Almenkerk Wine Estate / Sketch Credit: Almenkerk Wine Estate
ALMENKERK WINE TASTING AT HARBOUR HOUSE, KALK BAY / Cape Town South Africa
Letha gave a wine tasting of the signature line of Almenkerk Wines at the Harbour House, Kalk Bay, south of Cape Town.
Almenkerk Wine Estate is a small, family-owned wine estate, situated in the Elgin valley just east of Cape Town, South Africa.
The estate is owned by the Belgian/Dutch van Almenkerk family and run by Natalie and Joris van Almenkerk. Whilst Joris has fun making award-winning wines, Natalie is in charge of sales and marketing, PR and admin. Patriarch, Joep, helps out with sales, frequent wine tastings and as a mentor on the business side. As well as that, we have a dedicated group of family and friends that come over to help us out by opening the tasting room when we are not around or assisting with the harvest.
The Almenkerk story begins in 2002 when they moved to South Africa and started looking around for a farm with perfect terroir, cool climate and - frankly - a nice place to live.
Only late in our quest, when we were seriously considering a promising property in Stellenbosch - did a friend insist we go "Over the Mountain" as they call it here and visit the Elgin Valley. Barely a week later we signed the papers and could call ourselves the proud owners of a ... apple farm!
After moving from Belgium and purchasing the property in 2002 we began the process of transforming it into a wine farm. The Estate was originally 32 hectares of apple trees and now we have 15 hectares of vines in production. The decision of what to plant and where to plant it was a massive project on its own. We used consultants and professors with a combined experience of over a century. On top of that, we based our choice on infrared and satellite imagery, soil samples, and electromagnetic scans of the soil. The information gleaned from the previous owner as well as the labor, who had been living on the farm for many years, was also crucial in these decisions. We then planted the specific cultivars to their best-suited sites and from there we have been nursing our vines into healthy grape producers. It is only due to the wide ranges of slopes, orientations and soil types that we are able to grow such a variety of cultivars.
We decided to continue to farm nine hectares of the land as orchards. We currently have four varieties of apple and one of pear. Although apple farming is not our core business, it complements the farm nicely. The apple trees are beautiful, especially when flowering. It also keeps our team of labourers busy when there is little else to do. Apart from that, it is hugely gratifying to eat your own apples fresh from the tree!
CONTACT INFO
Almenkerk Wine Estate
Viljoenshoop Rd 50
Elgin, Grabouw, Western Cape, South Africa 7160
(+27) 21 848 9844
Harbour House, Kalk Bay
+27 (0) 21 788 4136
Kalk Bay Harbour, Kalk Bay
Harbour House, V&A Waterfront
+ (0) 21 418 4744 / + (0) 21 418 4748
Quay Four, Ground Floor, V&A Waterfront
Have a fantastic New Year.
Letha
Letha (Malan) Oelz (You can contact Letha at: oelzletha@gmail.com... please follow me at https://www.finderzkeeperz.co.za/2019/03/25/almenkerk-wine-tasting-at-harbour-house-kalk-bay-cape-town-south-africa/
Harbour House Kalk Bay / Photo Credit: Harbour House
Almenkerk Wine Estate / Photo Credit: Almenkerk Wine Estate
Almenkerk Wine Estate / Sketch Credit: Almenkerk Wine Estate
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