The irrepressible Kevin Grant is a thoroughly engaging storyteller. His life in wine has been rich. But for him it's perhaps less for his acclaim as one of the Cape's finest craftsmen of specialist Burgundian varieties chardonnay pinot noir. It's more for the memories and experiences he cherishes in reaching The Skyfields, the Hemel-en-Aarde home of his evocatively lively named Ataraxia wines.
Vintage 22
'I was looking up some word in a Collins pocket dictionary. lnvariably my interest is piqued by other intriguing words on the page, and that’s how I came upon “ataraxia”, meaning “calmness” or “tranquility” or “serenity” of the soul or emotions.'
Reading up, Keving found ataraxia to be a philosophy by the ancient Greek Epicurus. Epicureans believe that true happiness is found in comfort and the pursuit of sensual pleasure; the appreciation of beauty and taste; the enjoyment of good food and drink. It tied in with the snapshot of a classical angel statue sent to him by an enthusiastic wine buyer in the UK.
But Kevin knew he'd recognise the perfect visual representation of serenity when he saw it. He and former advertising art director, now designer John Pace doodled for months. Finally, Pace captured what was in Kevin’s imagination in a line-drawn angel figure that, rendered with silver foil on Ataraxia’s label, delicately reflects different colors from the bottle's surroundings..
Epicurean Pleasures
In Kevin and wife Hanli's case, epicurean pursuits focus more on the simple and sensuous than the luxurious. Both are art lovers. Their stylish yet lived-in home in Hermanus is filled with contemporary work: Norman Catherine's oil on wood and fiberglass figures. Judith Mason's mythological drawings. On their old, fire-engineered red wooden kitchen dresser is a voluptuous painted clay figure. 'That's my not-very-good but beloved fat lady' says Hanli, who takes pottery classes.
'Once for my birthday, Kevin returned from a wine trip to Johannesburg with three large pink canvases of the female form etched in liquorice; they depict different stages in a woman's life. He chose svelte youth, pregnancy, and a really poignant picture featuring a mastectomy scar.'
Kevin’s tastes include the smallest pleasures: a fragrant cup of coffee from freshly ground beans; homemade chocolates from De Villiers Chocolatiers (formerly Hermanus, now on Spice Route wine farm in Paarl); peppery olive oil from Adamskloof in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley; farm cheeses from the Karoo; charcuterie from a friend and fellow winemaker Neil Verburg's happy pigs on Luddite farm in nearby Bot River. 'The pigs on our farm are Kevin’s babies,' says Hanli.
Similarly, his wines are made for drinking, enjoying, and savouring by all, not a select few.
'Our market is the innovative, the people willing to explore, think out of the box; the “trendies”, old, young, black, white, gay, straight, male or female. Our wines have never been intended to target the tweed jacket and deerstalker brigade, although we would love them to also purchase our wines!'
The ebullient, erudite, enthusiastic vintner is on a roll. 'That’s why we don’t talk about our wines as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or specify the grape components of our red blend. We offer them in our Wine Lounge as our "unwooded white", "wooded white" or "red blend". Our pinot will simply be our "red".' The red blend is called Serenity, which may include smidgens of whatever other red variety catches Kevin's fancy. The pinot noir is in the making.
'It's not about the varieties; too often we're too consumed by what varieties are in wine: the percentage of this and that. Rather, it's about the style of wine: what's in the glass; whether you like it. We don't want people to come to our wines with any preconceived ideas. I always say it's about the experience when you drink our wine. And, while the French talk about the importance of le Nez [the nose], for me it's about texture; what you feel and taste on the palate.'
The Wine Lounge is on The Skyfields, 50 hectares on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, one of three wine wards in the valley. Set among the vineyards, it's a small, simple white-wall and stone chapel building, spectacularly sited on the crest of a hill backed by the Babylonstoren mountain peak.
It echoes the vernacular architectural style of the Overberg farming community, explains Kevin: the humble Cape farm worker's cottage. 'This was never an affluent area, historically.' But visitors taste wine lounging on couches, in quiet, luxurious comfort. There's art on the walls, and the arched windows afford views of vines, valle, and mountains.
Abalone and wild mushroom risotto recipe by Kevin Grant paired with Ataraxia Chardonnay wine....
Karoo lamb shanks with creamy samp recipe by Kevin Grant paired with Ataraxia Serenity wine....