Nicky Versveld grew up on a sheep farm near Calvinia in the northwest of the Western Cape, but he used to visit the Cape Winelands as a boy. His parents were friends of the Krones of historic Twee Jonge Gezellen estate in Tulbagh: second-generation NC Krone was his godfather. He still remembers: 'I used to just love the smell of the wine cellar, every time I walked in.'
He studied cellar technology at Elsenburg Agricultural College, putting his practical training to use at one of the Cape's leading co-operative wineries at the time, Simonsvlei. 'I was lucky to have four vintages with Oom Sarel, still there just before he finally retired in 1986,' says Nicky, who worked with his son Johan. [Oom Sarel, Simonsvlei's cellar master for over three decades, had officially retired in 1981 but still been involved in the co-op.]
Having honed his skills across the full spectrum of wine styles, he was appointed winemaker at Welmoed co-operative cellar in 1985, replacing Oom Sarel's other son Kobus, who was returning to Simonsvlei.
Nicky's decade at Welmoed spanned a time when cooperative member growers started concentrating on planting classic white varieties (specifically chardonnay and sauvignon blanc). The world wine market was beginning to open up as South Africa emerged from economic isolation and cooperatives were adopting more sound business models based on market demand and consumer trends.
Already recognised for reds - particularly fine cabernet sauvignon and shiraz (with which the vintner was-an an early Cape experimenter with American oak) - Nicky made the winery's first chardonnay in 1990. It was the same year his sauvignon blanc was voted Champion White Wine on the SA Young Wine Show.
In 1993; while a new cellar was being built at recently renovated, historic Steenberg in Constantia, he was asked to vinify sauvignon blanc from the farm at the Welmoed winery. The Steenberg winery and vineyards were part of the luxury 'lifestyle' property (including a residential estate, 18-hole golf course, hotel, and restaurant) developed by Johannesburg Consolidated Investments (JCI).
Nicky's Steenberg wines from young vineyards, in what had become recognised as one of the Cape's finest cool-climate terroirs, had the cognoscenti sitting up and taking notice and, in 1996, he was asked to come on board full time.
It was quite a sea change: from handling some 8 000 tons with assistant winemakers and over 40 growers to just 140 tons in a brand-new winery that was taking in carefully selected, classic varieties on little more than 50 hectares that were the undisputed domain of veteran viticulturist Herman Hanekom. But there was a little-known distant familial link between winemaker and valley: Nicky's grandfather Louis Versfeld had once been a winemaker on Groot Constantia!
During his five vintages at Steenberg, Nicky's red wine-making prowess shone with classically elegant and fully fruited cool-climate cabernets, merlots, and Shirazes. And, of course, he cemented his reputation for, not only stellar Sauvignon Blancs but also exciting new-wave sémillons.
He spent the northern hemisphere's 1997 vintage in two French appellations famous for these varieties: Sancerre and Graves. Seeing how meticulous vineyard and cellar work could highlight a specific area's fingerprint on the character of a variety when made into wine was 'inspirational'.
Besides experimenting with untested new varieties such as cool-climate Italian grape Nebbiolo, he was also proving expert at tricky pinot noir, making both a Burgundian-style red wine as well as base wines for the Steenberg Cap Classique he was working on for end-of-the-millennium festivities. For Nicky personally, those celebrations were especially sweet as he'd just been inducted into the Guild.
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....