Durbanville is where Cape Town suburbia meets wine country, and while it’s one of our younger wine destinations, with wineries mostly dating back only to the ’80s and ’90s, wine has a history there dating back to the late 17th century.
Modern buildings and sprawling townhouse complexes seen from the highway give little clue to Durbanville’s origins, with wheat, wine and cattle farming springing up in the area not long after Van Riebeeck’s arrival at the Cape and a little village emerging as a meeting point for farmers and a way station for travellers.
Drive into the area, and the suburbs soon give way to scenic vineyards and farmlands, often just a stone’s throw from the bustling malls and many located on historic properties dating back centuries.
One of the oldest farms in the area, Groot Phesantekraal, is 320 this year and fourth-generation owners André and Ronelle Brink are celebrating the next phase in the evolution of the estate, a vast working farm with grains, cattle and sheep, and long a supplier of grapes to the wineries of Stellenbosch.While they still sell most of their grapes to other cellars, the Brinks launched a small range of wines under their own brand – Phizante Kraal – in 2005, and this year reached some more milestones, the new vintages released under their new Groot Phesantekraal label, their maiden Cap Classique and pinotage, a renovated tasting room, and new winemaker in Etienne Louw of Altydgedacht.
Apart from the idyllic setting and rustic restaurant in the original stables, Groot Phesantekraal seems worth a visit for the novelty of the tasting room alone, located in the original chicken coop and lined with a wall of “scent jars” containing herbs, spices and teas for comparing and identifying the aromas in your wine.
There’s no help needed in identifying the subtle chocolate and Christmas cake fruity-spiciness of the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon (R100), a juicy and velvety wine, deep and plummy with cedar and vanilla rounding off the finish. This is more a medium-bodied cab than an upfront blockbuster, its elegantly restrained power that suggests a bit of ageing will see it showing really well.
The 2017 Sauvignon Blanc (R72) is another stunner from a great vintage year for sauvignons. Finely balanced acidity gives it a crispness with light creaminess, no sour or tartness. Deliciously fresh with restrained fruit and typical Durbanville flintiness, its already attracted a slew of awards, including a Veritas Double Gold and a place in the 2017 FNB Top 10 Sauvignon Blanc awards.The wines are available at the farm or via their website www.grootphesantekraal.co.za and also include the newly released 2015 Blanc de Blancs MCC, Chenin Blanc, Shiraz and the maiden vintage 2016 Pinotage.