AUDACIA initially comes
across as a stern and forbidding
wine farm. Turning into it off the Stellenbosch road, we
were struck by a sign that reads “Maximum 6 bottles
per person”. My companion and I continued along the
winding driveway to the house to another sign: “Would
visitors please report to reception.” Feeling chastened,
we confessed to a woman on the other side of a window that
we had come for a wine-tasting. Relieved
to find her friendly, we followed her wave to the main
door to the tasting room of the winery owned by Trevor
Strydom, head of a First National Bank banking and life
assurance sales team, and First Rand CEO Paul Harris.
“ Modest” is
a good way to describe the Audacia experience. The fire
crackling in the corner of the modest
tasting room made us feel warm, despite initial trepidations,
and we sat at the small counter. Modest also describes
the R10 tasting charge, refundable upon purchase of the
modestly priced, French-oaked wines.
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A subversive sense of humour, however, gives the lie to
the estate’s firm and low-key approach. A gaudy splash
of colour leaps out from the conservative beige labels of
Audacia’s other wines to announce the presence of the “Jeté” 2001
cabernet sauvignon. A jeté is a ballet step executed
in the air. The ballerina on the label bears the face of
Strydom’s wife, Diane, a former dancer. This is the
second wine to come out of the barrels used to produce the
separately labelled Audacia 2001 cabernet sauvignon. It is
a lighter, smooth red with an all-round taste that leaves
a soft coat of tannin on the tongue.
“
It’s a crisp wine,” says winemaker Elsa Carstens. “It
can mature for a while and, because the tannins are crisp
and firm and not as full-bodied as our barrel select, it’s
easier to drink. There is a lingering taste on aftertaste
with berry coming through.”
Strydom, who lives on the farm with his family, says Harris’ involvement
is that of an investor. “I might see him once a year.”
Strydom says he is often asked if he makes money from
owning a winery. “Have you ever seen anyone make money
out of their garden?” is his standard response. Audacia
claims to be “The red wine boutique winery in Stellenbosch”.
With only 20ha under cultivation, it is not large, but nor
are many of its neighbours. Still, its 2001 shiraz represented
SA in the 2003 tri-nations wine test.
There is a tradition of aiming big here. The farm was built
in 1930 by Kosie Louw, a son of Neethlingshof estate owner
Jacobus Louw. Young Louw, who wished to marry without his
father’s blessing, gave up his inheritance of Neethlingshof
to buy 16ha that his friends thought unpromising. They described
the move as audacious, hence the name. Louw added another
116ha of municipal land. He began large plantings of cabernet
sauvignon as early as 1935, out of step with other local
farmers, who did not take to it in a big way until the 1970s.
Louw’s son, Kosie Jr, began working on the farm in
1957 and eventually took over.
Tragedy struck one day in the late 1970s. Kosie Jr fell
from the roof, losing his sense of smell and taste. He sold
much of the land. Strydom bought the house and remaining
20ha in 1996. |
