Afrikaans Vol. V (Photo: Provided)
Next time, feel free to have a glass of these truly African wines (in alphabetical order by winery):
Jean Engelbrecht, owner of the Rust en Vrede wine estate, says the wine called Afrikaans was created in 2019 in celebration of Afrikaans as a language. It was the polemic about Afrikaans on university campuses at the time that made this need take hold in Jean.
With the wine, Afrikaans, Jean has been striving for the past year to reconcile people from different language groups. There is therefore no political agenda driving this product, in fact, the hope is that Afrikaans will instead become a language of togetherness.
“Afrikaans, the wine, has its origins in moving away from the language as a political plaything. We wanted to create a wine that celebrates Afrikaans in all its guises, regardless of who speaks or enjoys it.
“Besides, wine brings people closer together. If you clink a glass of wine, it promotes communication between people and it builds bridges,” Jean tells Rhewal.
Since the wine was first made, every year there is a poem with the title, “my language”, on the back of the bottle. Artists such as Elvis Blue, Adam Tas and Stef Bos’ words have appeared on the bottles before and there are already other celebrities whose names will be added to this list in the future.
There are currently two wines in the Afrikaans Vol. V series: a chenin blanc/chardonnay blend (2022) and a cabernet/cinsault blend (2021).
Babylonstoren’s Nebuchadnezzar (Photo: Provided)
Babylonstoren, one of the oldest Cape Dutch farms at the foot of the Simonsberg in the Franschhoek wine valley, is known for its remarkable garden. This garden is celebrated in a strange way by Babylonstoren’s wine cellar with a wine they call Nebuchadnezzar.
According to winemaker Charl Coetzee, it was inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which were considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
King Nebuchadnezzar II apparently had the Hanging Gardens of Babylon built next to a large palace for his wife, Queen Amitis, who came from Media. The garden consisted of a large variety of trees, shrubs and vines. Queen Amitis longed for Media’s green hills and valleys, for in contrast Babylon was a flat, barren landscape.
Babylonstoren’s garden (Photo: Provided)
“Everything we do at Babylonstoren, we do to celebrate the garden. The Nebuchadnezzar blend consists of five varieties and is therefore very diverse. In the same way, our garden is also diverse.”
Nebuchadnezzar is a red wine blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot and malbec.
Kapokberg is Groote Post’s flagship wine range. One can also refer to a “snow mountain” instead of “kapok mountain”.
The wine’s name originated from the location of the hill on which this vineyard is located. In days gone by it was covered with white spring flowers and then it looked like a snow covered mountain. The hill is 459 m above sea level and also the highest one at Groote Post.
Lanzerac’s Cellar Master Bergpad (Photo: Lanzerac Wine Estate/Facebook)
Lanzerac’s Cellar Master Collection consists of three wines: Kurktrekker, Bergstroom and Bergpad. Bergpad is a pinot blanc that comes from a single vineyard block in the Jonkershoek valley in Stellenbosch.
The name for this wine comes from the famous mountain road that runs from Coetzenburg, Stellenbosch University’s sports grounds, all along the Stellenboschberg to the Lanzerac wine estate in Jonkershoek. Over the decades, this road has become a well-known landmark for local and university sporting events, as well as outdoor enthusiasts.
Lowerland’s The lost top cow (Photo: lowerland.co.za)
According to an explanation on Lowerland’s website, the winery’s logo was inspired by cross-stitch embroidery by Riza Coetzee that hangs on the walls of the farmhouse.
A representation of this embroidery on the lost bokooi wine label, tells the Prieska region’s story in more detail. According to Lowerland, the name “Prieska” comes from the Koranic words “beris” and “gab” which in Afrikaans can be translated as “place of the lost goat”.
The lost top cow is a red wine blend of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot and merlot.
