Cape Wine & Cuisine Magazine DECEMBER 2006

With no flash or fanfare, the family owners have turned this once run-down property into an award-winning red-wine boutique. 2005 was also the first harvest entirely of own grapes, from vineyards replanted since 2000 under the watchful eye of viticulturist and winemaker Elsa Carstens, holder of an MSc in Wine Microbiology and, in the words of the appreciative owners, ‘a perfectionist with a great love for the art of winemaking’.
– John Platter 2006

Visiting Audacia feels like being in one’s own home with a glass of quality wine in the hand while imagining you are on a wine estate. So many wine cellars and estates have turned their premises into a commercial venue to accommodate thousands
of visitors, but Audacia is an icon of the opposite.

The tasting and sales venue is in the winemaker’s cottage living and dining area, with a stylish stoep surrounded by mountain slopes and vineyards. In 1930 Koos Louw left his inheritance to buy 16 hectares of the historic Annandale farm. His wife and friends exclaimed this venture as nothing less than audacious, and from this Koos derived the word Audacia. Trevor and Diane Strydom purchased the farm in 1996 and have restored and rebuilt the estate into an award-winning red wine boutique winery.

Audacia is perfectly situated on the southern slope of the beautiful Helderberg Mountains between Stellenbosch and Somerset West, in the middle of South Africa’s premier wine growing and wine tourism area, but you feel away from it all in an idyllic wine paradise.

Audacia is “The Red Wine Boutique Winery” and being only 20 km from the Atlantic Ocean is ideal for creating wine grapes of the utmost quality. This unique setting would not mean much if it was not utilized to the full and this is where the creative force of Elsa Carstens appears. She holds a M.Sc. Agric in Wine from the University of Stellenbosch, gained winemaking experience in the Napa Valley, California and is behind the success of Audacia.

She was the first female lecturer ever to be appointed at Elsenburg Agricultural College, where she became the first female Head of Cellar Technology. Although a keen academic, the lure of nature’s classroom beckoned and Elsa joined Audacia as the winemaker, viticulturist and general manager.

“ Every facet of wine intrigues me and I love the creativity involved in winemaking. You are absolutely depended on Mother Nature and nothing is ever predictable,” says Elsa. Vinifying only red wines at this peak location must be a pleasure. The results are portrayed in the growing demand from wine lovers and recognition for quality that has been received from local and international judges.

The Audacia Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 was selected to represent South Africa at the Tri Nations Wine competition in Australia; it received the second highest score in the Cabernet Sauvignon Category at the 2006 Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show, a gold medal at the National Young Wine Show 2001 and Class Winner for the Stellenbosch Region. It was also selected by SAA for First & Premium class international flights 2005 and received a Michelangelo International Wine Awards silver medal. The Audacia Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 was awarded gold at the Michelangelo International Wine Awards. As the saying goes, the proof lies in the pudding – enjoy it.