02. Who are we?
www.solms-delta.co.za
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Expect innovation in vineyard and cellar: desiccation of the grapes as practised by the ancient Greeks, and flavour-intense wines that pioneer unexpected blends, plus a world-class work of art on the new cellar facade. Add a museum tracing the 320-year-old social history of the farm (including slaves) in the original 1740 cellar; a Later Stone Age archaeological site and the foundations of a seventeenth-century hunting lodge; and a Cape musical heritage centre celebrating the origins and development of our rich variety of vernacular styles. Internationally renowned neuroscientist Mark Solms returned to South Africa in 2002 to revitalise the family farm Delta, replanting it with Rhone grape varieties.
http://www.solms-delta.co.za/heritage/museum-van-de-caab/
The Museum van de Caab at the Solms-Delta Wine Estate tells the story of Delta farm, a story that is typical of so many of the old farms in the Drakenstein Valley. At the Museum, we try to tell this story through the subjective viewpoints of individual people – which is the defining philosophy behind the Museum. While many other places of interest to the public give general histories, what makes this Franschhoek Valley museum unique is the real voices of individual people, through which the farm’s story is told. These individual voices facilitate a personal connection between the present and the past, which could not be established through abstract facts and figures. Both the historical and the archaeological traces of the people who lived on the farm are part of the displays and these elements embody the major themes of the Museum. However, the story of Delta farm cannot stand on its own. Its significance lies in its relationship to greater events and historical processes that shaped the human fabric of the Drakenstein Valley, and on a broader scale, South African society as a whole.
The story is told in the Museum both chronologically and thematically, starting from the very beginnings of human settlement on the farm, through pre-colonial pastoral usage of the land, the establishment of private ownership through colonial viticulture, the scars left by slavery and apartheid, and beyond, to the establishment of a democratic South Africa and our hopes for the future – always contextualising the story of the farm in relation to the country as a whole. This Museum is aimed at everyone – those who visit for entertainment purposes as part of a tourist activity, those who utilise the space for research and educational purposes (both child and adult learning will be targeted), as well as those who see it as a vehicle for studying their family and community history or identity. The Museum will attempt to offer a meaningful forum for open, personal and community dialogue, interaction and interpretation as ‘people’s sense of their history enters into their engagement with others, with exhibitions, and with their own notions of identity’.
The Museum van de Caab hopes to be exactly what its name refers to – ‘from the Cape’ – a unique vernacular project embodying the spirit, pride and complex history of democratic South Africa. The museum is open seven days a week. Sunday and Monday from 9:00am to 5:00pm and Tuesday to Saturday from 9:00am to 6:00pm. Admission and a museum tour is free of charge. Contact Solms-Delta on 021 874 3937 or email museum@solms-delta.co.za.
www.solms-delta.co.za/restaurant/
From the glass floor affording a view of the archaeological substructure of a 1740 wine cellar to the innovative menu, Fyndraai -, an exciting new restaurant with a local twist, on the Solms-Delta wine estate outside Franschhoek, combines historical ingredients with contemporary tastes. The cuisine, like its adventurous wines and atmospheric farmstead, lives up to the Solms-Delta claim of being proudly Hiervandaan (‘from this place’).
Dishes explore the diverse culinary heritage of the Cape, uniting European, Asian and African flavours in a fusion of tradition and creativity. Elements of Afrikaner boerekos, with its strong ‘Cape Malay’ (slave) influences, are blended with ingredients favoured by the Khoi nomads who lived in the Franschhoek Valley thousands of years ago. All appetisingly plated for maximum eye and taste appeal.
Chef Shaun Schoeman is Franschhoek born and bred and the latest in the line-up of top local culinary talent. He brings to Fyndraai a sound classical background, leavened by inventive flair and enticing presentation. He believes strongly that food can unite people; can make South Africans proud of their diverse heritage.
Uniquely positioned at the confluence of the Atlantic and Indian oceans, the winery has in its short history garnered more 5-star ratings from Platter’s South African Wines than any other wine producer in South Africa (seven in total from 2005 – 2009) and has been called one of the world’s finest vineyards.
Now a rare residential land opportunity for investors with between R3.5 million and R10 million to spend on individual plots has opened up on Cape Point Vineyards’ two key residential development sites; Cape Point Vineyard’s Estate and Chapman’s Peak Estate – probably the last of their kind, in Noordhoek, overlooking the Cape Peninsula’s south western coastline.
Estate owner Sybrand van der Spuy says the usp’s of both estates is the combination of sea and mountain views coupled with the wine farm. Wine industry experts agree that Cape Point Vineyards is currently at the top of its game for a boutique estate. Van der Spuy feels it’s a big incentive for local and overseas wine lovers to be associated with the estate, and also to have access to the underground vinoteque to store their own wine collections and to enjoy the facilities of the tasting rooms and the estate cellar.
(projects 2006, 2007, 2008)
Eshowe Hills Eco Estate is pumping more than R60 million into the local economy with the development of the ecologically designed golf course estate. The developers are all long-standing residents of Eshowe who initiated the project to save the existing golf club from decline and extinction. Added benefits from this vote of confidence have had an immediate positive knock-on effect. Considerable financial advantages will be realised by the local community.
