The fledgling winemaker Marc Kent was routinely touted as the quintessential 'angry young man of the Cape Winelands in the 1990s, variously described as 'mad' or 'a maverick', depending on the commentator's slant.
Much of it had to do with the fact that Marc (and Boekenhoutskloofs owners), with no vaunted winemaking history and no track record, never had false expectations of the property as necessarily the source of the quality they were aiming for.
'It's a bit too wet, for one. We can get two metres of rain in winter, but luckily, because of the steep slopes, it drains off pretty quickly. Anyway, how can one expect to grow great shiraz next door to great cabernet on the same property?'
Thus, at a time in the industry when the 'conservative thinking' was that only the established wine farms in traditionally recognised viticultural appellations could produce the Cape's benchmark wines, Marc became the 'Rhône ranger' of the Winelands, the 'mad maverick' who scoured outlying areas for vineyards that, when variety was suited to the site, could produce authentically fine wine irrespective of the 'name' behind it.
Which is how he tracked down a single vineyard block on Springbok rugby player Schalk Burger's family farm, Welbedacht, in Wellington. He's been working with Schalk Senior since 1998. The result has been one of South Africa's top varietal expressions of Shiraz under the Boekenhoutskloof label. Then there's the Boekenhoutskloof Cabernet Sauvignon. 'l keep on reminding those who think we're all about syrah, cabernet sauvignon has the best track record of all wines in Platter's South African Wine guide: it's been a five-star wine seven times out of 12.' So put that in your pipe and smoke it, he's clearly implying.
His Winelands sorties also landed him in the Swartland. 'It was Fairview's Charles Back who opened peoples' eyes to the potential for stunning wine out there.' But it was Marc, together with fellow Swartland 'revolutionary' Adi Badenhorst and others, who made it rock.
'You know what's so cool about our best-selling Porcupine Ridge? Everyone who finds it on-shelf or by word of mouth thinks he or she's made a discovery; it becomes "their little secret", something personal. So it's the wine that sells itself and that's what's important to me. If people drink it and like it without any outside influence, then that's real. No advertising or promotion or media event can do that; the wine has just got to be out there on-shelf and keep proving itself in the bottle! Tim's wisdom, early on in my career, that "there is no substitute for a place on the shelf'' is never truer than with this brand.'
For another insight into the perceived quirkiness of Marc's modus operandi (and ambivalent feelings about the wine 'media', establishment wine views, and mainstream marketing), check out The Steen Affair, a Boekenhoutskloof comic-book rendition of his search for exciting new vineyard sites and old vines. It's available from the farm's tasting room.
The booklet is full of recognisable wine characters to those in the know... he owns up to being 'the mystery man' in the blue bakkie with tinted windows, 'always on his way to the next place.
Aromatic green fig preserve with ginger and chilli recipe by Marc Kent paired with chilled Boekenhoutskloof Noble Late Harvest wine....
Duck Cassoulet recipe by Marc Kent paired with Boekenhoutskloof Cabernet Sauvignon....