A case for authenticity 17 July 2007

Overgaauw’s 'real' new label is welcomed by Melvyn Minnaar

When sensitive souls want to run in horror from the idiocies committed by parvenu wineries with the names on their labels, there is always the solace of the old and familiar to turn to. When the ridiculousness on wine shelves, the desperate lack of originality of new brand names, is so depressing, there is the comfort of the old, established Cape wine estates and producers.

Playing it neatly is one such familiar wine family establishment which has just launched a new range, but cleverly located the brand within its own traditions and history. The new Shepherd’s Cottage range of wines – a rosé, a seamlessly delicious white blend and an easy, but not unsubstantial red blend – takes its name from an actual 200-year-old minder’s house on the farm. Gently punting the pedigree (all the grapes for the new bottling are harvested on the farm and can be classified as  ‘estate wines’) the name Overgaauw also appears on the label.

The Van Veldens have, since the establishment of Overgaauw way back in 1905, never opted for the glamorous high-life and social spotlight. With David van Velden now firmly in the fourth generation wine-making seat, the winery has shifted into another gear for providing the right stuff for its loyal fans.

Braam van Velden explained at the launch that the new range was conceived when a friend said that their top-end wines will always be special, but that it was time for ‘a wine that will make every day special’. The wines are comfortably priced at less than R30.   

Overgaauw’s Shepherd’s Cottage sits on a little hill overlooking the vineyards planted to the pinotage that is used for the new, crisp, pale-pink rosé. Originally built in the late 1700s to house the local keeper of the cattle which grazed around it, it is a small humble home, with thick old white-washed walls and small windows, each protected by green shutters with a heart carved out in its centre. Van Veldens have used the building to live in for generations, the tradition being that children make it their first home-away-from-home after getting married.

The red blend, a 60/40 mix of cabernet sauvignon and merlot (Overgaauw Estate was the first bottler of a varietal Merlot two decades back), revived another old tradition: The wine was matured in some of the farm’s original 4 000-litre wooden vats. These, some of which date back to 1905, have in been carefully cleaned and reworked. Although they provide no wood influence on the wine, they have apparently shown a remarkable advantage in the secondary, malolactic fermentation.