Rozanne and Margaux Nel recall running down the aisle of the century-old stone church in Calitzdorp as little girls after the Sunday morning service to drain the miniature glasses of leftover Nagmaalwyn [Communion wine]. It was, after all, their father Carel’s prize-winning port.
Vintage 33
Some 20-odd vintages later, Rozanne is travelling the world marketing and Margaux is making the wine. Both have joined Dad on the Boplaas family wine farm down the road from the church, while their younger brother Daniël finishes his studies in investment management at Stellenbosch University.
The Nel family roots run deep here. As does the tradition of wine-grape growing, dating back to the mid-1800s. Carel's great grandfather Danie made brandy for export in the barrel to London in the 1860s.
Carel Nel himself was one of the first private producers to once again market an 'estate' brandy in the early 1990s after the repeal of the decades-long prohibition on private brandy production in South Africa.
After joining his father at Boplaas towards the end of the 1970s and modernising the cellar in 1982 to start producing wine under their own label, Carel started developing an astonishing array of wines across the style spectrum. But it was as one of the country’s pre-eminent port wine labels that Boplaas became known.
'The port story happened as a bit of a mistake,' he says with the disarming candour that is a family trait. The early Boplaas port was made from the Cape grape, pinotage. Looking at planting more classic French red wine varieties, Carel's dad ordered some shiraz vines.
Instead, they turned out to be tinta barocca, a variety traditionally used by the Portuguese for their seminal blended port wines; hence Caret's suggestion to his dad that they do the same.
Pears poached in port with ice cream and almond flakes recipe by Carel Nel....
Springbok loin wrapped in prosciutto recipe by Carel Nel paired with Boplaas Ring of Rocks or Boplaas Cape Vintage....