New Horizons continued...

The annual rainfall is approximately 30% lower than on Drie Sprong and the vines receive in the region of 10 to 12 days more sunshine. These conditions are ideal for those rich, muscular reds that are a hallmark of what has become known as one of the Cape's top red wine pockets - the Muldersvlei bowl.

Spatz had found the land he needed to compete with the best of the reds. A scant winemaking ability did not deter Spatz Sperling, for his gregarious nature soon won him many friends among the numerous young German expert winemakers in the Cape, and he prevailed upon them to help him improve his winemaking skills. Weekends at Delheim were a mixture of "gemütliche" parties and forays into the cellar. One particular Sunday afternoon, in between sauerkraut and swimming, Spatz led a very happy band of friends off to the cellar to taste his latest efforts.

The contents of the second half-full tank, however, proved too much for even their merry state. As Spatz poured the brownish-looking liquid into one lady friend's glass, her spontaneous - if rather sheepish - comment was: "But Spatz, this is now really dreck!"

Nothing could have motivated Spatz more than that insult - he was determined to make his friend drink her words. It was out of this disaster that Spatzendreck was conceived and perfected in time for the 1961 vintage to be launched on the market. With his flair for the unusual, Spatz gave the wine both its name and its world-famous label, which achieved the ultimate accolade of winning Decanter Magazine's Worst Label of the Year Award in 1970.

Spatz's first vintage in 1952 grossed a total of 18 tons; today the cellar has capacity for some 1200 tons annually.