Napier for a day

Bredasdorp, Wednesday.

An interesting day’s run. We set off from Hermanus in a brisk headwind which slowed us down in places to little more than 60km/h between Stanford and Napier.

I wanted to visit winemaker Jean Daneel, who I have known since his Constantia days and later when he was in charge of the cellar Morgenhof.

He now has his own cellar in Napier and I was interested to find out about it. I’ve always enjoyed his style of wines.

After all the glamour and prestige of running elegant and internationally known cellars, Jean has reduced his winemaking operations to bare basics.

His little farm on the edge of Napier is by no means elegant or glamorous. An old grey Ferguson “Vaaljapie” tractor stands in the shade, pallets are piled in the yard and there seems to be little activity in the farmyard.

Jean’s cellar is a plain, concrete block building without any pretentions. Inside, however are all the necessities for good, no-frills winemaking – chilled stainless steel tanks, a crusher, an efficient press, pumps and barrels.

A load of sauvignon blanc grapes is in the pneumatic press and the juice drips gently into the trough underneath.

Fermenting barrels bubble quietly, while others sleep in the maturation cellar until they’re ready for bottling.

The cellar has the capacity to handle 60 tons, but Jean limits production to about 30 tons a year in these uncertain economic times.

His wife, Renée, runs a cosy continental-style restaurant in the town, called Renéessance, and we head there for lunch.

During the meal Jean asks the waitress for a bottle of his signature red wine and she opens a bottle of his very special 2005 Director’s Signature red blend by mistake. Only 600 bottles of this delicious wine were produced and they’re certainly far too grand to be quaffed at a casual Wednesday lunch.

Still, Jean graciously pretends not to care too much and we enjoy a very special wine treat.
After the meal we re-cork the bottle and stow it on one of the scooters for later, and head off to Bredasdorp.

Good, inexpensive accommodation at a backpacker’s lodge, where we are the only guests in a rambling converted house. An evening stroll around the town, stopping for a light meal at the local Italian kitchen called Buon Apetito, and then home to our lodgings to bed, but only after a long, relaxed session in the enclosed garden with the rest of that wonderful Jean Daneel Director’s Signature wine, listening to Leonard Cohen songs on our iPods and deciding that life is definitely worth living.

Ethene has brought a miniature speaker, so we can share our music in these relaxed moments. It’s amazing to think that modern technology allows us to carry literally thousand of tunes with us in a space smaller than a cell-phone.

Full moon bathes the sleeping town of Bredasdorp as we finally head for bed.

The bottle is completely empty.