The Momberg family (and other animals) are a joy to visit on this old Cape farm called Middelvlei, renowned for its seminal reds. Escape the madding crowd in this tranquil dell.
Keeping it Country
In 1919, when brothers Tinnie and Niels Momberg bought Middelvlei and pressed their first grapes for mainly fortified sweet dessert wines, the farm lay in the heart of rural Stellenbosch. Today it’s the last bastion against suburban sprawl on the southern side of the Papegaaiberg.
Elegant white gate posts and a red brick road welcome you to what is still the home of the Momberg family, four generations and almost a century later.
The farmstead, nestled in a dip and surrounded by pasture and 130 hectares of undulating vineyards, forms part of the Devon Valley, whose south-, southeast- and southwest-facing slopes of clay-based decomposed granite soils are renowned for red wine.
The furrows that slow you down at regular intervals are placed, one suspects, not just to guide run-off water down the slope to protect children and the animals of a much-loved menagerie. They are a gentle reminder to stop and smell the roses - or marvel at the wonderfully gnarly stems of the decades-old Sauvignon Blanc vines on your right.
Thought to have been on their last legs, they were not so long ago still surprising with some excellent fruit after a stern ‘farewell prune’ by winemaker Tinnie, whose home overlooks this patch.
Although more Sauvignon Blanc plantings were being envisaged, the only white wine regularly being bottled is a fresh unoaked Chardonnay, generally highly recommended as a fine example of the variety when not oak-fermented and -matured as is the norm.
All in the Family
Winemaker Tinnie’s older brother Ben, a qualified viticulturist whose gregarious nature charms visitors and buyers alike, and Jeanneret, his equally vivacious wife, live in the Edwardian-Victorian main house.
The stoep and rambling garden overlook the sprawling 1940s cellar and the cosy tasting room next to the farm dam. Jeanneret is the dynamo behind national sales and marketing, as well as a thriving export market.
You’re likely to encounter at least one Momberg during your visit. Ben and Jeanneret (or her assistant Althea) will be in the tasting room. Tinnie prefers to remain in the vineyards or cellar, although he may take you round the cellar and allow you to taste some of the reds maturing in barrel.
The tasting room, a converted stable, is comfortable and casual, with polished wooden tables and riempie chairs. You can sit on the verandah in summer or in front of a roaring fire in winter - an ideal time to taste Middelvlei’s reds.
‘Stiljan’ Momberg established the farm’s reputation for Pinotage from the 1960s onwards and it is still the most planted variety now that sons Ben and Tinnie are in charge, with an exciting fruit-driven Pinotage being made purely from free-run juice.
The Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon plantings are turning out excellent wines too, as single-varietal bottlings or blended with Merlot and Pinotage.
A juicy Pinotage-Merlot mix has proved particularly popular, giving rise to another easy-drinking red that combined Merlot and Shiraz called Red Falcon, after the bird on the family crest. This label is now reserved for their export brand, with each variety now bottled separately for the Rooster range of eminently quaffable wines.
For Tinnie, a long-held dream was realised in 2005, when vines gradually replanted over many years finally matured, enabling him to put together his ultimate flagship red blend. It’s simply called Momberg.
Breaking Bread Together
The Mombergs are a tight-knit family and devoted to the farm and winemaking. Even affable ‘Stiljan’, although semi-retired is still involved.
Always ready with a joke or anecdote, he’s the one behind the farm’s quirky collection of animals, from dwarf Angora goats, wallabies, giant tortoises and pot-bellied pigs to donkeys, birds and dogs. Son Ben is similarly besotted, having nursed several litters of orphaned Cape fox pups discovered in neighbours’ vineyards over the years.
Pontac, the champagne-coloured boerboel (or a canine companion or successor) is likely to come and flop down at your feet, while Polla, the black pot-bellied pig, keeps everyone entertained by constantly escaping from his encampment to ‘hunt for truffles’ in a certain spot next to the tasting room.
All this is shared in the most convivial way with visitors and guests. The Mombergs run an informal Boerebraai restaurant, showcasing the simple delights of an authentic South African open-fire barbecue.
They’ve also elevated the traditional chicken curried kebabs (sosaties), sausage (boerewors) and toasted sandwiches (braaibroodjies) to become canapés and tapas accompanying wine tastings.
The tasting menu further includes equally traditional Cape snoek fish pâté with pot bread and combines biltong with mozzarella in a toasted sandwich with a difference. Plus there’s a kiddies menu.
The Wine Barn offers a rustic function and wedding venue, with guests, indeed any visitors, able to be accommodated in four eclectic farm cottages, each with a plunge pool. Some are ideal for couples, one for a family; children are always made to feel welcome at Middelvlei.
The southern part of the Stellenbosch winelands is dominated by the Stellenbosch and Helderberg mountains and, further south, by the magnif...