Ingwe Wine Estate

The name Ingwe means "leopard" in the Xhosa language and refers to the rare, indigenous cat species that roam the surrounding hills. Bordeaux Château owner has high hopes for the Sir Lowry's Pass Village wine estate.

It was a chance meeting with Graham Knox at a 1995 oak auction in Tronçais, France that, ultimately, led Bordeaux-bred Alain Moueix, to purchase Farm 14, a 40-hectare farm overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, situated equidistant from Somerset West, Sir Lowry's Pass Village and the False Bay shoreline. Alain was attracted to this site by his keen and innate sense of terroir and a firm belief that it could yield unique world-class red blends. With the release of Ingwe's second red vintage, the 2002, Alain believes that the wines are now starting to show their full potential.

When Alain Moueix purchased the farm in 1997 he began a planting programme of noble red varieties after in-depth soil tests had identified the most suitable sites. Plantings, which today cover 29 hectares, were mainly of the classic Bordeaux varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and some Petit Verdot. Shiraz was also planted, as was Sauvignon Blanc, which supplemented the existing vineyards on the farm.

Only two red and one white blend are being produced at Ingwe.

Alain is a scion of one of Bordeaux's most important wine families. Their involvement goes back to 1930 when Alain's great-grandfather, Jean Moueix bought Château Fonroque in St émilion. His sons, Jean-Antoine and Jean-Pierre later formed établissemets Jean-Pierre Moueix, which in the 1970's became the leading négociant in Libourne, selling the great châteaux wines of Pomerol and St émilion.

Alain studied agriculture and viticulture for 6 years at the University of Toulouse followed by a further two years studying winemaking in cellars in France (Corbières, Pouilly-Fuissé, Pomerol) and California (Napa Valley).

To learn more about the New World wine industry, he spent 18 months working the 1990 and 1991 vintages in New Zealand with the Brajkovitch Family at Kumeu River Wines, one of the most well-known and highly respected wineries in New Zealand.

In 1992 Alain took over as managing director of the 22-hectare Château Mazeyres in Pomerol, which is owned by the pension fund of a large French bank. Since his appointment, the quality of the wine has improved dramatically. In 2001 Alain took over the management of Château Fonroque, a St émilion Grand Cru Classé with its second label Château Cartier Grand Cru, the estate that was bought by his family 74 years earlier.

He also consults to the 4,5-hectare Château Moulin du Cadet in St émilion, Grand Cru Classé, which is owned by his sister, Isabelle Blois-Moueix, a minority shareholder in Ingwe.

After their chance meeting in France in 1995, Graham Knox, owner of the then Berg & Brook Winery in Simondium, and Alain collaborated on the production of two ultra-premium wines, Naledi Cabernet Sauvignon and Sejana Merlot. Alain gained considerable experience of South African wine conditions through his many visits to the Cape.

At Ingwe Alain found the outstanding natural environment to make a unique South African red blend. True to his Bordeaux roots, Alain and his team's primary focus has been on establishing the Ingwe vineyards and maximising their potential for producing the highest quality fruit.

Viticulturist Francois Baard, also a junior partner in Ingwe, joined Alain in 1999 and has been the driving force in developing the Ingwe vineyards. Francois trained at Nietvoorbij near Stellenbosch and was previously farm manager/viticulturist at Groot Constantia, Buitenverwachting and Zevenwacht wineries. Francois also looks after the local marketing of Ingwe wines.

The four key factors in enhancing the quality of the grapes on Ingwe farm are:

Soil type and soil water status in relation to vine stress.

Climate without any excesses.

Optimum vine density and appropriate canopy management.

Naturally low-yielding vineyards.

The Ingwe soils are a mixture of clay and gravel. The gravel provides efficient drainage allowing the water to penetrate the soil's deep clay reservoir. The roots are lured down to this level thus minimising the impact of weather and temperature variations on the vine. Research into the great terroir of Bordeaux has shown that moderate water stress two-to-three weeks before grapes start developing their colour has the most beneficial impact on the wine's body and complexity. By regulating irrigation this effect has been simulated in the Ingwe vineyards. By using a pressure chamber to determine the stem water potential they are able to measure the stress on the vine. If irrigation is required large amounts of water are used in order to wet all the soil horizons. The upper horizons dry quickly, stressing the roots into penetrating the deeper moist clay levels.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the high summer winds of False Bay, besides their obvious beneficial cooling qualities, are considered advantageous because they reduce the yield, so concentrating fruit flavours, and create a microclimate that is less conducive to diseases, minimising the need for spraying. With optimum yield in mind, vine density and viticulture practices are varied from variety to variety. There are 24 hectares under vine on the Ingwe farm with a further 5 hectares of vineyards on a leased property across the road. In future Semillon and more Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot will be planted at Ingwe.

While committed to the dictum that good wines are made in the vineyards, Alain and Ingwe winemaker PJ (Pieter Jacobus) Geyer know the importance of skilful and artful winemaking in reflecting the features of terroir in the wine.

They recognise the importance of picking the grapes at optimum ripeness. They don't pick on technical analysis alone but rely on taste as the final arbiter on cellar readiness, with particular emphasis on the taste of the skins to detect tannins.

The Ingwe wine cellar is situated nearby at a former dynamite factory. It has sufficient tanks to harvest all the grapes at once and can keep all the vineyards and varieties separate. Tanks are tested daily to ensure that only the best tannins are extracted from the grapes. Plans are afoot to build a cellar on the farm, in time for the 2007 vintage.

PJ Geyer joined Ingwe in time for the 2002 harvest. He trained at Elsenburg College near Stellenbosch and did a training vintage at Hamilton Russell Vineyards followed by a stint at Springfield as assistant winemaker. He also worked vintages at Washington Hills Cellars (USA) and Villa Maria Estate (New Zealand). He has worked with Alain during the last two vintages at Châteaux Mazeyres and Fonroque.

With its vineyards gently tilted towards the waters of False Bay, just 3 kilometres away, Ingwe wines reflect a combination of French innovation and viticultural skills and the natural bounty of the most moderate natural assets of the Cape's multifaceted terroir...cooling breezes, frequent yet light winter rainfall, low temperature variation and deep gravel soils.