Following my stop at Delheim was going up the valley between Mount Fleur and Mt. Hedelberg was de Trafford (www.detrafford.co.za). When I say up the valley I mean to the end of the road through the valley. As my guide Gerrit said “once you have doubted yourself 4 times you are getting close.”

It may have been a long trip through the winding road of this beautiful valley but in the end it was well worth it. We were greeted by the farm dog  who is a little Jack Russel that was very inquisitive about our arrival. He was kind enough to announce our arrival.

By now the Sun was almost directly overhead and the temp was starting to heat outside. Out of these giant barn doors came David Trafford. David is a soft spoken man that has a smile that immediately eliminates any concept of smuggness.

The winery is not large and has essentially been efficiently squeezed into the original barn on the property. David went on to describe the history of the winery and vineyards which his family purchased in 1976 (In a separate blog I will go over the South African quota system that existed until 1991; in essence the industry was run by a large co-operative that put quotas on the tonnage produced per grape type and determined what could be grown where). It was suggested to David and his father that the soils and climate would be great for Bordeaux & Rhone reds as well as whites like Chenin Blanc. Instead of adhereing to the quota system they decided to wait 18 years until the dissolution of the quota system in 1991 to plant a commercial vineyard and honed their craft on a small ‘friends and family’ vineyard.

David and his father made a number of wines over the years and tested them on family and friends. What came from this was the fact that Chenin Blanc would be great coming from this part of the Stellenbosch appellation, as would Mediterranean reds. These would become their defining wines and lead David to abandon his career in architecture and pursue winemaking.

He is a very inquisitive fellow and is not about to let an assumption stand until it is proven. A case in point is the assumption that the types of grapes that will do well in South Africa are limited to red varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec, or white varieties like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Semillon. This again was part of the hangover of the Co-Op imposed quota system. To David the Western Cape has a Mediterranean climate with a multitudede of soil types which begs the question “Why not try other varieties like those found in Portugal, Spain, Italy, and other less famous regions of France?” Go for it David!

It takes a number of years to import vine stock as the South African government is very nervous about interfering with the natural vegetation of the Western Cape (there are more unique species of plants in the Western Cape than there is in all of the Northern Hemishpere). Over the last 4 years David has planted a number of the Port varieties and has now started to blend them into some of his red wines.

As I sat down to taste David mentioned that the expression of Chenin Blanc that he believes best defines the vineyards needs natural fermentation (I will come back to natural fermentation as this will be continuing theme in all regions over my whole trip) in oak barrels and oak barrel aging thereafter. I must admit I was a little apprehensive about all the oak as the last time that I had tasted oak aged Chenin Blanc from South Africa was about 5 years ago when I received some samples to my importing company. The samples were awful. With those as my reference point I believed that Chenin should not have any barrel treatment. If there is a constant  about wines it is the fact that as soon as you assume some knowledge, there is something out there that will completely destroy the assumption.

The first wine that I tasted was the de Trafford 2008 Chenin Blanc. As I put my nose to it I was transported to a restaurant with a view of the Olympic Mountains and the water on a bright sunny summer day as evening was descending. The nose was elegant, refreshing and engaging but in a casual kind of way. Soft tones of honeydew melon about 2 weeks before it is perfectly ripe to eat mix with hints of freshing rasped lime and lemon zest. If the nose seems a little subdued it was. It was a soft opening for an incredibly expressive and lively palate.

On the palate the wine seemed to jump and play as 10 year would on a spring day, yet there was an underlying confidence that showed itself in an elegant way. You could just tell that although young, the story would grow as time went by… I marked a number of check marks in my note book.

The second wine was the 2009 Chenin Blanc. The nose was a touch more citrusy and had zesty floral notes like jasmine or orange blossom after a spring rain. Once again the palate was far more expressive than was the nose. It was almost as if the nose was like an opening act for Cirque de Soleil show. The citrus was far more expressive and instead of melon I was getting more grapefruit and nectarine flavours. The finish was clean, crisp, and left you wanting a second glass for sure.

The last of the Chenin Blancs was the 2001. Yup 2001. I was very intrigued as we in B.C., and from what I understand in South Africa to, don’t consider aged white wine to be a value. We assume that the newer or fresher it is the better (more on this after my tasting withe Ken Forrester and the Chenin Blanc Association).

The nose held more nutty flavours like I expected, but there was still a lot of freshness on the nose. The fresh citrus tones had not left, in fact in some ways they became more expressive. In addition to the nutty and citrus elements, more tropical flowers and fruits were shinning through. Overall the nose on the 2001 was far more expressive than the 2009 or the 2008. Who woulda thunk it.

The palate was dreamy. All the flavours had integrated over time and were working in concert to tell a little more of the story of de Trafford and Chenin Blanc. What was new on the palate was a spicy character that was not there before. It had emerged like a signal of maturity and it was goooood!

I have to say that I was totally surprised by what I encountered. The oak treatment served to uplift the wines and not over shadow them. All the oak seemed to have done was to add a texture to the wines that provided more elegance along with the fresh flavours.

The were all beautiful. The perspective that this tasting had now given me was like the difference between a casual bistro and an elegant but easy going restaurant. I was now starting to form some ideas on what the real nature of Chenin Blanc is. I am so excited.

The tasting continued for 7 more wines, most of whom were blends and included some of the Port varieties that I mentioned. All were delicious and very intriguing but my mind was starting to race about the jewel that was South Africa. If the rest of the wineries that I was about to visit were as good as the first two I would be left with some very hard decisions. I could easily bring back hundreds of wines and be very confident in standing behind each and every one of them.

Before we leave de Trafford there are two gentle nuances that will forever make this winery stand out in my mind. The first is the packaging. Each wine is dressed in a painting that was done by David’s wife. Each showed incredible elegance and grace as do the wines. She prefers to work with acrylics, but her oil works were filled with depth and light together which I think perfectly describes the wines.

The second thing was the basket press. As you walk in there is a large basket press. That in and of itself is not that surprising as most wineries still have the old manual basket presses that they used in years past kicking around to show the history of the winery. I had asked about the press because it was in the middle of the working winery and David informed me that the basket press was the only press they use for all of their wines. I am sure that my mouth dropped. I know that many wineries still use basket presses for some of their wines and in many cases these wines a labelled as such and are slightly more expensive, but I don’t recall any winery that still uses a basket press for all of his wines.

In a way that can give a glimpse to this soft spoken, warm and purposeful man, he says “it’s not that I believe there is a technical reason for choosing a basket over newer more techno presses, it is that I don’t believe that spending thousands of dollars on new technology will bring out more of the character of the place, the grapes, and our family.” With that it was time to head down the road to meet with and have lunch with Ken Forrester  wines.