Eendjies, endjies, stap in ‘n ry. Een, twee, drie, vier stap hulle verby. Ernst, our viticulturist on the farm only has count to 110 for that’s how many Ducktails we have here. No Brylcream or comb in the sock – only an appetite that’ll make any snail break the Overberg 100m track record! By the time the snails arrive on their annual culinary farm holiday the Ducktails will be at ready to go on their escargot-eating plan! As a BWI Champion Conservation farm we don’t use snail poison or other deterrent chemicals to ensure perfect soil conditions to produce premium quality wines such as Swartkaap, South Africa’s Terroir Champion Cabernet – click here to get your hands on a case and enjoy. To welcome the Ducktails to the farm, our village and farm staff got together for a ducktail party on the farm. The event was celebrated with our own Pinot Noir bubbly (available at the Saturday Food & Wine Market only), a trekker en sleepwa ride through the post harvest vineyards, a lamb on the spit, and tannie Gerda’s homemade birthday cake in sporting blue en pink farm animals and gold dust to wish all the HPF family member whose birthdays fall in May! Congratulations go to Ernst, Johan, Eloise, Mandi, David en Gerrie. Lekker bubbly in the duckling den A rest after a nerve wrecking ride through the vineyards Blow! Blow! Blow! David, Johan, Eloise, Ernst, Mandi and Gerrie - the May birthday gang. Duck facts you may find interesting: •    They keep vineyards and gardens free from snails in a natural and environmentally friendly manner. •    It is a far more economical practice to use ducks to rid the vineyards of snails than using poison and chemicals. •    Not only is this a more eco friendly deterrent it also adds to the soils and obviously the quality of our wines. •    The ducks are a week old when they arrive on the farm and 10 weeks later they are put to work … •    By this time they are fully developed and a special little gland on their backs starts to produce oil, which turns the ducks into healthy waterproof birds. •    Each morning the ducks are trailer chauffeured to and from the vineyards to perform and enjoy their snail consuming passion. •    It takes only two weeks to train them to alight the trailer drawn gangplank   to take them to their farm “restaurant” and return to their living quarters at night. •    The Ducktails is under permanent supervision of a friendly and qualified human “duck chaperone” who tends to al their needs and well-being.     Sussex, Sony, Cyclists, Sakkie-Sakkie and Sauvignon blanc 26 April 2002

Last Saturday and Sunday our cellar yard was literally propvol people... from as far afield as Sussex and Somerset West and some Windhoekers from the old Suidwes-Afrika. A festive mood prevailed. Laughing, chatting, chewing and sipping wine was the order of the day. Newly-made friends from Windhoek added to the Food & Wine Market’s convivial atmosphere. It’s become tradition to leave Hermanuspietersfontein having made new friends - not only chatting up Kleinboet and the family, but also other folks from near and far ...

Early Sunday morning saw Gerard, our resident Early Bird, with his new Sony camera, leading an army of 15 armed with long lenses and tripods in 4x4’s. Destination? Our farm, where they took up position at the highest vantage point. The mission? To capture the beauty of an autumn sunrise. Don’t come home without it! According to Gerard, the anticipation was palpable as they waited for the sun to burst forth in its dance over the Sunday’s Glen landscape. As the day shook off the dawn, their lenses started trawling in the wake of the sun through the goue wingerd blare in the quest to arrest the best autumn vineyard moment. By 09h30 the Hermanus Photographic Society’s mission had been accomplished.

Back at the cellar, Anuta was executing a mission of different proportions: preparing for the arrival of 350 mountain bikers at the finish to the two day Wines2Whales MTB Ride. By midday some 830 cyclists, family members, friends and cycling groupies were gathered in the yard sipping at a crisp Sauvignon blanc (and the odd beer, to tell the truth!). The smell of boerewors on the grill blended perfectly with Memory Lane’s boeremusiek as people cheered the mud-spattered and sore-muscled cyclists rolling in through the gate. Bikes, kids, dogs and happy hobbling cyclists made for a fun and healthy autumn Sunday outing. Best picture of the day? The blue lycra clad cyclist sporting his red crash helmet and biking shoes, proficiently leading the band boss’s wife langarm style over the stoep dance floor to the tunes of Sakkie Sakkie.

If ever in doubt about which wine to enjoy on an autumn Sunday, Sauvignon Blanc Nr.3 is the answer – next time, come see for yourself!

The Hermanuspietersfontein Wynkelder stands out in a wine industry teeming with Sauvignon blancs. Winemaker Bartho Eksteen, better known as Monsieur Sauvignon Blanc, makes no fewer than five wines from this cultivar. When you ask him: Why such a wide range from one varietal? he responds: “It’s one of the most versatile varietals and offers the winemaker a greater challenge than most others …

This is one of the few cultivars that offers such versatility: noble late harvest, tropical, green or mineral style. Perhaps even a bubbly! And then, what’s wrong with adding a bit of wood?"

According to Bartho, there is a strong opinion amongst wine experts that the Sauvignon blanc grape has sufficient character for wood maturation - which gives a whole new dimension to this popular cultivar. After four years of intensive work, he has discovered the “sweet spot”: he reckons only a handful of Sauvignon blanc winemakers “follow the wooded route” and strongly compete with good wooded Chardonnays and Chenin blancs.

Hermanuspietersfontein’s wooded Sauvignon blanc Nr.5 2008, first released in limited volumes last year, enjoys a four star rating in Platter’s 2010 South African Wine Guide. The wine spent ten months in new and second fill French oak. Bartho has introduced a third fill with the 2009 vintage which highlights the fruitiness of the wine and adds further depth. The blend of 85% Sauvignon blanc and 15% Semillon is the ideal maturation combination. To date Bartho has proven his expertise as a master of blending and he claims “like all our wines, you can leave Nr.5 ’09 to mature in the bottle – it’ll only improve with time.”

He describes this wine as a rich mouthful enjoyment – flowing balance between wood and wine, abundant aromas of coconut, apricot  with a sturdy backbone and structure.

Hermanuspietersfontein Boerdery, situated in the new Sondagskloof wine ward between Stanford and Napier, is proudly still the only BWI champion farm in this ward. This is the terroir which produces Swartskaap – twice prize winner of the SA Terroir Award for best Cabernet Franc in South Africa. Sauvignon blanc Nr.5 shares this origin and all eyes are on this one…

Nr.5, the cellar’s latest editon to their prime number range is to be released at the Hermanuspietersfontein Food & Wine Market on Easter Saturday.

For Tasting Notes and pack shot (example on your right), and more information, call our National Sales Manager, Ilse-Marie Thiart, at 028 316 1875.

'n Nuwe nommer op Bartho se kerf - die keer op hout

Die Hermanuspietersfontein Wynkelder staan uit in ‘n wynwereld wat wemel van Saugvignon blancs. Wynmaker Bartho Eksteen, beter bekend as Monsieur Sauvignon Blanc, maak nie minder as vyf wyne van dié kultivar nie. Vra hom: Hoekom so ’n wye reeks van een druiwesoort? Sy reaksie: “Dis een van die mees veelsydige variëteite en bied die wynmaker ’n groter uitdaging as die meeste ander  …

Ook een van die min cultivars waarmee ’n mens baie goete kan doen: edel laatoes, tropies, groen of mineraalagtige styl wyne. Miskien nog ‘n bubbly ôk! So, wat’s fout daarmee om bietjie hout by te bring?"

Volgens hom is ’n daar sterk opinie onder wynkenners dat die Sauvignon blanc druif die murg in die been het om goed met hout oor die weg te kom wat nuwe dimensie aan dié gewilde wynsoort verleen. Na vier jaar se intensiewe wynwerk ontdek hy die “sweetspot”: hy reken daar’s slegs ‘n handjievol Sauvignon blancs wat “die hout se draad reg volg” en volwaardig met goeie verhoute Chardonnays en Chenin blancs vergelyk kan word.

Hermanuspietersfontein se houtbeleë Sauvignon blanc Nr.5 2008 is verlede jaar vir die eerste keer in beperkte hoeveelhede bekendgestel en geniet 4 Ster erkenning in Platter’s 2010 South African Wine Guide. Die wyn het vir tien maande in nuwe en tweede vul Franse Eikehout verouder. Met die maak van die 2009 oesjaar gee Bartho die wyn ekstra diepte deur ’n derde vul proses wat sodoende die wyn se vrugtigheid uitlig. Die versnit - 85% Sauvignon blanc met 15% Semillon - is die ideale verouderingskombinasie. Tot hede het Bartho sy kundigheid as versnitmeester bewys en meen: “Soos met al ons ander wyne, kan jy Nr.5 ’09  maar laat lê – hy gaan net beter word”.

Hy beskryf die wyn as ’n ryk mondvol lekkerte - vloeiende balans tussen hout en wyn, oordadige geure van kokosneut, appelkoos met ’n stewige ruggraat en struktuur.

In die nuwe Sondagskloof wynwyk, tussen Stanford en Napier, pronk Hermanuspietersfontein as die enigste BWI Kampioen plaas – die oorsprong van Swartskaap wat al twee agtereenvolgende jare die SA Terroir Award toegeken is as die beste Cabernet Franc in Suid-Afrika. Sauvignon blanc Nr.5 2009 deel daardie terroir en alle oë is op dié wyn gerig.

Die kelder se nuwe priemgetal vrystelling, Nr.5 2009, word oor die Paasnaweek by die Hermanuspietersfontein Kos & Wynmark bekendgestel.

Vir proenotas en foto (voorbeeld regs bo), en  meer inligting skakel gerus ons Nasionale Verkoopsbestuurder, Ilse-Marie Thiart, by 028 316 1875.