Karen Watkins
THANK goodness it wasn’t boiling hot. Small mercy as we trudged along a dirt road in the middle of nowhere.
I’m usually lucky and have no qualms in sticking out my thumb to get a lift, but not today. Only two cars had passed by and they were going in the opposite direction. We’d woken that morning to a cacophony of birdsong and wind rustling tall gums outside our cottage. Just another African day. It was our third visit to Good Hope Farm, a place that keeps calling visitors to return. It’s tucked away at the end of a valley with Genadendal, a short distance as the hiker goes but far by car. But more of this later.
Part of the fun of going away for a weekend is the journey. Sandy and I enjoy wine and for the past few years we’ve tried one or two different farms on the way to wherever we’re going. On the way through the Breedekloof Valley we stopped at Dagbreek having phoned ahead to make an appointment. Owner Peet Smith welcomed us into his boutique cellar, built in 2008; his first wines produced the following year. The farm has been in the family for three generations.
Set against the stunning Brandberg, with the Breede River winding through it, this flat open valley is a windy place. And yet this terroir and the weather conditions have proven perfect in the production of a wide range of wines, from chenin blanc and chardonnay to pinotage and pinot noir, and everything in-between. Peet said that although it’s been the longest and driest season in 25 years his wines will be good.
Pouring a 2015 pinotage from the barrel, it already showed promise and is worth returning for. But Dagbreek is known for varietals of Italian nebbiolo, Portugal’s touriga and French chenin. Brickstone in colour and cherry-toned, the 2011 nebbiolo was creamy smooth on the palate and worthy of its four-star Platters rating. The 2012 nebbiolo was also good with truffle and spice on the nose. Peet said nebbiolo means fog and is Italy’s most respected varietal, known as the prince of vines.
During the tasting he jumped up, excused himself, going off to fetch his son from school, leaving us with a cellar full of barrels and bottles. On his return he poured a tot of port named Lammie in honour of his dad Lambertus who died nine-years-ago. Two hours later, laughing while cramming bottles into every nook and cranny of our little car, it’s no wonder that Dagbreek’s motto is “pleasure through quality”.
Back on the road we took the back route avoiding Worcester and Robertson. We’d found it on our first visit to Good Hope Farm, a corner of the country we didn’t know existed. It’s very dry, on the southern edge of the Breede River Valley, in the rain shadow of the Riviersonderend Mountains. Taking a right, clouds threatened as we continued to the end of the valley and dramatic mountain amphitheatre of the Riviersonderend.
Good Hope is a working wine and olive farm run by owners Taryn Cooper and Tienie Schoeman. Our first visit was October 2014 for Meridian Hiking Club’s 26th birthday bash. Some relaxed, swinging from hammocks reading books, others went off with cameras, binoculars and bird guides identifying feathered visitors. It’s a birders paradise with resident francolin, guinea fowl and barn owls and migrant bird’s red-cardinals, bee-eaters, and water fowl on the dams. Which is where I spent most of the time, paddling and swimming, or floating while watching weaverbirds constructed nests with red bishops flitting between. There’s a choice of three swimming pools.
A group went off on mountain bikes to view ostrich chicks at a nearby farm. Others walked to a waterfall while hardy hikers went across country to meet up with the two-day Genadendaal Hiking Trail. There are plans for hikers to overnight on Good Hope Farm as opposed to the neighbouring one.
Accommodation includes five dam cottages, the original farmhouse, four mountain cottages and the most private lavender cottage, everything neat and clean, fully fitted and furnished and spread over a large area. And it’s both pet-friendly and family-friendly, in fact children love the farm animals, most of them rescued. On our third trip there was no sign of Paris Hilton, the goat who had previously made herself at home on hammocks and sofas outside our cottages and also has a penchant for toilet paper. One of the cats spent the night with me and next morning presented Peter with a mouse before devouring it, tail-and-all. On the second visit we had pigs on the patio.
This time the weather was bad although we did hike onto the neighbouring property, which is fine according to Taryn and Tienie, following a track into the neighbouring gorge and returning over the ridge and via the waterfall. On Sunday, and with rain threatening, and having noticed Sumsaré on the drive in, we took a chance, phoned and walked there. It had not seemed far away but was actually 12.6km, of which we walked almost eight before flagging down the local bus.
Petro Erasmus greeted us in the tasting room. It dates back to 1830 and was meticulously restored by the family in 2009. The original hand-made clay bricks and huge poplar beams holding the roof are still visible. The gable is set at a rakish angle and looks like it’s about to topple over. “It’s been like that for 180 years, apparently to enable mules to pull the straps that were used to haul in chaff in the so called ‘kafhok’,” said Petro.
She explained that Sumsaré takes its name from Erasmus spelled backwards. Petro and husband Danie are sixth generation with their ancestors building the family farm in Agterklip-hoogte in 1810. The farm has been in production for two centuries, now housing the seventh generation of four children Francèl, Janine, Danielle and Johannes who are the current co-owners.
Sumsaré’s range is wide, produced from lush vineyards cultivated in deep, cool, rich alluvial soil that is rich in lime. We started with a crisp 2012 sauvignon blanc with apple, pineapple, ripe granadilla and a touch of flintiness it received a gold Michelangelo. Chardonnay is well suited for limestone soils. Winemakers Johannes Erasmus and Lourens van der Westhuizen use mainly free-run juice to make this 2012 chardonnay. French oak barrels are used, but not new wood making this chardonnay full bodied with aromas of lime, citrus and a hint of butterscotch.
The complex limited release chenin, also known as “steen” (stone), is refreshing and crisp with tropical aromas complemented by natural acidity. The 2010 shiraz is a dark, elegant wine, soft on the nose but full-bodied with subtle woody taste balanced with aromas of pepper, berries, mocha and leather.
The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon has aromas of plum and mint on the nose and is rich, full and earthy on the mid palette. Finishing off with Sumsaré’s brandy we made our purchases and were thankfully offered a lift back to Good Hope Farm. Next day we packed slowly. I’m sure we’ll go back; after all we haven’t tried their pizza oven.
l 023 626 3965, goodhopefarm@ breede.co.za, www.goodhopefarm. co.za, [email protected] Sumsaré Family wines have tasting by appointment: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, Saturdays and public holidays 9am to 1pm, [email protected]