Vergelegen rebooted: visiting this important South African winery and meeting the man tasked with fulfilling the potential of an amazing set of vineyards

Website: https://vergelegen.co.za/

Vergelegen is one of the great wine projects of South Africa, and it has now been rebooted after losing its way a little bit.

The 3200 hectare estate, in Somerset West, the part of Stellenbosch that’s furthest east and closest to the sea, is an impressive site, fringed on one side the Hottentots Holland mountain range, and then with a view to the east of Sir Lowry’s Pass. You can also see Cape Point from the top of the farm. It was established back in February 1700, and one of the treasures here is a stand of three camphor trees planted that year, and now considered as a national monument.

It was Willem Adriaan, the son of the famed Simon van der Stel, who settled on his land when he became governor of the Cape in 1700. Vergelegen translates as ‘far away’ and it took three days to get here from back then from Cape Town by ox, the favoured manner of transport back then. As well as camphor trees, he planted vines. But he was found guilty of ‘corrupt practices’ and sent back to the Netherlands. In 2009, the estate was divided into four and sold: as well as Vergelegen, it became Lourensford, Morgenster and Cloetenburg.

The more recent history of Vergelegen begins with ownership by the Philipps family, from 1917-1941. Sir Lionel Phillips purchased the rather dilapidated property for his wife, Lady Florence Phillips, who had visions for transforming it. She took out the vineyards and instead focused on its floral and cultural interest. A lot of renovation took place. The old winery was turned into a library, which is still there today, housing the Phillips’ collection of books. Included in this is a two-volume set Florence put together charting the botany of the estate. The records of fynbos are still there today, and this has been helpful in more recent efforts to eradicate alien vegetation and replant the estate with indigenous flora. They are impressive books with colour photographs and hand annotations.

Florence died in 1940, and the following year the estate was sold to the Barlow family. Farming was resumed, and also viticulture on a small scale. In 1987 the property was sold to Anglo American, the current owners.

To make money from hard-to-farm vineyards like these, it’s essential that there’s added value from selling branded, bottled wine rather than selling grapes or selling wine in bulk, both of which used to happen in the past. The location of the vineyards – on wind-exposed slopes in Somerset West, many of which have a view to the sea, means that yields can be quite low. The benefit is that these are vineyards that have the potential to make really good wine, and now the winemaking team at Vergelegen look like they are well placed to do this.

Some of the South African wine journalists get a bit cross when I talk about Vergelegen being in need of a bit of a shake up, presumably because of their loyalty to and affection for the previous winemaker, Andre van Rensburg. Andre had established his reputation with Stellenzicht, where he was winemaker from 1993-1997, and the wines he made there were very important in the development of the modern South African wine scene.

Anglo American initially hired Martin Meinert as their winemaker, and planted 100 hectares of vines on this 3000 hectare property. They opened their impressive winery in 1992. Meinert left in 1997, and was replaced by Andre, who joined in 1998. Andre really helped establish Vergelegen’s reputation making some really impressive wines. He also did great things in the vineyard, getting them virus-free with an intensive program of replanting, monitoring and rogueing any virused vines. I remember visiting in 2005 when Vergelegen was one of the top names. But of late, the Vergelegen wines have disappointed a bit, and the range had bloated to 22 wines. I’ve tried quite a few of them, and they lacked the spark they previously had. That’s just my opinion, but clearly Anglo American were not completely happy, because they replaced Andre with a new winemaker in 2022: Luke O’Cuinneagain, who they hired from Glenelly. Luke started out working with Adi Badenhorst, then had spells with Angelus in St Emilion and Screaming Eagle in Napa, among others.

When Luke arrived in 2022, the 2021 reds weren’t yet blended and the departing winemaker hadn’t left clear instructions so Luke had to do some unanticipated detective work in the cellar. He finished off the 2022s, and then the first full vintage was 2023.

One of the big, ongoing projects at Vergelegen has been alien clearance on the substantial-sized farm. Beginning in 1995, and this has turned out to be the biggest privately funded alien clearance in South Africa, costing some 30 million Rand so far. The alien seed bank is big, so it keeps coming up. We toured round the farm, and the work that has been done is yielding rich rewards in terms of the ecosystem. The result is a 1900-hectare nature reserve managed in partnership with CapeNature. With the return of native vegetation, bird species numbers have increased by 100 since 2000, to 146. There are 279 recorded plant species on the estate with 22 on the Red Data List.

There are currently 133 hectares of vines on the property, and this is planned to grow to 150. For the whites, Luke says the biggest challenge is acidity. ‘The proximity to the sea gives us very low pH and high acidity,’ he says, ‘and our challenge is to lose acidity.’ Soil types are diverse. ‘What is so attractive about this property is that it has lots of different soils, different aspects and different elevations. But don’t discount the wind. It all adds to complexity.

Here is a short film of the tour round the farm:

This is technically Stellenbosch, but it’s not really Stellenbosch, with its location facing the sea at Somerset West. Vergelegen are currently in discussions about creating a new ward here for them and their neighbours.

Luke with estate viticulturist Rudolf Kriel

Vergelegen have also done two experimental vineyards to future proof the property against any climate change. For whites they are trialling Vermentino, Alvarinho and Petit Manseng, as well as new clones of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. And for reds they are trialling Tempranillo, Touriga Nacional and Nero d’Avola. They use the wines from these varieties to add value for those who visit, who can buy these cellar project wines only from the tasting room.

A new parcel planted stok-by-paaltjie (sur echalas, on stakes)

Luke says that he’d like to start pulling out the vast differences in the parcels more in the wines, using different parcels for different wines. ‘For V and Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon there wasn’t much of a story differentiating them,’ he says. ‘Initially V was supposed to be one vineyard, then it became a blend, and lost its personality. By trying to break it out on soils, we’ll get a much clearer delineation.’  I tasted some Cabernet from barrel with him from different soils. First, Pinedene soil, which has layers of brittle, friable shale with good water holding capacity, from the top of the hill. From a new barrel this was sappy with pure blackcurrant fruit and some spicy detail, with vibrancy and energy. Then I tried one from Hutton and Clovelly soils. Hutton is a deep granitic red clay soil, and Clovelly is also granitic but lighter in texture. This wine was grippy, firm and angular with lovely focused fruit, spicy and dense, and good acidity. The Piendene and Glenrosa soils will be used for V, and the Hutton and Clovelly for the Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.

THE WINES

Everything made since 2023 is fully made by Luke (this was a difficult, rain-affected vintage, with 50% of their annual rainfall during harvest, so not an ideal start!). The 2022s were blended and finished by him, as were some of the 2021 reds, but these wines were made by Andre.

Vergelegen MMV Brut 2020 Stellenbosch, South Africa
This is Chardonnay, with a 6 g/litre dosage. Lovely balance here. Fresh with nice pear and white peach fruit showing good acidity and great balance from the modest dosage. There’s a distinct saltiness here, too. Lovely balance. 92/100

Vergelegen Wild Winds Sauvignon Blanc 2024 Stellenbosch, South Africa
13.5% alcohol. This comes from the Schaapenberg site on the property, which has a lot of maritime influence and gives the wines some salinity and kelpy character. Different fermentation temperatures are used, as well as different yeasts, with some wild, to build layers. This is mainly stainless steel, with just a touch of oak. Taut, linear and bright with some stoniness and a mineral character, as well as subtle saltiness under the bright citrus fruit. There’s a fine green note here under the fresh, pure fruit. Mouthwatering and pure, this is really sophisticated. 93/100

Vergelegen Reserve Chardonnay 2023 Stellenbosch, South Africa
13.5% alcohol. Three vineyard blocks, barrel-fermented, part inoculated, different format oak used. One vineyard is high up on shale (mineral, acid), one is on granitic clays (bigger mid-palate weight) and one is on alluvial soils (more aromatic). Lovely balance here with fresh, pear, citrus and pineapple fruit showing nice aromatics. The palate is textured but fresh with nice acidity under the sweet pear and citrus fruit. Nice intensity and freshness with lovely fruit purity and well-integrated oak giving hints of almond and hazelnut. 94/100

Vergelegen Estate White 2023 Stellenbosch, South Africa
This is 56% Semillon and 44% Sauvignon from the Schaapenberg vineyard. All oak fermented, some in foudres some in barrels. The Semillon gives ageability, the Sauvignon the aromatics. Compressed and unfurled with great focus to the taut lemon, pear and white peach fruit with a nice acid line. Primary with some mineral quality. Nicely textured with a saline twist and subtle green notes. Potential for development. 94/100

Vergelegen Florence Rosé 2024 Stellenbosch, South Africa
12.5% alcohol. This pale-coloured rosé is bright and vivid, with good acidity under very pure, taut citrus fruit, with some cherry and raspberry notes, as well as wet stone minerality and a twist of salinity. Dry, bright and vivid, this is a beautifully packaged gastronomic rosé that works really well. 91/100

Vergelegen The Mill Red 2022 Stellenbosch, South Africa
This is described as a social wine to enjoy, and it’s a blend of five Bordeaux varieties plus Syrah, which gives generosity and a touch of spice. Luke took this wine to barrel and then blended it. Sweetly aromatic with some blackcurrant and leafy edged berry fruits. Nice fruit here with juicy cherry and blackcurrant on the palate with a hint of olive and pepper. 91/100

Vergelegen Reserve Merlot 2021 Stellenbosch, South Africa
Merlot suffers terribly from heat stress and you can’t get it started again, says Luke. In contrast, Syrah is the opposite: it survives heat stress well. So the Merlot here is planted on soils with more clay to reduce the effects of heat stress. Some 2022 wine was used to freshen this. Lovely fleshy blackcurrant fruit with some nice green notes and lovely texture, with a chalky character and some blackcurrant fruit. Fleshy, fine and textural. 92/100

Vergelegen Reserve Merlot 2022 Stellenbosch, South Africa
Luke shared some details about Merlot winemaking. He works Merlot early and then stops the pumpovers. You have to be careful, because the analysis often says the acidity is low, and then during ferment acidity is generated by the release of succinic acid from around the seeds. At Vergelegen they see a 3 g/l TA increase, which is huge. At Glenelly it was typically 2.5 g/l. So if you acidify it can be awful. And some coopers have barrels that exaggerate the green characters. This is supple and pure with nice black cherry and blackcurrant fruit, with density and purity. Fleshy and expressive with some nice tannins hiding under the fruit. There’s good intensity with lovely ripe fruit and good definition. 93/100

Vergelegen Reserve Merlot 2023 Stellenbosch, South Africa (just bottled)
Bright, showing good energy with sweet, sappy-edged cherry and plum fruit with a touch of blackcurrant. Nice acid lone with a bit of crunchiness. Juicy and vivid with good definition. 93/100

Vergelegen Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 Stellenbosch, South Africa
This was made from all over the property, but this is something Luke is changing. He’ll make this from the Hutton and Clovelly soils, whereas V will come from the Glenrosa and Pinedean blocks. Nice blackcurrant fruit here with some green hints and a touch of leafiness, as well as good structure. Grippy and firm with nice savouriness. Grippy finish. 91/100

Vergelegen Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 Stellenbosch, South Africa
Brooding and slightly gravelly with tight blackcurrant fruit. Nice freshness with a bit of grip. There’s a compact character with taut blackcurrant and cherry fruit showing nice depth, and a hint of olive. 93/100

Vergelegen Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 Stellenbosch, South Africa (just bottled)
Lovely aromatics with brooding sweet blackcurrant fruit with a hint of cranberry. Supple black fruits on the palate with a sappy edge. Beautiful weight here with a hint of sappy detail. This is lovely. 94/100

Vergelegen Estate Red 2021 Stellenbosch, South Africa
Savoury green blackcurrant and cherry fruit nose. Grippy palate with a grainy structure and some sweet but compressed blackberry fruit, finishing grainy. Has good freshness but also a savoury twist. Firm and grainy. 91/100

Vergelegen Estate Red 2022 Stellenbosch, South Africa
Nice firm blackcurrant fruit with some grippy structure. Compact with notes of olive and cherries, as well as some savoury character, green herbs and some autumnal notes. Grippy, firm finish. 92/100

Vergelegen Estate Red 2023 Stellenbosch, South Africa (blended but not bottled)
Tight and brooding with sweet flesh and some green edges to the blackcurrant and cherry fruit. Nice freshness here. Supple with real energy to it. 94/100

Vergelegen V 2021 Stellenbosch, South Africa
Concentrated, dense and quite structured with lovely compact blackcurrant and cherry fruit. Firm and backward with a slight saltiness. This is firmly structured with real intensity, and some ageability. 92/100

Vergelegen V 2022 Stellenbosch, South Africa
Luke says he’d like to get some more flesh, and more fruity density, and to get the tannins more polished. This is a good wine, which he finished off, but wait for the 2023 and subsequent vintages: it’s not as good as it should be. There’s some flesh here with sweet blackcurrant fruit and some softer berry notes, but also with some structure and density showing olive, tar, spice and red cherries. Some intensity here. 93/100