This winery’s name may be hard to pronounce, but its wines are well worth exploring

The history of the Vergelegen Estate in Somerset West, South Africa is as rich as its Cape Dutch name is challenging to pronounce.

Founded on Feb. 1, 1700 by Cape Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel, the remote 3,200-hectacre property occupies the slopes of the Hottentots Holland mountain range, overlooking False Bay. In those days, the journey from the estate to Cape Town took three days by ox wagon. It was named Vergelegen [pronounced “fur-khuh-LEA-ghun”], meaning ‘situated far away.’

“The name is nigh on impossible for anyone to say except a few Dutch people,” says Vergelegen winemaker Luke O’Cuinneagain.

O’Cuinneagain joined Vergelegen in 2022, following stints at Glenelly and Rustenberg in South Africa and Château de Fieuzal and Château Angélus in France and Screaming Eagle in California. The winemaker who grew up in the Constantia Valley says he was attracted by the estate’s beauty, history and wines produced.

He recounts how the estate’s original owner would post a lookout on the property’s high-attitude Schaapenberg hill to watch for incoming ships. That way they could be the first at the port to greet them with fresh produce and provisions. Local farmers took offence and Van der Stel was sent back to the Netherlands after being found guilty of corrupt business practices.

The same vantage point would have offered a birds-eye view of the Battle of Muizenberg in September 1795, when the British first seized control of the Cape Colony from the Dutch, and the Battle of Blaauwberg in January 1806, when British forces regained control. “This property has seen a lot,” he says.

Van der Stel planted the first grape vines on the property in 1700, but Vergelegen’s commercial winemaking operations did not begin until 1992, five years after current owners Anglo American acquired the estate in 1987. (Anglo American is in the process of merging with Canada’s Teck Resources. The merger is expected to be completed by March 2027, creating a combined company, AngloTeck, with global headquarters in Vancouver.)

Currently the estate has 100-hectares of vineyards, including cabernet sauvignon, merlot, shiraz, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. They also have experimental plantings of varieties such as vermentino, alvarinho and tempranillo, which might be more suitable for a changing climate.

The winery is particularly well-known for its red and white blends. These include Estate White, a stylish and age-worthy sauvignon blanc and semillon; Estate Red, a cabernet-merlot blend; and Vergelegen V, its flagship cabernet sauvignon-based red. “These blends are such unsung heroes in the wine community for the way they can age,” says O’Cuinneagain. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we get enough opportunity to taste aged wines and see the beauty in them.”

Vergelegen’s The Mill Red 2022 is currently available at LCBO Vintages outlets. O’Cuinneagain finalized the blend by adding shiraz to amplify its juicy fruit character and contribute a touch of spicy complexity. It’s a crowd-pleasing and approachable style designed for drinking upon release.