DELHEIM

 “36 years ago, 15 rare Cape wines from five wine estates were showcased at the first Auction of the finest Cape Wines to take place at Nederburg in South Africa. It had a humble beginning as a platform for selling Nederburg Edelkeur, with the emphasis on affording licensees an opportunity to gain access to a selection of the finest local wines that represented the ultimate expression of the winemakers’ art in South Africa.

Delheim Pinotage 1975 & Goldspatz 1974

Since then, in a country that has experienced significant change, the event now recognised as the Nederburg Auction of rare Cape wines continues to make an impact. It is one of the world’s five major wine auctions and in fulfilling its objective to ensure fair distribution of rare wines, has done much to stimulate interest in South African wines among connoisseurs and the wine-loving public, both locally and abroad.

The 36th Auction pays homage to its origins with a selection of 153 wines, including some rare 70’s vintages. Buyers ranging from liquor licensees, restaurant owners, food and beverage buyers for hotels, guesthouses, game lodges and the supermarket retailers, will bid on a range of wines from 77 participants, including five newcomers, across various brands, estates and wineries.

The original five wine estates represented at the founding auction nearly four decades earlier – Delheim, Groot Constantia, Overgaauw, Simonsig and Nederburg – are again represented. “Their uninterrupted presence since the Auction’s inception is a testament to the exclusive, quality wines that the ‘big five’ consistently produce for the event”, says De Bruyn. “In 1975 they set a very high standard for rare Cape wines and, 36 years on, continue to underpin the Auction’s history and heritage by providing an incentive to greater wine standards with carefully crafted, superior wines.”

(from www.nederburgauction.co.za)

One of the heritage wines we will be submitting is the Delheim Goldspatz Stein 1974.

Now a legendary figure in the South African wine industry, Michael “Spatz” Sperling arrived in South Africa in 1951 as a virtually penniless young German immigrant to work on his aunt’s farm.  He soon developed an interest in the vineyards, and through a combination of much trial and error, hard work, sheer will and perseverance, he built the Delheim brand into the household name it is today.

A friend criticising one of his early attempts at winemaking as “dreck” spurred Spatz on to make an iconic wine and label it “Spatzendreck”, with a quirky label of a sparrow doing a whoopsy into a cask.  In 1961, with the idea of making a stein with a name that was a little less naughty, the Goldspatz was introduced and went on to win the Best White Wine award at the South African Wine Show in 1974.

The 1975 Nederburg Auction catalogue quotes Spatz as saying of the Goldspatz 1974, which is the one on offer at this year’s auction: “This wine is a freak of nature. A true vintage wine.”  As the Goldspatz is no longer produced by Delheim, it is also very much a collector’s item.

Having pioneered the idea of a “wine auction”, Spatz is gratified that the concept has stood the test of time.  He says: “the whole undertaking was a blind leap of faith into unchartered territory – it could have led either to new horizons for the wine industry, or utter failure.  As it was, we were greatly pleased with the positive reaction with which it was received”.

Now, in the year 2010, with the Nederburg Auction an established fixture in the annual South African wine calendar, we are grateful to those who took such enormous risks those many years ago so that we may enjoy the fruits of their success today.

Cathy Marston indulges in cheese and jazz on the gorgeous Delheim wine estate.

     

 

Strange as it may seem, there does come a time when perusing yet another menu of delicious-sounding food becomes wearisome. So it was with a light heart that we made our way out to Delheim Restaurant for their Cheese Fondue and Sunday Jazz lunch – because we didn’t have to think about what to order, we had something to occupy us as we ate (I’m entering my second childhood now, and always need entertainment at the table to keep me happy) and we were going to meet up with good friends who we hadn’t seen for some time.

Delheim is a lovely, cosy, gentle, warm, fluffy-bunny of a wine farm. Set up by the legendary Spatz Sperling, that pioneer of so much that is good and great about the Cape Winelands, and now run by his daughter Nora and son Victor, it has a lovely family-feel about it which frankly, just makes me always happy to be there. My friend Annelize used to work in the tasting room some 20 years ago now and tells me that nothing has changed there at all. ‘Even the gluhwein tastes the same’ she whispered, sharing scurrilous tales of brewing it up all those years ago.

The Fondue

The fondue was everything you could hope for – made to a family recipe and definitely featuring more than a good slug of wine and Kirsch, it was thick, gloopy, cheesy and completely heavenly. Baskets of cut-up baguette appeared at regular intervals at the table – if I had a criticism at all, then it would be that it would have been nice to have something else to dip as well. Maybe some of the divine sausage which the kids were piling into, or perhaps some cherry tomatoes or chunks of ham? Whatever – the cheese was definitely the star of the day and since we all scraped the pot bare and went through a shaming 5 baskets of bread, we can’t have really felt the lack of very much.

The wine

Obviously, we were washing all this down with vast amounts of wine. Delheim has a wide range of wines to choose from and nearly all of them are available by the glass as well. We decided to go entry-level and were drinking the Shiraz-Cab and the Chenin-Sauvignon, both of them priced at R65 a bottle (I always like a place which offers a genuine, good value, entry-level wine) but we did dither awhile about whether or not to try a glass of Gewurztraminer which I thought might have done rather well with the cheese. Next time perhaps.

We finished off with some delicious slices of cheesecake and a darned fine Malva pud from the a la carte menu. Some friends were in the main restaurant hoping to try Delheim’s ridiculously good-value Dollar-rate deal, but they had got the dates wrong and that only starts again in a couple of weeks time – book now, is my advice.

An excellently-priced experience

In the meantime, at R220 per couple for gluwein, fondue, coffee and cover charge for the charming trio beavering away in the corner, this is an excellently-priced alternative for everyone who wants to be wrapped up in a warm blanket of good food, delicious wine, lovely music, well-being and happiness. I can’t wait to go back.

Hello,

Two weeks were running very fast, everything still feels so new and different from home.

Unfamiliar people greeting me on the street, the birds are way louder than ours, the foam on the cappuccinos in Stellenbosch is creamier then in Frankfurt and I still mix up doors when getting into a car.

But may I introduce myself quickly…I am Thomas from Geisenheim, Germany. I am studying International Wine business and came to Delheim for internship during my semester break.

I met Nora at the International Wine Fair “ProWein” in Düsseldorf. She offered me the traineeship on her wine farm and now here I am. I will be at Delheim for three months, learning the way of making and selling wine in South Africa, the country which is so diverse from Germany. The diversity was the main reason I chose South Africa for doing my internship. To go to Austria for example was no option for me, it is simply too equal.

Your wine farms are easily ten times bigger than ours. You grow grape varieties we just do not have because of the cooler climate. For instance, we will never be able to make Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon, the way you do, unless you can wait for another 200 years.

When I came to Delheim everybody was so nice and helpful. I got introduced to everybody and I was showed around very detailed. Okay I am still struggling with remembering all names but it is getting better every day. For the twenty dogs on the farm I found an easier solution. I call them all Jessie, the only name I remember, and it works very well this way.

On my first week Andri, the viticulturist who was trained at Elsenburg, the South African “Geisenheim”, took me around Delheim vineyards at Simonsberg and DelVera. He showed me how you train and handle the vines. He showed me how to prune and I even did it myself. It was a very decent experience.

At the moment I am working at the Downstairs Cellar together with August, Mike and Stian. They look after me very well. It is very pleasant and much fun working with them. We do the wine tastings and I already do the daily cellar tours at 10:30am and 2:30pm. So if you want to have a chat with me while tasting stunning wines, please come around. You really must try the 2010 Gewürztraminer with its full litchi and rose flavour or the 2006 Shiraz, my favourite red wine on the farm.

Maybe see you very soon

Thomas

Thank you to Selma Albasini for her sketches of the Jazz trio which plays at the cosy Delheim “Downstairs” cellar on “Jazz and Cheese Fondue” Sundays.  Book now for the next performances on 15 and 22 August at 12h00 – telephone 021 888 4607.  The cost is R220 for two people sharing, which includes the cover charge, glühwein, an authentic Swiss cheese fondue made of Emmenthaler, Gruyere, white wine and Kirsch liqueur, and filter coffee.  See you there!

Pierre-Henri Wicomb on keyboard

Adriaan Brand - Trumpet/Percussionist/Accordian

Leonore Bredekamp on bass