(May 2007) - Gareth Groves works for Bibendum

SOUTH AFRICA’S WINELANDS AROUND THE OLD TOWNS OF STELLENBOSCH AND PAARL ARE AMONG THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF ANY WINE REGION IN THE WORLD. A FEW HOURS’ DRIVE OUT OF CAPE TOWN AND YOU FIND YOURSELF AMONG THE VINES WITH A COOL COASTAL BREEZE TUGGING AT YOUR SHIRT AND A STUNNING BACKDROP OF MOUNTAINS AND ENDLESS BLUE SKIES. IT’S NOT A BAD PLACE TO MAKE A LIVING.

Venture a little further inland and that all-important sea breeze starts to become a little less noticeable and you need to crank up the air-con in the car a little bit. Robertson, in the Breede Valley, is hot, dry and dusty – almost unbearably so when the wind doesn’t blow. Only mad dogs and winemakers go out in the midday sun.

This is the home of Springfield Estate, and the Bruwer family who have been farming here for generations – ever since they were they were the Bručres, French Huguenots who arrived in the Cape in 1688. Brother and sister team Abrie and Jeanette are the complete opposite of your typical university trained have-oak-chips-will-travel flying winemakers. Despite the forbidding, unforgiving desert-like conditions they work in, they create impeccable, natural wines that make a mockery of the idea that Robertson is only suited to making simple, fruity wines from over-irrigated vineyards. Their obsessive drive for quality is reflected in Abrie’s philosophy; “I only want to sell wine I am proud of and I will only get a limited number of chances to do that in my life.”

Incredibly for such a warm, dry region, Sauvignon Blanc is a real specialty at Springfield. The Special Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc is a single-vineyard wine from a vineyard which is so rocky and arid you are amazed anything can grow there at all. Despite the heat the wine is cool, crisp and elegant and has far more in common with Sancerre than New Zealand Sauvignon. Think limes, lemons and crunchy green apples. It makes a regular appearance on my table whenever I’m rustling up some haddock fishcakes and salsa verde.