About two years from now, on a night out at your favourite restaurant, you might take a sip of the award-winning sauvignon blanc you’re pairing with the seared tuna, swirl it in your mouth, and think: “Hmmm, unusual smoky notes.”
Those smoky notes would be a monument to the worst day in the life of Conrad Vlok, winemaker at Strandveld Vineyards near Elim in the Overberg.
That day was January 8, when a wildfire whipped by gale-force winds roared across the hills and plains of Cape Agulhas like an express train, razing all before it and coming within a hair’s breadth of destroying the Strandveld Vineyards cellar.
“This fire was just a monster, a monster that spread so quickly,” Vlok tells the FM. It started on January 3 on the coast near Pearly Beach, about 25km from Elim, and destroyed about 40,000ha before it was brought under control on January 15.
“This was one of the hottest wildfires I’ve ever been exposed to. It was a very dry index day, no moisture in the air, and then this wind. The fire created its own wind. It was sucking in the air in front of it … Then when it hits you, it’s almost like a squall from the sea.”
Sparks flying up from the main blaze fell far in front of it, starting dozens of new fires. “It ignites itself forward. You’ll see a fire jumping out 500m; I’ve seen it with my own eyes. You have firebreaks, but with the wind at that speed, the fire runs past you, faster than you can run with a bakkie.”
Vlok says the firefighters and farming community were able to block the fire before it reached the main vineyards, “our biggest investment”, but about 1.5ha of vines were destroyed and many blocks of vines were scorched. “You’ve got these grapes that are half-cooked. If you braai a bunch of grapes on the fire, you’ll see what I mean.”
The fire created its own wind. It was sucking in the air in front of it … Then when it hits you, it’s almost like a squall from the sea
— Conrad Vlok
The day the fire reached Elim “was one of the worst days of my life”, Vlok says. “We could never get to the head of this fire. The fire chief sat next to me and said: ‘Conrad, I’ve got no idea where the head of this fire is.’”
At one stage a blaze erupted 40m from the winery’s cellar. “That was very scary. The chopper with water bombs came in before the cellar caught alight. It was just very, very warm.”
What made this fire — and another that broke out at about the same time near Stanford — so bad was that the region had excellent rains in previous seasons, which encouraged the growth of fynbos, alien trees and grasses. “Then basically our rain stopped in August [last year], and since then it’s been a very dry spring and summer — all the conditions for a perfect firestorm,” Vlok says. “Boef. It basically just happens.”
Strandveld Vineyards — whose recent accolades include the Platter’s Sauvignon Blanc of the Year Award for its 2024 Pofadderbos wine — will start harvesting its sauvignon blanc grapes early in February, and its pinot noir grapes in the next few days.
“People are always worried about the smoke taint,” Vlok says. “That taint, you never know until you start making wine if it’s really there. The longer the period between the smoke contamination and the harvest date, the more the risk is reduced.”
He says there are ways to ameliorate the effect of smoke, long perfected by winemakers in Australia and California who are used to living with wildfires.
“I can say tongue in cheek, I always refer to the ‘smoky minerality’ that you find in my sauvignon blanc, so maybe this year it’ll be a bit more smoky,” Vlok jokes. “One year you’ve got a bit of rot in the grapes, the next year you’ve got a bit of smoke taint, but every year you still have to make a plan and get those wines out there.”
At Raka Wines near Stanford, the flames burnt right up to the vineyard edge but were turned back by the wind. “We were very fortunate,” winemaker Josef Dreyer says. “We had a lot of sleepless nights, but basically we’re good.”
He is not too concerned about smoke taint because the smell should have all but disappeared by the time the grapes are harvested next month. “Wine scientists have developed taint-removal bacteria and enzymes, so there are tools available. There might be a smoky influence on the wine, but I think we still have time for nature to rework it.”
Livestock farmers were also badly hit by the fires, losing all their natural grazing and most infrastructure, such as fences and irrigation pipes. Overstrand municipal manager Dean O’Neill issued an appeal on social media for donations of fodder and water troughs.
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