Wines from South Africa by Lozärn

Here is a wine story that spans three continents but is firmly rooted in the fertile soils of the Breede Valley. The Lozärn wines, handcrafted on the Doornbosch farm, honour a family matriarch while celebrating a red grape variety whose name conjures up images of South American castanets and sambas!

Toast with us to the Smuts family, who cultivate this exotic grape variety far away from their adopted home, with a glass of Carménère. The grape variety is probably familiar to all travellers who have tasted the wines of Chile, where it was mistaken for Merlot until studies in the last decade of the 20th century proved that the vines were in fact Carménère, which has been cultivated in Europe since the phylloxera outbreak in the 19th century.

In 2012, winemaker Salóme enjoyed a fine Chilean Carménère with his husband Sybrand and a true friend. It was love at first sip, which two years later led to the planting of a Carménère vineyard on Doornbosch. This is - as far as they can tell - the first Carménère from a single vineyard in South Africa. The wine virus had struck, and the Chilean import was joined by several other Bordeaux varieties and Sauvignon Blanc.

Time to dig up a little family story that forms a parallel in the history of Lozärn. In 1898, a daughter was born in Fish Hoek to Robert Müller and Amy Sedgwick, who was given the name Kathleen May.

Her maternal grandfather was Captain James Sedgwick, the founder of the famous sherry company Sedgwick's Old Brown. Kathleen spent her childhood in Europe and South Africa and then studied at a horticultural school in Warwickshire. At the start of the First World War, her father served in the German army, prompting Kathleen, known as Kay, to flee with her mother and sister on a troop train to Switzerland, where they settled in Lucerne. This picturesque town soon found a special place in Kay's heart.

At the age of 21, Kathleen May married Sebastian Smuts in Harare, Zimbabwe. They eventually moved to Somerset West. Here, Sebastian Smuts farmed the huge Vergelegen. Kay's urge to farm led to them buying land in the Robertson Valley in 1923 and naming it after her fond memories of Lucerne; she farmed it mainly with ducks and chickens. Their only son, Ivan Sedgwick Smuts, eventually took over the farm and planted vineyards and orchards. He and his wife Dianne Beard had three sons, one of whom, Grant Smuts, now runs the farm in Lucerne together with his sons Juan-Ivan and Sean-Grant, the fourth generation.

Lozärn, the Swiss-German pronunciation of Lucerne, was chosen as the wine brand and the labels are decorated with the skeleton of a duck. Granny Kay is also honoured with a fine Bordeaux-style red blend called Kay's Legacy.

The first vintages of the Lozärn range were presented to an appreciative audience at the end of 2017. The success in the form of gold at the Michelangelo competition for the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc testifies to the quality and promises future success for this boutique range, which is produced by winemaker Salóme Buys-Vermeulen.

The flagship Kay's Legacy 2017 is led by 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, with 28% Merlot, 55% Cabernet Franc and 3% Carménère.

Carménère 2016 is the only red grape variety that is also used for the 2017 rosé. The alcohol content of the Carménère is kept moderate at 12.5 %, as is that of the rosé and Sauvignon Blanc.

Winemaker Salóme, who is celebrating her 10th anniversary in 2018, is passionate and dedicated to her work and describes it as a "sensory science". She expresses her successes as follows:

"After a whole series of seasons in the vineyard... you can bottle your love and passion and share this vintage with others... captured forever."