Overgaauw Wine Estate, Stellebosch, South Africa

OVERGAAUW WINE ESTATE: FRENCH SOUTH AFRICANS

Overgaauw Wine Estate was founded in 1905 by the Dutchman Abraham van Velden . He emigrated from the Netherlands to South Africa and married a beautiful South African; Elizabeth Overgaauw. The name Overgaauw comes from his great-great-grandfather, the first Van Velden. In 1909, Abraham built his first cellar for the production of wines. The production initially focused on producing bulk wine. In 1945, his son David van Velden took over the company. The course was changed and various quality improvements followed. For example, the soil of the company was mapped to find the best vineyard for each variety. David also planted various Portuguese grape varieties : Tinta Barocca, Tinta Francisca, Cornifesto, Souzão and Tinta Roriz. These were, according to Portuguese tradition, harvested and fermented at the same time with the aim of making a product similar to port: unique for that time!
In 1969, David travelled to Bordeaux with Frans Malan from Simonsig. They visited Château Lafite and Château Mouton Rothschild, among others, which inspired them to start maturing their red wines in barriques. Together with Frans Malan, he bought barrels directly from Château Lafite. He started making a Bordeaux blend , the Tria Corda. This was a great success and is still one of the top wines in the Overgaauw wine range. With the introduction of the first wine law in South Africa in 1973, Overgaauw started marketing 'Estate' wines.

THE NEXT GENERATION

In this year, his son Braam took over the management. Braam graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in business sciences. He gained his knowledge of wine abroad, where he studied viticulture at the wine university of Geisenhem. Braam was the first winemaker in South Africa (1982) to launch a Merlot cépage and, again, the first to start planting Chardonnay. In 2007, Braam handed over the management to his son David, the ^4th generation. Like his father, David graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in business sciences and enriched his knowledge of wine abroad. He did some internship at Clos de Jacobins in Saint-Émilion under the guidance of Hubert du Boüard de Laforest, co-owner of Château Angelus.

WINEMAKER STICK TO YOUR LAST

The style of wines that Overgaauw produces is classically based . The wines have a good backbone of acids. The red wines mature - partly or not - on French oak, which gives them an excellent maturation potential .