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indwe magazine – April 2006
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Major’s Hill Wine Estate - Wines That Taste Like The Grapes From Which They Came
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 Located on the lush banks of the Breede River in the fertile Robertson Wine Valley, the stylistic aim of Major’s Hill is to create wines that taste like the grapes from which they came. Selecting only the finest grapes and using traditional winemaking methods, this lofty ideal is accomplished through a meticulous process. Subjecting both the grapes and the wines to the least possible amount of processing and handling, winemaker Alkie van der Merwe succeeds in enabling the natural and varying flavours to remain intact from grape to bottle. The proof of which is in every bottle of Major’s Hill wine.The dream of a new cellar started in 1994 when the Louw family bought the farm Klipdrif on the outskirts of Robertson. Unlike the majority of the wine farms in the Robertson Valley, which had been passed on from generation to generation in the same family, this portion of the Klipdrif farm had been owned by at least four different families before 1994, when entrepreneur Dewald Louw and winemaker Alkie van der Merwe joined forces and gave flight to their vision of a new wine cellar. A previous owner, Major Jacobus Petrus Marais, also known as “Oom Kosie,” had started the cultivation of grapes on this farm and built one of the first cellars in the Robertson valley. His Southern Liquor Company developed the now famous Klipdrift Brandy. After his death he was buried on his favourite spot on the farm; a hill from where he used to look out over his lands, hence the name Major’s Hill. After the passing of the Major, the farm was sold and the Klipdrift brand was sold to Distell. With the spirit of one of the oldest cellars in the Robertson Valley as a source of inspiration, the new owners instructed the architect to incorporate the old cellar in his designs for a modern cellar complex in which the grapes and wine would be handled as naturally and as little as possible. Winemaker and shareholder Alkie van der Merwe was given a free hand in designing and planning a cellar that would allow for the production of the best wines possible. He succeeded admirably in doing just that. Oom Kosie, or Major Marais, was commemorated in the name Major’s Hill Winery, and today the spirit of the old cellar lives on in every bottle of Major’s Hill wine, always produced with utmost care and devotion. In 1995, when Louw and Van der Merwe planted their first vineyards, their first obstacle was a severe shortage of vine cuttings due to a great demand for South African wines by international markets and an ensuing drive to expand vineyards. With only Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay vine cuttings available, they planted 1,7 hectares and 2,7 hectares respectively. After 1995 the right cultivars and clones were selected in collaboration with the SAWIS consultant and the vines were ordered in good time. The ‘Big Five’, comprising Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Shiraz were then planted, and South Africa’s own wine of origin, Pinotage, was also included. With a composition of 40% white wine and 60% red, the first harvest of the new Major’s Hill cellar in 2003 totalled 398 metric tons. The ultimate goal is to produce 650 tons when the new vineyards have matured. At Major’s Hill every effort is made to harvest only top quality grapes at an optimum ripeness. All grapes are harvested by hand and selected simultaneously. Although this is more expensive than machine harvesting, this fits into the overall philosophy of working as naturally as possible. The grapes are then brought to the cellar in the same small picking crates in which they have been harvested and de-stemmed over the tank by carefully tipping the crates into the de-stemmer without crushing or pumping the berries. The white grapes are harvested very early in the morning to capture the night’s coolness, enhanced by the night’s ocean breezes at night. The grapes are then taken to the cellar where the temperature is lowered even further to a wintry 10 °C. The discursive juice is separated from the berries and run into the fermentation tank. The berries are then pressed and the extracted juice is fermented in separate tanks. The red grapes are also de-stemmed over the tank, but are dry-fermented on the berries. The resulting discursive juice is then separated from the berries, after which the berries are pressed and the juice is run into different fermentation tanks. The discursive juice and the pressed juice of both white and red wines are regularly tasted and evaluated to determine the optimum time for blending. The process is completed with the bottling, which is done at the cellar by a mobile bottling company. The entire wine making process is done personally by Major’s Hill’s exceptional winemaker, Alkie van der Merwe, and his able assistant, Nico Renoster. Although this writer does not consider herself to be a wine connoisseur, she is a wine lover of note, with a keen palate for discerning wines of distinction. Her verdict is simple: Major’s Hill produces the best red wines in South Africa. These are wines that are above the need to compete for the honours bestowed by haughty wine tasting panels because these are wines that taste like the grapes from which they came! Order your wine today. |
