Lunch with Nico Vermeulen of Havana Hills and Virgin Earth
Immersed in the Cape wine industry as I am, I simply love it when local winemakers, and especially those I am associated with, distinguish themselves by winning accolade upon accolade. Enter Nico Vermeulen of Havana Hills fame. Among the splendid wines in our July-August 2008 Value Selection is his 2003 Havana Hills Shiraz - a variety for which Nico has won more awards than he can remember. These include five consecutive Veritas double gold medals for his Du Plessis Shiraz (1999 – 2003), making it the most consistent high performer in this competition to date!
My association with Nico goes back more than 10 years, when he was the cellarmaster at Savanha Wines. More recently I had the pleasure of spending a few hours in his company at the quaint and cosy Avocado Restaurant in Durbanville. Here a blazing fire kept us snug and warm; while the superb food paired with a splendid glass of Havana Hills Sauvignon 2007 and an even more glorious glass of the 2002 Du Plessis Bordeaux blend did justice to this charming raconteur’s anecdotes.
Nico’s illustrious career in the wine industry commenced in 1975 - at the Ashton Winery. The next year he enrolled at Elsenburg Agricultural College and having qualified as winemaker in 1978, he joined the historic Simonsig Estate. “Working under the legendary Oom Frans Malan was a privilege,” says Nico. “He was renowned, not only for his progressive attitude, but also for his astute understanding of the market’s needs.”
It wasn’t long before Nico’s talents were recognised by the likes of the Rupert family. “I remember the day that the late Dr Anton Rupert paid a visit to Oom Frans, politely asking whether he could offer me a position at L’Ormarins.” Bearing Nico’s best interests in mind, Frans Malan agreed. In 1983 Nico moved to L’Ormarins, where working with the late Anthonij Rupert, he contributed towards building the range into one of the great success stories of the 1980s.
Twelve years later Nico embarked on his next challenge: starting a brand-new venture, Savanha Wines, with the marketing guru, Graham Knox. Nico describes this as “an exciting, whirlwind experience” – ending when a few years later the now highly successful Savanha brand was sold to the Spier Group.
This brings us to 1999. Approached by the renowned businessman and wine entrepreneur, Kobus du Plessis of Havana Hills, Nico agreed to head up the winemaking team at this new winery in the Philadelphia region. Suffice to say that since 2000, each Havana Hills vintage has brought a rich harvest of awards and top star ratings. At present, three ranges are produced: the multiple award-winning Du Plessis range, the distinctive Havana Hills range and the unique Virgin Earth.
The wines under the Virgin Earth brand are grown and made on Kobus du Plessis’ Klein Karoo farm on the foothills of the Langeberg Mountains. Here, the terrain is rugged and the conditions are harsh. However, Nico’s face lights up when telling about the Virgin Earth team’s innovative solutions to these challenges. For instance, insufficient power to run a consistent cooling system has led to the unorthodox, yet highly successful practice of lowering the maturation barrels into a lake where up to 12 months’ underwater maturation contributes to the exceptional style of the wines.
Always inventive, and never dodging a new challenge, it is not surprising that the pioneering Nico has recently invested in his own, Nico Vermeulen Wines brand. Judging from the impressive star ratings garnered by the maiden vintages, it is destined to be yet another successful Vermeulen venture. And well deserved!
WADE BALES