Janette Bruwer

„You’ve brought the bad weather with you!“ For a moment, Jeanette Bruwer feigns a bad mood, but immediately breaks out into a broad smile again. Indeed, it is raining lightly in Robertson, the temperature is extremely moderate at only 19 degrees Celsius. Not exactly typical for a spring day in this warm region in South Africa – after all, the typical average summer temperature here is around 29 degrees, and still a balmy 21 degrees in winter. However, October and November 2007 turned out to be rather cool. „It has rained a lot“, sighs Jeanette Bruwer, who runs the Springfield Estate together with her brother Abrie. She is the one responsible for marketing, while Abrie looks after the wine growing and making. However, they are both still called upon constantly to explain the very special style of their wines, as Springfield is regarded as one of the most innovative wine estates in the country, never shy to experiment.


New beginnings in the Northeast

However, that was not always the case. Robertson, a two-hour drive from Cape Town, was until quite recently regarded as a supplier of grapes for the large wineries further south. But that period definitely came to an end in 1994, when Nelson Mandela was elected president. The international boycotts had evaporated, and a democratic future appeared possible. At Springfield, a decision was taken to bottle one’s own wines, and to develop markets both domestically and internationally. Jeanette Bruwer remembers: „The next time the grape buyer came to visit and quoted the prices for grapes, we told him straight away to pack away his laptop again.“ It was a decision that was both easy and difficult at the same time. On the one hand, the Bruwers yearned finally to produce the wines they had always envisaged, on the other hand the decision required major investments in tanks, barrels and other cellar equipment.

Beautiful landscape in Robertson

Springfield is not the only producer in the Robertson district, which has a vineyard area of 13.600 hectares to concentrate on marketing its wines under its own label and brand since the end of apartheid. Currently at least two dozen wineries have shown the ambition to produce high-quality wines. That several of these wine estates are run by families bearing the name of Bruwer must be seen as a coincidence – it is a widespread name in the area. While Alwyn and Francois Bruwer at Vruchtbaar have built up a reputation for Cabernet Sauvignon, Martin and Fanus Bruwer at Quando are concentrating on Sauvignon Blanc. Not an easy task in Robertson, with its warm climate: „Many people are surprised, and ask us how we can manage to produce light-bodied Sauvignons with fresh acidity in this region“, laughs Jeanette Bruwer. Winemakers in the Robertson area have to pull out all the stops in order to be able to compete with their colleagues in cooler regions such as Stellenbosch, Constantia or Walker Bay. At Quando, the Sauvignon Blanc vines have been planted along the banks of the Breede River, and at Springfield, too, the quest is for vineyard sites that benefit from the cooling south-westerly wind as well as from the proximity to water. Almost everywhere, grapes are picked in the early morning hours, and grapes are refrigerated before pressing. Perfect management of the picking as well as sophisticated canopy management are essential here: A portion of the Sauvignon Blanc grapes is picked before they are fully ripe.


Spontaneous instead of simple

Mature Sauvignons from Springfield

At Springfield they have always wanted to do one better, right from the outset, which included doing without the addition of cultivated yeasts. „Natural spontaneous fermentation also helps to keep the alcohol content of the wines low“, explains Jeanette Bruwer. The fact that fermentation can occasionally get stuck unintentionally, resulting in a whole batch being written off, is a risk the Bruwers are prepared to take. „This method also helps to improve the maturation potential of the wines“, stresses the boss, and pulls a bottle of 1999 Sauvignon blanc „Life from Stone“ from a pile. In the glass, the wine is surprisingly fresh and elegant, with light gooseberry notes; it is more reminiscent of a mature Riesling than of a New World Sauvignon. The procedures are even more rigorous for the „Méthode Ancienne“ Chardonnay. Spontaneous fermentation, two years of maturation in new barriques, batonnage and bottling without filtration are the standard here. The wines are released to the trade – and that is unusual in South Africa – only after an additional one to three years of maturation in the bottle. Even more time is taken over the Pinot Noir. The 2003 vintage has been bottled, but not yet released for sale – and might never leave the farm. „If we release the Pinot on the market, it is going to have to be really good“, smiles Jeanette Bruwer. „And until such time we will simply drink it ourselves.“



P.S. Tourism is also definitely a growth industry in Robertson, an otherwise unprepossessing town. A number of Bed & Breakfasts have already been established, and the increasingly numerous visitors to Bon Courage estate will find a restaurant on the premises. The owner enjoys serving the estate’s Gewürztraminer Special Late Harvest with dessert; the young restaurateur’s and wine expert’s first name is Maude, and her last name, well, Bruwer of course, what else in Robertson…


Information on the estates

Springfield Estate, Robertson, Tel. 0027/23-6263661,
www.springfieldestate.com

Quando, Bonnievale, Tel.0027/23-6162752,
www.quando.co.za

Vruchtbaar Winery, Robertson, Tel. 0027/23-6262334,
vruchtbaar@mweb.co.za

Bon Courage Estate, Robertson, Tel. 0027/23-6264178,
www.boncourage.co.za