'My career has just started,' says Nicky Versveld contentedly. After 25 years at some of the Cape's most renowned big cellars and historic wine farms, he's finally where he’s always wanted to be: working as an independent winemaker.
Vintage 25
In 2011 he went into partnership with a colorful couple growing vines in the Groenekloof wine ward in the Darling district along the Cape West Coast.
David Tullie Scotsman, wheat and barley farmer who came to South Africa in 1991, got into grape growing in Darling, married local girl Nicola, and established just over 50 hectares of premium varieties on a corner of land on her father's farm. They called it Lanner Hill.
The relationship between the two parties goes back over a decade. And it's sauvignon blanc that has been the link. Nicky has been the man behind Larmer Hill's quietly rated Sauvignon Blancs since the maiden vintage in 2002, followed by an acclaimed sauvignon blanc blend with sémillon (called Lanner Hill The Yair) since vintage 2009.
The fact that the wines have invariably garnered more publicity among wine connoisseurs than the winemaker has as much to do with his persona as it has with the convoluted corporate reshufflings that have obfuscated his role.
This continued with the several name changes for the wines he initially made from the Tullies' vineyards.
Self-effacing, unpretentious Nicky is not one for self-aggrandizement. It was after his 2004 vintage from the Lanner Hill vineyards received an award from leading UK wine publication Decanter in 2005 as quoted as saying: 'I don't think it can be overemphasized how important good grower relationships are in achieving these accolades.'
He proved himself one of the country's most versatile winemakers. Yet the man's almost mythical skill with sauvignon blanc is undeniable.
In fact, Nicky Versfeld is synonymous with the variety and has been behind some of the finest examples in the cape throughout his career; again, always quietly so.
It is to his credit that the spotlight has always fallen on his wines and not on him. But it is probably also partly due to the many twists and turns his career has taken over the years.
Baked white stumpnose with crispy vegetable recipe by Nicky Versveld paired with Launer Hill Sauvignon Blanc....
Chicken and wine pasta sauce recipe by Nicky Versveld paired with Lanner Hill Sauvignon Blanc....