and work. If done right, the result is a wine with powerful yet refined, elegant tannins. To finding that balance is the real art.”
Today, the wine routes have a total of 130 members, who fall within the Stellenbosch Wine of Origin classification.
And of course you can’t live on wine alone. That is why the Eikestad and its surrounding farms’ restaurants are of great importance. Here, too, quality and excellent service are the watchwords.
More about the recent awards here, and see how beautiful: https://maroelamedia.co.za/kos/kos-en-wyn-hoofstad-skitter-by-die-alkreunders/
If you clink a glass this month – and in the coming months and years – to the 55th anniversary, you are not only celebrating the wine, but the three holders who refused to take “no” for an answer.
They didn’t just establish a route – they changed the South African wine culture forever.
