The year 2000 was a benchmark one. Danie Steytler launched the premium Steytler label in honour of his father with a 1998 Pinotage, the variety with which Kaapzicht had become synonymous. A clutch of award-winning red blends followed, proving Danie's belief in the soils of Kaapzicht.
First came Steytler Vision, a combination of Bordeaux classics cabernet and merlot with the Cape's own pinotage: his 'vision' of an authentically 'Cape' red blend.
The maiden 2000 was followed by 2001 that won the coveted Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Trophy for best- blended red at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in London in 2004. This and two later vintages were rated five stars in the Platter’s South African Wines guide.
Then the Steytler Pinotage 2006 won the international trophy for best single-varietal red above £10 ($15) at the 2009 Decanter World Wine Awards. On the Guild auction of the same year, he launched a second red blend, the Bordeaux-styled Pentagon, so named for the traditional five-varietal mix it will eventually be made up of when newly planted cabernet franc, Petit Verdot and malbec bear fruit to join the current cabernet/merlot combo.
Also in 2009 came Kaapzicht Celebration, a 2006 red blend commemorating that year as the 60th anniversary of the Steytler family on the estate. It was also a celebration of the official arrival of the fourth generation as an assistant winemaker: Danie Steytler Junior.
Danie junior, a viticulture and oenology graduate of Stellenbosch University, has red wine running in his veins, having done internships at Waterford under red wine specialist Kevin Arnold as well as at Jordan under Gary Jordan, worked in Saint-Émilion and Languedoc in France, New Zealand, the Napa Valley in the United States of America and as a 'flying winemaker' for his Swedish employer in Italy and Greece.
Vintage 2012 is set as the newly married young man’s time to become a cellar châtelain. Not that Dad is retiring: 'It's just not fair to keep my son waiting any longer: he's more than capable of handling things on his own, although I'll still be there helping, though not looking over his shoulder! Besides, it'll give me more time in the vineyards.'
And the hard work continues ... He's replanting another 16 hectares of adjoining land bought in 2006 and experimenting with unusual white varieties Roussanne and Verdelho.
He's also leasing some 50 hectares of neighbouring vineyards from Hazendal, nurturing them back to full production for vinification under the Kaapzicht label. Another recent project saw the transplanting of some of the farm's oldest Chenin blanc vines.
Korrel toast recipe by Danie Steytler served with butternut soup and paired with Kaapzicht Chenin Blanc....
Traditional lamb shank potjie recipe by Danie Steytler paired with Steytler Pentagon wine....