We chat with one of our members each month about their business, what makes them lie awake at night and what gives them hope. Conrad Vlok, winemaker at Strandveld Vineyards, the southernmost winery in Africa says although it has been difficult to remain positive during and after the liquor ban, he believes the industry will rise up again.

 

First he writes at the end of January …
If only I could answer all these questions in December. Then our business still had revenue, wine sales soared and Covid was something that other people would get. Today everything looks different and it is quite difficult to have a positive outlook on our industry. However, I want to believe that we will be able to rise up again through this difficult time.

1. Tell us more about Strandveld Vineyards?

Strandveld is the southernmost wine cellar and vineyard in Africa, on the Damme Road between Elim and Cape Agulhas. The farm was acquired in 2001 by a group of adventurous shareholders with the dream of establishing a new wine farm in an environment unfamiliar to viticulture. They started planting vineyards in 2002. I joined them at the end of 2004 after saying goodbye to Stellenbosch and moving here with my young family. The old farm shed was converted into a wine cellar and I made the first wine from our own grapes here in February 2005.

We are a small cellar that presses about 300 tons of wine grapes annually and sells most of our wine under our own brands. We currently have 87 ha under vineyard. The average production is low (4 tons/ha), especially on the older vines (3 tons/ha), but the new plantings produce much better yields (8 tons/ha).

Between 2002 and 2004 we planted a total of 65 ha of vineyards, mostly Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon on the white side and Shiraz and Pinot Noir on the red side, with a little bit of Grenache Noir, Viognier and Mourvédre to add spice to our range.

From the onset our aim was to take consumers on a journey of discovery through our unique wine terroir, with our two wine ranges, namely First Sighting and Strandveld Vineyards. Both are in the premium price range and the diverse wine styles can be directly linked to the specific soil type, cultivar and terroir. We focus strongly on Wine of Origin Elim and together with our neighbours the Cape Agulhas district is renowned for its cool climate wines.

Although we initially only sold our wines locally, over the past seven years we have managed to expand our fan base overseas. Currently, 70% of our wines are sold locally, and 30% are exported to overseas markets under our own label. Like most small wine farms we also focus strongly on tourism and rent cottages where guests can come and experience the farm and enjoy a wine tasting. We also have herd of beef cattle that provide extra income.

Strandveld vineyards employ 25 permanent workers, but we also provide employment to about 20 temporary workers during the pruning and suckering periods. Of course harvest time is a different story altogether, because all our grapes are picked by hand and we then need about 40 additional temporary workers. All of our vineyard workers come from Bredasdorp, about 35 km from us, and are transported back and forth daily.

2. How did you experience 2020?

Covid-19 and the associated trade restrictions hit us hard, but we implemented a number of contingency plans that have helped us stay afloat up until now.

We kept our entire sales team employed, albeit with reduced salaries. Over the years we have built up a large database of our private clients and our sales team contacted them regularly to maintain the relationship and share special offers with them. It is these customers who have saved us through their continued support and we are very grateful to them.

In the vineyard and cellar we continued with normal production as planned. It was a wise decision to stick to the production plan, especially in the cellar. We always had wine in stock to deliver to the market at short notice. Interestingly, consumers’ behaviour changed and they wanted more wine delivered to their homes faster, so we adjusted our logistical planning and were able to take advantage of the opportunity.

3. Strandveld’s vineyards are located in an area with a very unique terroir, which is especially known for many challenging climatic conditions such as gale force winds and southeasterly rains. How do you manage your vineyards differently?

We’ve named our white blend after Adamastor, the Portuguese sea god of wind and storms, and for that we do pay the price. Frequent late cold fronts during flowering with wet, cold weather are the main factors that drive our low productions. We are also not working with some of the best soils and the shallow, acidic and brackish gravel soils on a clay layer have medium low potential.

Over the years, we have learned a great deal about how to better manage these conditions. We plant our new vineyards in an east-west row direction to limit wind damage, choose the right rootstocks (US 8-7), apply higher plant density (4 000 vines/ha) and plant the right cultivars that have already proven themselves in this area, namely Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz.

Furthermore we only seek out the deepest gravel soils on the farm and implement water infrastructure so as to only plant on the best potential soils.

4. Any exciting plans under way?

Most of our vineyards are 19 years old and replacement is very important. Due to various factors our vineyards don’t have a very long productive lifespan – especially the Sauvignon Blanc which is severely affected by esca (dead arm disease) or die-back.

We are therefore busy planting new vineyards, with specific renewal in the system we’re using, namely the Guyot pruning system. It has already been applied with great success on Sauvignon Blanc in other wet, cold viticultural areas such as Chile and New Zealand, and improved yield potential.

We also like experimenting with other cultivars. For example, we know for a fact that Tempranillo and Chardonnay don’t do well in this area; they are simply too sensitive to wind. The Albariño trial is looking good thus far, but we will have to wait a year for the first grapes to be harvested.

However, we remain focused on the cultivars that work well in this area, namely cool-climate Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc. This is what we are known for globally and I don’t think we should start playing around with Chenin or something else.

5. What is your message to other cellars and producers on the way forward?

I think we should learn from those old bush vines in the Swartland. When the drought hits them hard and it’s very hot, they merely throw off their excess leaves to survive, and in the next spring they bud again with new vigour. I hope and pray that the effect of the Covid pandemic will come to an end soon and that we as an industry will come out stronger on the other side.