Vergelegen, South Africa’s 2nd Oldest Winery Comes To CT

Vergelegen, South Africa’s second oldest winery, was introduced in the U.S. for the first time this year. We had an opportunity to try these outstanding wines, and speak with the group responsible for bringing Vergelegen to America.

Vergelegen's existence in the U.S. is one of the better success stories we’ve heard from the last two years, but its history dates back to the year 1700, when the Dutch East India co-founded the vineyard in order to have drinkable liquid on Cape Horn when traveling back and forth from India, Indonesia, and all points East.

Vergelegen (closest pronunciation we can manage is VAHK-heh-lehn) means "situated far away," and the original estate totaled an absolutely whopping 74,000 acres. A bit smaller now, the current production is still 100% estate wine, and their V and GVB wines are still produced on specific blocks of the old vineyard, located around the corner from Stellenbosch. Cold currents of air coming from Antarctica at night, with hot weather from Indian Ocean in the day, plus variable soils at the base of the Helderberg Mountains have proven perfect for wine growing.

The wines have won Pinchon Trophies, scored 97 and 95 respectively at the IWSC for their 2015 GVB Red and 2020 GVB White, and The Jan Smuts Trophy for the Wine of the Vintage in 1999 for the Vergelegen Sauvignon Reserve (the first time in over 50 years for a white wine). 

The wines are the children of Vergelegen’s revered winemaker, André van Rensburg, with certain blends by master Michel Rolland.

How It Got Here

We spoke with V-Club managing partner Eugene Havemann, who moved to Connecticut about five years ago and discovered a small community of fellow South Africans living in Westport. During the early days of COVID maintained a friends group, doing live chats. At this time South Africa was not just under the common global shutdown, but also a total alcohol prohibition in order to prevent any type of gathering. Not even at retail. Think America in the 1920s. South Africa has become famous for its wines, the Napa or Loire valleys of the southern hemisphere. Vineyards, excellent ones, were simply throwing wine down the drain. 

“This was a passion project for us,” Haveman says. “We initially wanted to buy a container just for us, so it wouldn’t go to waste, but then we thought about something more sustainable.”

“In South Africa there is only ever two degrees of separation,” he says, and they quickly made contacts at Vergelegen, and decided to focus only the vineyard’s most premium offerings.

The circle (Eugene Havemann (Managing Partner), Mark Ratcliffe (Semi-Sommelier), Dylan Germishuys (Semi-Sommelier), Hugh Ross, Max Murphy, Charles Gallo, Warren Griffiths, Brian Lynch, Carel van der Merwe, James Edkins, Jonathan Abrams, Ronnie Taylor, Scot Ross, Sean Hehir and Steve Armstrong) created Vergelegen VClub, to introduce and sell the wine in the United States. Individuals and restaurants may buy wine through the club, gain points, and even store their wine – free of charge – as part of the purchase price. 

First Impressions

The wines are heavily Bordeaux influenced, and we began with MMV Brut, a sparking 100% Chardonnay which was characteristically crisp, clean, and tremendously bright. I had the 2016, as MMV takes 5 years to make. It’s excellent with oysters, but Ratcliffe said he’ll even do it for dessert pairings because it’s dry character and brings out flavors of food.

The Chardonnay has a vaporous mineral nose, minimally buttery and sweet at the first touch on the tongue, but sharpens up and dries before going back to a bit more smooth, oaky finish. A granite-rich soil provides mineral character. Malolactic fermentation is discouraged, which limits the buttery flavor compounds.

GVB White: a bit more grape on the nose but still retains that mineral quality. The fruit is there in the flavor, but it’s bound with strips of leather, noticeable alcohol heat, and finishes dry. This is a blend of Sémillon and Sauv. Blanc varietals, and picks up tiny citrus notes with food.

GVB Red: The 2015 vintage sported huge grape and blackberry notes on the nose. Mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, it also blends equal minorities of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. into the mix.  This was your 97-point IWSC Gold Medalist.

Vergelegen V is considered an iconic South African wine, and the flagship of the portfolio. The 2014 vintage, while presenting a nearly identical blend to the GVB Red, was subtler, adding spice and oak to the nose. Michele Roland a godfather of wine, and the master blender created this from 99.5% Cabernet grapes. It is, as can be expected, exceptional, and has beaten Opus One in international competitions. A 2014-’15 drought in South Africa produced incredibly concentrated grapes, so keep en eye out for this one.

See you out there.