Tulbagh Rijk's Estate
The Rijks Farm journey began in 1996 when Neville Dorrington and his family decided to move the countryside (having previously lived and worked in Cape town) to grow and cultivate wine. They fell in love with the Tulbagh valley and came across 137 hectares of land with soils that had never been cultivated. The slopes faced north, south, east and west and the analysis of the vertical shale soils revealed the potential for low yielding, high-quality grapes. The offer to purchase was accepted and the Rijks farm was founded.
Vineyard and vinification
Tulbagh lies 120km northeast of Cape Town, to the east of Swartland, on the edge of the winelands and in a natural amphitheatre created by the Obiqua, Winterhoek and Witzenberg mountains. The Rijk’s estate was originally planted with 8 different varieties in 1997 but Chenin Blanc and Pinotage thrive on their shale soils and now the focus is purely on these two signature South African grapes. Neville’s son Tiger Dorrington was born on the farm in 1997, just as the first vines were being planted, so Rijk’s is surely in his blood. He officially joined the team in 2016 and today oversees the running of the farm, having taken over from his father. You can read more about Tiger’s story in this excellent article from Wine.co.za.
In the vineyard, Farm manager Daniel Pienaar is the driving force behind the field work and the picking of the grapes, employing an organic spraying regime and the grapes are harvested by night to retain freshness from a combination of raised bush and trellised vines. Summer temperatures in the region are usually around 35C so water is precious. Pretty cover crops are planted not just for aesthetics for the hotel guests but to retain moisture, keep weeds at bay and act as a sunblock for the soil. They also add to the biodiversity on the farm which is home to wild guinea fowl, flocks of southern red bishops, owls, caracals, cape weavers, bees and fish eagles, to name a few local residents.
Wines
In the winery, a mix of stainless steel and French, US and Hungarian oak are used. The fresh and ripe ‘Touch’ range comes from the younger (4-8 year old) vines and the style here is fruit-driven, accessible and medium bodied wines which make a great introduction to the range and go down a storm at tastings. They are 25% barrel-fermented in 4th to 6th fill barrels – ‘touch’ referring to the light touch of oak but also the human touch to show the estate’s empathy for people, languages and human connections.
Next up are the aptly named Private Cellar wines made with fruit from the older (8-15 year old) raised bush vines with maturation in 25-30% new oak giving layered, elegant, spiced nuances to the wines, which have a great balance of weighty fruit and a lift of freshness. And do look out for our small offers of the powerful and complex Reserve wines which we can add to shipments for you, along with the rare 888 range – so named as just 888 bottles of each wine are produced from barrels carefully selected by winemaker Adriaan Jacobs.
To visit their website click here. Or to view their approach to sustainability click here.
Click here for current availability or call us on 01353 721 999. For marketing queries, please contact Laura Taylor at laura@privatecellar.co.uk
