What’s wrong with Wellington?

Political revisionism in the form of changing place names is nothing new in South Africa.

Take for example the small town of Val du Charron, which was also known by the Dutch translation of the French word Wagenmakersvallei (Valley of the Wagon Makers).

Located just 75 km from Cape Town, the settlement took its name from Huguenot settlers in the late 1600s, and until 1840 the site flourished as a farming settlement with minimal outside interference.

It was then that the British colonial government decided to commemorate Sir Arthur Wellesley’s victory over Napoleon’s French armies at Waterloo 25 years earlier and renamed Val du Charron in honor of his subsequent title as Duke of Wellington.

Even before it was settled by the French, the area was called Limietvallei (Limit Valley) because the mountain range to the east formed the boundary of the Cape of Good Hope.

It was through these mountains, between 1849 and 1853, that Andrew Geddes Bain and his bands of convict laborers built the road known as the Baina Kloof Pass.

It was important, aspiring sommelier Pamela Munaro of the wine and entertainment estate Val du Charron told me, because it indirectly gave its name to a flagship blend of chardonnay, pinot gris, viognier, chenin blanc, rosanne and grenache blanc called Four White. Legs.

According to her, the colonial masters levied a toll on horsemen using the pass to reach the interior… with the curious exception of those riding horses with four white legs.

The toll was tedious (and expensive) for those with regular business on both sides of the mountains, but as they say, boer maak ‘n plan—the farmer makes the plan.

They planned their departure after dark and whitened the feet of their horses before setting out.

The toll collectors must have been surprised by the sudden increase in night traffic and puzzled by the increase in the number of horses exempted from tax.

Wellington’s underrated wine tourism potential

Wellington is one of those Boland cities that has historically been overlooked by both domestic and international tourism.

In fact, given its socio-economic status, it is usually considered a poor relative of its nearby neighbor Paarl, under whose municipal authority it falls.

This state of affairs should not continue for long, because Wellington is a place of amazing beauty, and the wine here is out of this world.

However, names like Bosman, Diemersfontein, Welbedacht, Dulhof, Dunston, Val du Charron and Wolvenhoek may not be immediately familiar (although almost everyone has heard of Douglas Green… even if they still can’t find him!) , but this is mainly because their wines are almost exclusively exported.

Dirk Vaille will have to take some of the blame for this. The dapper “new” owner of Dunstone Wines in Wamakersvalley – locals still call him that, even Catherine and Stuart Entwistle from Val du Charron – is well known in the Wellington area, having imported some of the best wines into his native Belgium. and in other European countries.

“I’ve been coming here at least once a year for business and pleasure for over 15 years and have fallen in love with the place. Dunstone hit the market in 2022, just before I turned 50, and I felt it was time for a new challenge. “In my stupidity, I ended up with a wine farm, a guest house and a restaurant.”

Go Wellington initiative: revitalizing the wine route

Vaille is one of the driving forces behind the Go Wellington initiative to revive the local wine route and boost tourism in the region.

“People think Wellington is very far away, but it’s actually the opposite,” says Diemersfontein owner David Sonnenberg.

“In fact, very few places can boast of being off the beaten track and being in such close proximity to major centres.”

Wellington is 55 minutes’ drive from Cape Town’s central business district and airport, 40 minutes from Stellenbosch and an hour’s drive from Franschhoek.

Part of the town’s charm is that accommodation is largely limited to boutique hotels, guest houses and bed and breakfast establishments on various farms.

Val du Charron (www.vdcwines.com), which is a member of the Cape Country Routes association of more than 20 private hotels, lodges and guest houses in the Western and Eastern Cape, is the largest.

There’s a wealth of accommodation on offer here, including 20 four-star rooms (including the fanciest family room I’ve ever seen) and three five-star suites in a coach house built in 1699.

A beautifully restored exclusive manor house ideal for newlyweds or families.

There are two on-site restaurants: The Grillroom, a steakhouse specializing in grain-fed, grass-fed, aged meats, seafood and poultry, and Pizza Vista… “located in a historic farm cellar and the best place to enjoy strictly Italian food with delicious dishes.” wine!”

Many wineries have their own restaurants. These and other materials can be found at www.gowellington.co.za.

Wellington is a paradise for mountain bikers and hikers. There’s glamping and camping in one of those abandoned towns in Boland – but you’ve got to love the history of the wine labels. What’s wrong with Wellington? equally; the first is AfriCamps at the Doolhof wine estate, but those who prefer something less swanky will enjoy the Tweede Tol campsite run by Cape Nature on the Wolseley side of Bains Kloof.

As well as walking, the Wolwekloof River offers fishing and swimming and, if you’re very lucky, you might spot the endangered Cape leopard in the mountains.

However, wine and the enjoyment of it is the name of my game and I spent a very relaxed couple of hours with Christiaan Nigrini, winemaker at the wonderful Welbedacht, which is owned by 1980s Springbok rugby player Schalk Burger and his sons.

I love a good wine with a story behind the label (like Four White Legs) and the 2023 Bakleiblok single vineyard cinso provided nuts and snacks on a gorgeous sunny day.

According to the narrative, “This block was for many years so called by our workmen, after a long quarrel between two of them, who asserted that it was their work and loving care that produced the wonderful fruits of these 33-year-old bush vines.”

Vineyards

If the fruits of Wellington vines are exported around the world, the same can be said of the vines themselves.

Bosman Family Wines’ Lelienfontein nursery is the source of more than a third of all grapevines planted in South Africa. Export markets include the Middle East and China.

It’s a fascinating contrast; While healthy clones are created in quarantine laboratories, workers graft cuttings at stunning speed using razor-sharp pocket knives, just as their ancestors were taught by Huguenot settlers nearly 350 years ago.

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