A brief history of Dwarsrivier and the winery

The San and Khoi peoples inhabited the Cederberg area from early times, leaving behind a rich legacy of rock art. It was only during the mid-1800s that another tough group of people set foot in the Cederberg – the Nieuwoudt family. The first Nieuwoudts arrived in South Africa during the early 1700s. Nearly 100 years later, their descendants moved to the Cederberg. In 1893 the present family moved to the farm Dwarsrivier, which is also known as Cederberg Private Cellar and Sanddrif holiday resort.

Six generations ago, no one would have guessed that this rugged, fynbos-covered area on the edge of the Succulent Karoo biome would one day become the Cape winelands’ highest-altitude wine farm. The farm itself is covered in unspoilt fynbos – since 2011 only 50,2  ha are under vine. Today, this award-winning winery is owned by Ernst and David Nieuwoudt – proudly fourth and fifth generation, with daughter Emma, the sixth generation.

Many stories have been told about ‘how it all started’. Maybe the first Platter’s South African Wine Guide (1980) puts it best: ‘Oom Pollie has confounded the experts by producing prize-winning wines on his farm high in the remote Cederberg Mountains. He first started making wine for the farm workers with table grapes that ripened too late to be taken in by the nearest co-operative. The venture was so successful, he decided to try his hand at making red wine, and the first vintage in 1977, though too small to be certified, was acclaimed by experts as being up to Superior standards’.

The other story goes as follows: There used to be no vines on the farm. A friend, who worked for the Deciduous Fruit Board, noticed that winter fruit was doing so well on this fruit and tobacco farm and recommended that the family plant table grape vines. This was done in 1965 and these vines did so well that the first wine vines were planted in 1973 – the source of the top-class Cabernet Sauvignon of 1977/8. David’s grandfather, Oom Pollie, and  his uncle, Oom Flippie, managed the farm until 1997. During 1997 David took over the reins from Oom Flippie. Oom Pollie passed on during 1988 and Oom Flippie in 2010.

FAQ: How did you start making wine here at Dwarsrivier?

Before the political changes of the 1990s, wine farming was an income like any other kind of farming, may it be sheep, fruit or fish. The big names in the industry were well known, of course. Up to 1990 the Nieuwoudts focused on fruit, tobacco, vegetables and livestock. During the 1990s, when sanctions were lifted, farming life changed quite radically and many farmers started specialising. Younger farmers, in many cases, faced huge challenges – the whole world had suddenly become their playground and delivery field. In the Cederberg, David Nieuwoudt returned to the land where he grew up and decided to focus on wine – after all, that was what he studied and loved. The year? 1997.

FAQ: The ‘water story’: What is so interesting about Dwarsrivier’s water?

All the water used on the farm comes from the Dwars River, which originates west of Sneeuberg Mountain, partly on our land. Nothing comes from the Uitkyk area. If we refer to the farm we mean the household water consumption of 29 houses, the holiday resort, the irrigation system for the vineyards and all the cellar water. The holiday resort’s irrigation comes from another source.

A chronolochigal history

FAQ: What is the Cederberg Biodiversity Corridor?

The Greater Cederberg Biodiversity Corridor (GCBC) is a unique project in the sense that nowhere in South Africa is there an area as large as this that includes the people, their agricultural and other activities, and an unspoilt natural area, says project co-ordinator Jaco Venter. The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) financed the initial work for the project. This was so successful that the Global Environment Facility (GEF) donated R1,5 million to fund the implementation phase over five years.

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