The winemaking community of Bot River toasted the end of the harvest with a fun-filled weekend of bona-fide wine encounters and badly behaved beards, which culminated with their hip and hirsute Barrels & Beards Party, hosted at Barton Vineyards on Saturday, 16 April.
Each year the winemakers of this close-knit wine route – one that puts tremendous focus on community and the sociability of great, honest wines – undertake a self-imposed shaving ban during the harvest period when personal grooming makes way for precious grapes.
Once the harvest is done and dusted and the barrels painstakingly rolled out for their unique, homegrown harvest party, they then reveal and flaunt their tufty transformations, which usually gets the audience roaring in delight. This all goes down during an amusing Beard Parade, when the ‘Best Bot Beard’ is crowned by a panel of judges, all worth their whiskers.
“It all started six years ago when amicable winemaker, Niels Verburg of Luddite, fully embraced his post-harvest facial fur and challenged his winemaking cronies to a Bot River Beard-Off. It was so ridiculous that the rest of the Botriviera took to it like olives to a martini, and here we are today,” explains Nicolene Finlayson of Gabriëlskloof Estate who organizes this annual ‘Baard Paartie’ as she calls it.
“Our winemakers have just as much fun as they enjoy crafting their elegant wines and our Barrels & Beards celebration has since evolved into a sell-out highlight on our town’s social calendar that offers so much more than just bold beards and crazy coiffure. We host this for the love of winemaking, camaraderie and charity and the 2016 event was no different,” adds Nicolene.
Bot River’s genuine country hospitality and playful camaraderie amongst its winemakers is infectious and makes one feel part of the community almost instantaneously. The 2016 Barrels & Beards Party saw a cool crowd flocking from far and near to this quirky, heart-shaped little dorpie in the Overberg to ‘let their hair down’ and immerse themselves in excellent wines and homegrown goodness.
Ending the weekend on a hairy high and fuelled on by Bot River Primary School’s super talented Marimba band who welcomed them with glee, guests descended on Barton where the winemakers pulled out all the stops to impress the judges during the Beard Parade. In the end it was a group stint that took the prize – three friends Peter-Allan Finlayson (Gabriëlskloof), Marelise Niemann (Momento) and John Seccombe (Thorne & Daughters) with Dave Nel (of Steele wines – representing all three of these labels to the Cape Town Trade). Their rendition of bearded hipster outfit “Mumford and Sons” won them the grand prize of R5000, sponsored by Amorim Cork, South Africa’s largest natural cork supplier.
Besides dashing winemakers, Bot River also produces world-class wines, thanks in part to its climate but also to the non-intrusive hands and gentle mannerisms of their makers. Rare and exclusive, proudly Bot River wines went under the hammer to rake in a whopping R100,000 and the proceeds will go towards various school-level educational projects in and around Bot River.
Prior to the parade and auction action guests were able to mingle with the winemakers and savour the young wines from the 2016 vintage, straight from the barrel, whilst comparing them to older vintages of the same wine. This was followed by a delicious, proudly Botriviera dinner, wholesomely prepared by Penny Verburg and Bot River’s own Portuguese import, Manny de Andrade, owner of Manny’s Kitchen (a local secret on the square in Bot River).
Local producers that took part in the 2016 celebration included Anysbos, Barton Vineyards, Benguela Cove, Beaumont Wines, Craigantlet, Gabriëlskloof, Genevieve MCC, Goedvertrouw, Luddite, Maremmana, Momento, Paardenkloof, Thorne & Daughters, Rivendell, Villion and Wildekrans.
Other events on the 2016 Barrels & Beards Post-Harvest agenda was a chilled get-together at Honingklip Brewery on the Friday night, 15 April, where guests and winemakers eased into the weekend with a range of locally brewed, Belgian craft beers and Chef Jon Light’s artisanal pork sausages.
This laid-back merriment was followed by an enlightening Best of Bot vs International Tasting at Goedvertrouw the Saturday morning, which was aimed at the more serious winos and cellar buffs. During the first part of the tasting, guests had the chance to taste the best of the 2015 vintage hailing from Bot River. After that, Wine Cellar Director, Roland Peens, presented a blind tasting of the finest wines from Bot River against international counterparts.
Bot River, a mere hour’s drive from Cape Town, has long been a haven for wine industry pioneers and mavericks, with 13 wine farms, most of them family-owned and run, producing world class wines. In addition, this underrated, unpretentious 10 km enclave is also renowned for its conservation initiatives; 'chilled' approach to life and honest, hands-on winemaking methods.
“Bot River ranks amongst the most exciting Winelands destinations, having defiantly maintained our own distinct, laid-back identity. We hope to see you all at next year’s Barrels & Beards celebration when we will yet again share our whiskers and wines with gusto,” adds Sebastian Beaumont, proprietor and winemaker at Beaumont Wines and former ‘Best Bot Beard’ title holder.
The 2017 Barrels & Beards weekend will take place on Saturday, 25 March 2017, and tickets will go on sale on 1 Feb 2017. To avoid FOMO, make sure to get on the mailing list so that you are first in the know! For enquiries and pre-bookings contact bookforbarrels@gmail.com.