A reflection of both its owner and its winemakers, former and current, Tokara, the exciting new cellar has a sophistication of style and an easy attitude to excellence that invites relaxed, casual enjoyment of all that it offers.
A Student’s Dream
Banker GT Ferreira bought the farm Rust en Vrede on the crest of the Helshoogte Pass in 1994 as a family home with fabulous views.
While still a student at Stellenbosch University he had developed a love of wine, so it wasn’t too difficult for renowned Thelema vintner Gyles Webb to persuade his new neighbour to make the most of the area’s excellent viticultural potential and get into wine farming.
The giant puzzle piece mounted at the entrance signifies Tokara’s subsequent mercurial rise, identifying it as a member of the stellar wine ward of Simonsberg, a bench of farms producing premium wine (mainly red) on the mountain’s south-facing slopes. Each of the other farms displays another piece of the puzzle.
With Webb’s help, Ferreria planted classic wine varieties on the various slopes of the hilly landscape. He also built a new hi-tech cellar, making Tokara winery into an architect’s vision in stone, glass and steel.
Wooden decks offer breathtaking views across the Stellenbosch winelands to Table Mountain and on a clear day you can see False Bay, the source of the summer Southeaster. Together with altitude - the surrounding vineyards are more than 400 metres above sea level - this cool wind provides the low temperatures that contribute to the excellence of Tokara’s wines.
From the Ground Up
Miles Mossop, one of a new generation of talented Cape winemakers to greet the new millennium, came on board in 2000 to launch the first wines from still-youthful vines under the Zondernaam label - a reference to the property’s original 17th-century listing as ‘the farm with no name’.
This became the farm’s second label when Tokara, an amalgamation of the names of Ferreira’s son Thomas and daughter Kara, was introduced in 2005. Tokara was reserved for the farm’s premium wines: a Bordeaux-style red blend, a white blend, a Stellenbosch Chardonnay and a Walker Bay Sauvignon Blanc.
By then Ferreira’s holding of more than 100 hectares included two vineyards in the prime cool-climate areas of Elgin and the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley.
The two labels also denoted an overall difference in style: Tokara recalled the Old World in the European tradition of making wines with longevity by combining power and elegance, fruit and structure, whereas Zondernaam catered for New World tastes for wines that are full-fruited and more gently wooded, with an easy charm and accessibility.
Over two decades later, with mature vines still under the care of long-time viticulturist Aidan Morton, providing continuity for new young winemaker Stuart Botha to take over where acclaimed Mossop left off in 2018, Tokara has expanded and finessed its portfolio.
Wines are carefully curated in various tiers according to each vintage’s quality, led by the flagship Director’s Reserve Red and White blends, followed by the Reserve Collection of classic French single-variety bottlings (the Cabernet Sauvignon a Tokara specialty), the Limited Release (most recently a Pinotage and MCC sparkling wine) and the Premium Range versions of the Reserve wines.
Rounding it off is a premium pot-still brandy, joining the growing number of acclaimed Cognac-style brandies produced by the Cape’s top wine farms.
Choose which line-up to taste from and either perch sociably at the long counter and talk wine to the well-informed young pourers, or retreat with your glass to a comfortable armchair in front of the open hearth.
A Sensory Experience
Having admired the vistas through the picture windows on one side of Tokara’s tasting room, walk across for a bird’s-eye view into the fermentation cellar.
For a peek into the dimly lit barrel maturation cellar, descend the steel staircase from the restaurant deck into the garden created by Ferreira’s wife Anne-Marie and follow a gravel pathway between Cape honeysuckle and rambling roses to the viewing window. Make a note of the farm’s Open Garden and Rare Plant Sale held in April each year.
The olive groves that have become a feature of the farm and cellar landscape are another of Anne-Marie’s projects. She manages the Olive Shed over the hill, home of Tokara’s award-winning single-varietal and premium extra virgin olive oils.
These and other olive products and fresh farm produce are available at the Tokara Delicatessen, a child-friendly breakfast and lunch eatery.
Next door to the tasting lounge, Carolize Coetzee and her team entertain in an open-plan kitchen, offering ‘refined farm cuisine’. All Tokara’s wines feature on the wine list, so you may want to start there and select dishes to suit, with expert advice from sommelier Jaap-Hendrik Koelewijn.
Expansive views through plate-glass windows are enhanced by striking wall tapestries by internationally renowned SA artist William Kentridge, a taste of what’s also on offer in the art gallery.
Stellenbosch is arguably the wine capital of South Africa. Winemaking dates back to its settlement in the 17th century and remains the lifeb...