The Blue Sky Theory
“Just remember if you look out the window Gary, it’s blue sky. If you go for it, no-one’s going to stop you.” - Oom Pietie Theron.
Gary Baumgarten is a big man, in every sense, he fills a room. Fitting, given his BIG job. As he explains his career working 16 years as a wine chemist at KWV, 16 years with Graham Beck, and now 10 years with Johann Rupert at Anthonij Rupert Wyne as Managing Director, it seems the blue sky theory served him well. The theory being: If you get the chance, go big. Anthonij Rupert Wyne is the perfect example. A sprawling enterprise, encompassing six properties around the Western Cape, thoughtfully curated, farmed, and maintained to produce top South African, terroir-specific wines. These six properties produce six very distinct wine ranges, each with its own story, and ethos. From sparkling to premium red to old vine wine to Armagnac to Eau de Vie and even a premium Rosé, Anthonij Rupert Wyne shows a great range of expression in keeping with the diversity and potential of South Africa’s terroir. I said BIG right?
Ou Bosstok
Sometimes, within such a big business, things get lost. Like personality, and authenticity, and a sense of community. But here the mark of a moral obligation to the land, its people, and premium South African wine is apparent in even the smallest detail. There’s a sense of innovation. Their red wine cellar was one of the first to incorporate an electronic fly-wheel for pure gravity-fed winemaking. Mr. Rupert initiated a hydroelectric plant in the mountains surrounding La Garonne and L’Ormarins (the neighbouring Franschhoek properties) to power some of the structures on the farms. The importance of old vine wine, and keeping these old vines in the ground was an initiative started by Mr. Rupert - realising the importance of these vines in making internationally competitive wines. He even went as far as saving 59-year old (at the time) Chenin bush vines that were to be pulled out on top of Paardeberg and transported them individually to L’Ormarins to be replanted on the slopes of the Great Drakenstein mountains. These vines, now 71 years old, have since been studied by the University of Stellenbosch with a 95% survival rate and are being cultivated to prolong their life cycle indefinitely. The resulting Ou Bosstok wine is made in small quantities in key vintages, and proof of the importance of these experiments and what they might mean to the wine industry at large. The viticultural team cultivates virus-free vines using the stok-by-paaltjie (echalas) method, a cost, and time-intensive method, but one that has meant they’re able to grow healthy red grape varietals on a site that seemed ill-suited to the task, though the quality of the wine has since dispelled any misgivings - once again working to GROW old vines. Moreover, there’s a sense of pride here. In the people, in what they’re doing, and how they’re going about it.
Their aim: To make South African wine that can compete on an international stage.
A Gap In The Market
Gary’s career encapsulates the best of our jaded past, he speaks with passion of the KWV and the opportunities it afforded him. He says back then you didn’t just visit a country for a week, you went for two MONTHS. He traveled to Bordeaux for a month, “three weeks with the boys in Sancerre”, made Brandy, and got the grounding of his life. “If you grab those opportunities, no one can take it away from you.” Mostly when talking about the KWV it is portrayed as an anachronistic behemoth of an entity, out of time and place, prescriptive, rigid, and stuck in its ways. The thing that held South African wine BACK essentially. But there’s another side to it - as with all things. Gary paints it as a unifying entity, old, but also willing to accept change if proven. He was one of the guys who convinced them to start using smaller 225L barriques and make fruitier, more modern style wines - resulting in the Cathedral range still being made today. “I became a bit of a thorn in the side of a lot of people at KWV.” He talks about their concentrate plants and spirit stills, back in the day our current conundrum of over 300 million litres of excess wine would be perfectly dealt with to ensure the financial stability of the industry. And that’s the thing, there’s a gap where the KWV used to be. Gary says that’s one of our weaknesses, the fragmentation of the industry, ALL the different entities, associations, and “clubs” vying for purpose. Don’t get me wrong, I think these entities represent our diversity as a group and might be indicative of a phase of self-exploration and understanding. As Gary says, we don’t NEED or even WANT another KWV, but we need some form of unification and support for such a diverse group of people and land. We’re still very far from any resolution - but I thought it relevant to admit that the absence of the KWV has left a gap in the market and that there might still be relevant points to take from its existence. Because as Gary says: “There’s nothing new in the wine industry. The only thing that changes is the vintage.”
Blue Sky
Anthonij Rupert Wyne itself demonstrates this diversity with its six properties. Rooderust in Darling is their workhorse, producing grapes for their sparkling wines, Optima and Sangiovese. Riebeeksrivier on the slopes of Kasteelberg in the Swartland is an unbelievable property producing Rhône style varietals with a specific focus on Syrah (obviously). Altima is cool climate and one of their show-stopper grape producers. Olifantskop in Wellington is a new addition to the portfolio, producing 42-year-old Cinsault and Sauvignon blanc, as well as Grenache for their Jean Roi premium Rosé. La Garonne in Franschhoek used to be the old Graham Beck property and is situated right next to L’Ormarins - one of the original Franschhoek farms granted to French Huguenot, Jean Roi, in 1714. With Gary’s intimate knowledge of La Garonne, having run it for Graham Beck before, he has been able to help bring it to life in a way only time and experience will allow. In essence, Anthonij Rupert Wyne IS blue sky. Given the backing and foresight of someone like Johann Rupert, the many opportunities to make wine in South Africa, and people like Gary accepting the challenge - the size of this endeavour seems just right, no? “You can’t ignore it, if you want to, you can do anything in South Africa.”
OF leaving South Africa one day, Gary laughs and says he’ll switch off the lights here.
