Today I visited two wineries and though my first of the day, an abrupt, very business-like encounter at Kanonkop was less than thrilling, my second visit was far more to my liking. My journey took me a different direction out of Stellenbosch than my previous adventures and I found myself along the much more rural and remote Vlaeberg Road, a big difference from the R44 between Stellenbosch and Somerset West. On the approach to Raats I noticed the soils between the vines was much paler than in the Blaauwklippen area.
When I arrived at the winery, I already knew a bit about the Raats wines. I knew that they specialised in two varieties; Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc and had a small range of wines at differing price points, from everyday quaffers and braai-wines to serious bottlings built to whether the test of time and drink in a decade or so. What I did not know was their reasoning for choosing this sight in particular, and that I had seen a valuable clue on the drive in. For owner Bruwer Raats, it's all about the soil. After years working around the world including stints in Italy, France and Spain and some time spent at the famous Cakebread Cellars in Napa Valley he knows a thing or two about dirt.
The plots he has chosen include two distinct and inconic soils. The first, decomposed dolomite granite created in the same period of volcanic volatility that created both the jagged peaks of the Helderbeg and the rolling hills that surround Raats, gives a bright minerality to the Chenin Blanc and Cabernet that I can hardly compare to anywhere else in the world. Not even Chablis regularly offers so much of a minerally profile. The second soil, found more commonly in the Western cape is Table Mountain Sandstone, so named because it is the building block of one of the world's most recogniseable mountains. Breaking apart one of these sand stones, you can see that under the dry, sandy exterior there is a moist core even on a sunny hot day. This soil retains moisture beautifully allowing the winery to forego irrigation entirely.
Another thing that struck me was the vine training. They stood vertically, not horizontally; a method I know to be used in places where acreage is so limited that this allows vintners to maximise their use of the available land. Chris, the publicity manager for Raats told me that these were in essence bush vines that had been encouraged to grow up a wooden post, but in fact the grapes were just as glose to the ground as any other bush vine and that the training method is meant to encourage competition amongst the vines. It was remarkable to imagine it; the vines planted so closely together would have roots going down several meters, fighting for precious ground water.
Here I could see the personality of the vines. Though the competition was fierce, the Chenin Blanc seemed to be making the effort to look polite and gentlemanly above ground even as their roots tore each other apart under the ground. The Cabernet Franc, however, made no such pretenses. Unkind and fickle to winemakers, it is even more savage among it's own kind with branches reaching over each other, strangling smaller vines with some big, bushy tyrants clearly dominating their own neigbourhoods like gangsters.
The two premium red, the Red Jasper and the Family Cabernet Franc were stunning wines. Big and full bodied with plenty of chunky tannins and great complexity, whilst still showing Cabernet Franc's great touch of elegance and class. I look forward to seeing them in the UK along with 'de Compostella'; the collaboration wine between Bruwer Raats and Mzokhona Mvemve.
I liked all the Raats wines and would drink them all happily and greedily and I was loathe to leave and return to my car, but I think Chris was bound to enjoy the left overs later and that can come as consolation to an extent. Further comfort can be found it the hope that in the not too distant future the Raats wines will decorate the wine list in St. Andrews!
Much Love,
George
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