Belying Saronsberg's compact cellar is the winery complex as a whole, reflecting art lover Van Huyssteen's eye for design. It's an imposing double-volume building that incorporates views of the red-brick fermentation and barrel cellars from a mezzanine level housing part of his substantial personal collection of contemporary South African art.
These include works by leading lights such as Angus Taylor (creator of the Uit klip uit water 'lady of the lake' figure beside the dam) and Paul du Toit (who was commissioned to do the richly coloured painting featured on the Provenance label).
'The weathered grey concrete and stone exterior of the winery is a modern take on traditional Cape Dutch architecture,' explains Dewaldt, who enjoys showing visitors the Saronsberg symbiosis between art and wine. He's 'on duty' in the tasting room on at least one weekend of the month.
Dewaldt Heyns needs merely to wander over from his home on the other side of the dam, invariably with boisterous 'Basti' or angelic Nina in close attendance.
Dewaldt Heyns's upstairs office leads onto a wooden deck with an old slave bell in an arch framing a vista of the valley, including the distant landmark of the Saronsberg peak, from whence came to the name of the rejuvenated farm, historically known as Waveren. Here lie the cooler, clay-rich hillside vineyards he's been nurturing in recent years.
They're the source of grapes for his growing range of stylistically 'relatively more elegant and fruit driven' wines under the Provenance label.
These accompany the Saronsberg range of 'concentrated' wines from vines established on the shale benches lower down in the valley.
'There's no difference in quality, and the Provenance wines are by no means delicate,' says their maker, as evidenced by top awards in recent years for both the Provenance shiraz and Bordeaux-style red blend.
Hillside plantings also include more grenache. Dewaldt's bottling on its own of this typically blended Rh6ne variety was selected for the 2011 CWG Auction. 'I wanted to showcase what this grape is capable of here.' And there's some more pinot noir for a Cap Classique he's been working on.
But his métier is Rôhne classic shiraz. About half of Saronsberg's nearly 50 hectares are planted to it. 'I leave the pinotage to Pierre,' he reckons (referring to nearby Rijk's reputation for great pinotages).
Serendipitously, shiraz is his wife's favourite variety too. Says Tania: 'We met through mutual friends. When he said he was a winemaker, I told him I liked shiraz. He seemed quite surprised; I honestly didn't know it was his thing; maybe he thought I just said so to charm him! But he'll never know...' she teases.
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Oxtail recipe by cellar master Dewaldt Heyns offers the ultimate comfort food for winter, best served with a glass of fine red Saronsberg Sh...