What does a wine from 70-year-old vines taste like?
Twenty minutes from Cape Town stands a vineyard planted in 1955, South Africa's oldest Pinotage plot, now under protection. The estate around it is older than the United States. What old vines do differently, why their wine can't cost 20 francs, and which three Meerendal bottles are in our range.
A beginning with numbers
In 1702, a settler in the Durbanville valley north of Cape Town was granted land for a farm. He named it Meerendal and planted 60,000 vines. That much is documented, and it says a lot: anyone planting 60,000 vines at the Cape in 1702 wasn't planning to make a house wine. Today the estate has around 150,000 vines.
Durbanville is the coolest wine region within reach of Cape Town. The hills lie open to the Atlantic, and the sea wind keeps the summers bearable. That's why Sauvignon Blanc thrives so well here, and why the red wines have more freshness than those further inland.
The 1943 cellar
Today's cellar was built in 1943. The concrete tanks from back then are still in use. That's not nostalgia: concrete holds temperature more steadily than steel and is back in fashion at many top estates. In 1969, the first wines were released under the estate's own name, a Shiraz and a Pinotage.
When South Africa introduced its wine-of-origin system, Meerendal was among the first 14 estates to be granted "Estate" status: wine made exclusively from its own grapes, vinified on the property.
The vines of 1955
The most important thing at Meerendal stands on a hill behind the cellar. Pinotage was planted there in 1955, just 14 years after the very first Pinotage wine ever made. Those vines are still bearing fruit today. They are recognised as South Africa's oldest Pinotage site and are registered as a "Heritage Vineyard" in the Old Vine Project, which protects the country's old vineyards.
Seventy-year-old vines give little yield. What they give is concentrated and has a depth young plantings can't reach. Over five years of work, the estate developed its own virus-free Pinotage clone from this block, to preserve the genetics for when the old vines eventually need replacing.
Alongside it, an even older planting was recently identified: Muscat d'Alexandrie from 1936.
Three Meerendal wines in our range
Meerendal Intensio Pinotage, CHF 59.00. The estate's serious Pinotage: dark, spicy, aged in oak, off-dry. Five to eight years of ageing potential. With lamb, game and smoky grilled food.
Meerendal Heritage Reserve, CHF 49.90. The cuvée named after the old vineyard. Dry, dense, elegant. The wine for an evening when you want to explain South Africa to someone.
Meerendal Velo-Wine Durbanville, CHF 25.90. A Cape Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinotage, off-dry and easy-going.
And as a white wine: Meerendal White Pearl Blanc Fumé, CHF 39.90, Sauvignon Blanc from cool Durbanville, aged in oak.
If you ever go there
The estate today is also a restaurant, a hotel and a starting point for hikes and bike tours. It's 20 minutes from Cape Town. Anyone who has visited Table Mountain can spend the afternoon standing where the 1955 vines grow.
