Episode 277 - Luke O’Cuinneagain of Vergelegen
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What is the focus of the episode and who is the guest?
online on smart speakers and on listen again this is food fm the drinking hour with david kermode in partnership with club onologique the world through the lens of wine and spirit
This week, Luke O'Quinnigan, winemaker at South Africa's historic Vergelijgen Estate overlooking False Bay. We'll talk about his winemaking philosophy, what he's learnt working with Bordeaux varieties over the years, and how he's carefully evolved the estate's celebrated wines. Luko Quinican had a youthful ambition to be a vet, but the vines of Constantia pulled him towards wine. His oenology studies leading him first to Rustenburg, where he learned his craft as part of a golden generation of winemakers. Spells at Bordeaux's Chateau Angelus and Napa's Screaming Eagle were followed by the top job at Glenelli before he was coaxed to the majestic Verhalegen Estate at the end of 2022 to take on and evolve their prestige portfolio.
I caught up with him at the estate and he began with an introduction to our surroundings.
It's a magnificent historic estate based in the Stellenbosch wine region in South Africa. And it's an estate that's intertwined into the fabric of South Africa and the winemaking heritage of South Africa. And the reason I say winemaking heritage is that it was started in 1700. by the second governor of the Cape, a guy called Willem Adriaan van der Stel and he established the farm to do a lot of experimental farming and he planted the first half a million vines here. When he was doing his experimental farming he wanted it out of the eyes of the Dutch East Indies Company and that's why it's situated where it is which is a distance from Cape Town but it's also where the name comes from which means situated far away.
So he could do different farming. He tried to establish a silk industry and spice industry and stuff to corner the shipping that was happening around the Cape. But if you look in a modern setting in South Africa, when South Africa was going through its transition to agriculture, uh end of apartheid thinking and the new government taking over and the formation of the new south africa all the negotiations actually took place in the manor house here it was the only place that the two sides could uh both agree on that they were happy to sit and do the negotiation so it's a funny quirk of history as it were and a fascinating history and uh the bird song in the background it's a beautiful sunny winter's day here today it's
exquisitely beautiful and it appears at least huge.
It is for South African standards of a wine farm it is a huge property. I mean with 3,200 hectares where we do multiple different things. We've got cattle, we've got fruit on the farm, obviously we've got all the vines for making wine, we've got hospitality offerings, and then I think what's core to us are twofold. We've got the magnificent gardens around, which if you include the arboretum is about 60 hectares. But we've got 2,200 hectares of land that we took back to the natural fauna and flora. And we're very proud of that. If you're looking at the species of plants that have re-established, we've got certain species that had previously thought to be extinct have re-established themselves. And we know we've got about 15 to 20 plant species that we've got more than 90% of the known living examples there.
So it's become a very passionate source of pride for us. And it's something that we keep on working on and extending.
And what about the vines?
How did Vergelegen estate originate and what historic events shaped it?
How many and what do you major on here?
Well, the vines that we have here, we've carefully selected our sites and everything, and we currently have about 132 hectares. We're expanding it out to probably 160 hectares or so. But our main focus, if you're looking at varietal-wise, because of our climatic conditions and where we're situated, It's always been much more Bordeaux focused, if we want to put it like that, looking at the five Bordeaux red varietals and then Semillon, Sauvignon are our main white varietals. But then we have, how can we put it, the impostors, if you want to put it, because we have got some chard coming in and we've got some Syrah and Grenache, which we use for making rosé as well.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the focus of the episode and who is the guest?
0:00–4:32
2
How did Vergelegen estate originate and what historic events shaped it?
4:32–13:09
3
How large is the Vergelegen property and what unique flora and fauna does it host?
13:09–19:51
4
How does the Cape of Storms wind influence the vineyard climate and grape ripening?
19:51–26:11
5
Why does Vergelegen focus on Bordeaux varieties and how does coastal salinity affect the wines?
26:11–33:50
6
What is Luke O’Cuinneagain’s philosophy on tannins, texture and blending?
33:50–38:55