Waterkloof Wines
Waterkloof started as an idea by Paul Boutinot (French name, actually from Manchester) to find a vineyard site "with the potential to produce truly fine wine with a defining sense of origin". The site had to be able to produce great grapes without the artificial ever present assistance of man; to "turn those grapes into wine with minimal intervention and maximum care". In 2003 this site, Waterkloof, was found in South Africa, near Stellenbosch, overlooking False Bay and the South Atlantic beyond.
Waterkloof is fully biodynamic. Half the estate is left to the native wilderness and in 2008 was awarded Champion Status by the WWF's Biodiversity and Wine Initiative. The wines have a lovely fresh, natural acidity and minerality. Sauvignon Blanc is the grape producing the best wines - elegant, fresh, complex and uniquely having the ability to age and develop. Paul also found the site perfect for Cabernet Franc, the lovely red, crunchy grape synonymous with the Loire Valley and Saint-Emilion in France. Again the freshness and sense of place come through.
These wines aren't tiny production, wacky, natural things made by chaps with beards. Waterkloof is an excellent example of a 21st century winery making sustainable great wines with a sense of place.
2018 - No More Ordinary
