The Place of the Shiny Rocks
“This is a pretty hostile place.” - Callie Louw.
Callie Louw is an unassuming man, the best kind. More at home on a tractor than anywhere else, there’s a certain kind of grit and inexhaustible energy radiating from him. In Afrikaans, we say: “Sy hande staan vir niks verkeerd nie.” / His hands are ready for anything. (I’m not sure I did that justice.) His side-hustle is smoking meat in a smoker he built and welded from scratch, and catering at events in and around the area when he gets the chance. I ask him what one of the big milestones in his life was and he says it happened while drinking beer with the son of a French winemaker, and looking up to see that winemaker driving his tractor. “It clicked for me then, you should be farming.” And he hasn’t stopped since.
The Shiny Rocks
Porseleinberg is a pretty misleading name, given the reality of the place. The place of the shiny rocks. The Schist-based soils of the Swartland providing the kind of hostile environment a hardy vine can thrive in when farmed correctly. ‘Hostile’ because there’s literally only a foot of topsoil here and the rest is rock coupled with limited water sources, making for some pretty innovative root and pipe systems. Initially bought as a source of grapes by Boekenhoutskloof (for whom Callie farms the land) in 2009 the farm has expanded exponentially from its original 40ha. Today it includes another farm on the Riebeeksrivier Road, set up against Kasteelberg and in total covers 130ha of which most are planted to Syrah, with a bit of Cinsault, Grenache, and Chenin Blanc for good measure. Since 2010 Callie had been keeping back a bit of Syrah to make Porseleinberg, a selection from all of his top sites. “If it tastes good, it goes into the blend.” Back then, for his maiden vintage, only 3000 bottles were produced. Today, that number has doubled and quadrupled to 24 000 bottles made of the 2018 vintage. David Trafford said something that has stuck with me, he said that while growing the grapes and making the wine are fundamental challenges, that one shouldn’t rule out the logistics of SELLING the wine as yet another fundamental consideration.
Sealing the Deal
Porseleinberg’s sales model is unique in that the only things NOT done on the farm are the actual bottle and cork - the rest is as labour-intensive a process as the actual farming of the wine.{Yes, Callie FARMS his wine.} Not to say that other wines just magically appear labeled and bottled, but at Porseleinberg, it’s all Callie and a small group of people helping him on the farm. The Heidelberg Platen Press Model T, the smallest motorised printer ever made was purchased by Marc Kent of Boekenhoutskloof to produce the beautifully simple label designed by Fanakalo Studios in Stellenbosch. Callie, as he does, learned to work the press and now effectively produces his own labels as well as the custom back labels he makes for each one of his customers. Porseleinberg is sold by allocation only, an allocation you can only secure by appointment. Everything about this wine is authentic, from driving the dirt road to the farm on the outskirts of the Swartland, to the conversation you have with Callie, to his making you a plate to go on the back label and his promise that you’ll get your allocation of wine each year. It’s not just a wine, it’s a relationship, a person’s year in the vines and in the cellar, and a firm handshake to seal the deal.
Syrah
Of Syrah, and I think this is true of the man as well, Callie says: “Syrah’s a fantastic drink, but it’s not overly complicated.” He says that since the maiden vintage people have been commenting on the tannic quality of the wine, saying that they can recognise Porseleinberg in a line-up from a mile away. Significantly, however, in this 2018 vintage Callie once again put his welding gloves on. Having visited his good friend and fellow Swartlander, Ryan Mostert at Domaine Jamet in the Côte Rôtie he was introduced to a new technique, submerging the cap during fermentation. This allowing a more gentle and passive extraction method, and essentially helping flesh out the tannin to produce a more balanced wine. Callie welded together a contraption of his own to allow for this, once again proving my theory about his hands. A wine that Tim Atkin has deemed PERFECT, with a PERFECT score of 100 points, only the third time he has awarded any wine a perfect score in his eight South Africa Special Reports. Of the wine he says: “Callie Louw has made a stunning Syrah, proving his skills as both a farmer and a winemaker. In 2018, the style has shifted, away from power and grip to something more scented and refined. Focused, nuanced, and very delicately oaked, with raspberry and wild strawberry fruit, clove, and white pepper spice, and textured tannins. Simply world-class.”
The Swartland
When I ask him about experimenting and growing other varietals, perhaps more climate change conscious varietals he says: “Syrah is our big thing.” He grows Syrah because it’s also one of the main components in Boekenhoutskloof’s Chocolate Block and that if anything, he adheres to these requirements. His relationship with Boekenhoutskloof also being instrumental in the making of Porseleinberg and he says one of his biggest lessons in making wine in a greater sense. “We make wine but we also sell wine, which is a big thing.” Their support acting as a foundation to Porseleinberg’s success. Callie also played a big role in the Swartland Revolution, he says they were basically event organisers five years running, but that the most significant thing that was borne of the revolution was the Swartland Independent. It’s so simple he says: “Everyone is just trying. Work hard in the vineyard, a little more attention to detail. It’s just an organic thing.” And that’s the THING about the Swartland and her people, they’re all just trying, with no airs or egos. A good word here, a good word there, HARD WORK, and you get two Swartland wines rated 100 points in one Report. *Eben Sadie’s Skurfberg being the other 100 pointer in this year’s Tim Atkin Report.
Kanniedood
I say there’s a kanniedood /never-say-die spirit in the South African wine industry, but he corrects me and says: “More than kanniedood, we’ll always make plans hey. ’n Boer maak ’n plan./A farmer makes a plan. It doesn’t matter what happens.” No matter what happens. I love these people. (and their wine)