Philosophy
Don't blend in when you can stand out. Grow cultivars that are atypical for the region and make them excell.
It is with this mindset that today Spioenkop's Riesling, Chenin and Pinotage are amongst the best in the country.
Listen to the vines and listen to the terroir, and you get the best out of both.
Soil
Clay soils mixed with iron-rich ferricreet cobbles and shales. The clay soils retain exactly the amount of water needed; the steep slopes and rocky top soils guarantee sufficient drainage. These nutrient poor soils in combination with a dry farming policy guarantee the intensity and character of the wines.
Elgin Valley
The valley is almost crater like, surrounded by mountains, creating a cool micro climate. Temperatures here are about 3 degrees lower, as an average, than surrounding areas, and the valley often funnels cooling sea breezes from the Atlantic a few kilometres away.
Winemaking
The winemaking philosophy is low intervention and allowing the wine to have a voice without putting technology and an interfering winemaker in the way. A vineyard in rude health, dry farmed and untrammelled by artificial fertiliser, pesticides and herbicides and where working on foot and by hand are the order of the day.
The story behind the name
When aquiring the farm 2008, it had the name Spioenkop, for its ressemblance to the hill in Natal where the Battle of Spioenkop took place in 1900. Koen, being passionate about history and story telling, decided to keep the name and use the Spioenkop Hill as inspiration for the brand.
Hence the 2 ranges: Spioenkop and 1900. Spioenkop includes the atypical varietals - atypical for the Elgin region: Pinotage, Chenin and Riesling. 1900 are the classic Elgin varietals such as Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. This does not mean there is a difference in quality: all of the wines are made with the same passion and sense for precision. It rather reflects the stubborness of the winemaker :-)
Also, Koen likes to talk about his wines as his Ladies and therefore decided to name 3 wines after strong women who played a prominent role in the Anglo-Boer War, or broader, in South-African history.
Sarah Raal
Sarah Raal belonged to a wealthy farmers family whereby her brothers and father went to combat and her mother and younger siblings to concentration camps. Being left alone, she decided to take up weapons and join the war together with the Boers against the British.
Johanna Brandt
When Pretoria was conquered by the English, Johanna Brandt (being Dutch / part of the Boers) served as a nurse. As such she organised women to spy on British officers, which information served the Boers in the guerilla that took place at that moment.
Queen Manthatisi
Not part of the Anglo-Boer War, but still a remarkable woman in South-African history. She lived in what is now the Free State and was part of the BaSia people. Still, despite being BaSia and a woman, she managed to rule over the BaTlokwa people with great success. She became a feared military strategist and war general.