CEDERBERG HISTORY CONTINUED...

In the middle of the 19th century, wine grapes were planted on the southern banks of the Olifants River. Bear in mind that the first wine grapes were planted in South Africa in 1655 on the initiative of Jan van Riebeeck, and that the first wine was made in 1659.

The juice of the Olifants River grapes were used for three purposes: to make desert wine, house wine for the immediate area, and brandy. This was the era in South Africa’s wine history that the making of brandy was strongly promoted and permits to distil brandy were freely issued. The farmer on Matjiesrivier, 10 km from the current Cederberg cellar, for example, obtained a licence to distil brandy – for a single vine in his farmyard! This practice flourished until about 1920, when the Department of Customs and Excise and the KWV started controlling the permits.

Oom Pollie Nieuwoudt from Dwarsrivier, the farm where Cederberg Wines cultivates its grapes, made the first wine for his own consumption from table grapes. According to the local co-op Oom Pollie’s grapes were always “too late” for their purposes, while this was merely the time when the Cederberg grapes ripened. These were Barlinka grapes, introduced to Oom Pollie in 1964 by one Attie Rabie from the Deciduous Fruit Board. The grapes grew well and, on his sons’ insistence, a cellar was built.

In 1973 the cellar was registered as Cederberg Cellars Company. Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinotage were planted, despite the misgivings of the locals, who felt that white cultivars would be more suitable. “This is not really a red area,” they said. But it wasn’t long before they had to swallow their words. On entering the Cabernet for the first time in the Olifants River Young Wine Show in 1978, it walked away with the Distillers Trophy at the South African Young Wine Show for the best Cabernet Sauvignon, and later the same year also won the Gold Medal at the Cape Championships …

The current winemaker, David Niewoudt, Oom Pollie’s grandson, started making wine on the farm in 1997. Before him, wine was made by his grandfather, father and uncle – three generations of winemakers, although the farm has been in the Nieuwoudt family for five generations, since 1893. Today the farm comprises 5 500 ha, of which only 52 ha are under wine grapes. The oldest vines currently “in production” are a block of Chenin Blanc which was planted in 1978.

At present Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Bukettraube, Pinotage, Merlot, Shiraz, Ruby Cabernet and Cabernet Sauvignon are being cultivated. David is considering adding Petit Verdot and Mouvedré. Forty per cent of the plantings consist of white cultivars and 60% of red ones. In 2004 157 000 bottles (13 083 cases) were bottled. Before 2004 the farm focused on the cultivation of fruit, Barlinka table grapes and tobacco, as well as animal husbandry.

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