Terrain, Climate, and Soil
Capaia is part of the new Philadelphia wine-growing region, near Durbanville,
and constitutes a "wine ward" of its own. In 2005, Capaia was declared an
estate (in accordance with the Château principle). Capaia's entire terrain
comprises 140 hectares (approximately 350 acres), and extends upwards across
the north-east flank of the Olifantskop, which is 376 metres tall. The vineyards
rise up to 260 metres in height, with a planted wine-growing area totalling
59 hectares spread out over three terraced slopes facing the north and north-east.
The north and north-east? Of course, for south of the equator, the side
facing northwards is invariably the sunny side. And, what's more: the Olifantskop's
vines enjoy insolation at 180°, from the very first rays of morning sunshine
to the final glow of each sunset.
The region's climate, one of the most wholesome on earth, is beneficial
to human beings and vines alike. The Atlantic Ocean is just a bit more than
ten kilometres away; variation in temperature keeps within reasonable limits,
and precipitation, at 400 mm, is at he same level as that in the Mediterranean
region. Rainfall in the Cape land, though, tends to become very heavy indeed.
Water that cannot be absorbed by the soil will rush downhill. On Capaia,
such water will be collected by so-called contours - i.e., vineyard paths
with a slight inclination towards the hills -, conducted into canals, and
saved at the foot of the vineyard hills in a reservoir with a capacity of
170,000 cubic metres. The necessary irrigation, which is in fact indispensable
in South African viticulture, has thus been provided for in the best possible
way.
The soil on which the Capaia wine-growing estate rests consists of bright-coloured
slate containing some loam, which dates back to the middles ages of geological
history, the Triassic period. Fossils of pre-historic animals can be found
here, just as volcanic rock of relative recency. Daniel Schuster and Daniel
Le Brun performed comprehensive soil analysis, which confirmed initial assumptions
about excellent water-storage properties and the presence of an abundance
of minerals. These perfect conditions permit us to grow sophisticated, high-quality
vine varieties on the slate hills of Capaia, thus making Capaia slate the
ideal sub-soil for this purpose. We have been assisted by Jan Coetzee, a
national South African rugby hero and viticulture consultant based in Stellenbosch,
who had previously been responsible for the design and establishment of
model wine estates such as Buitenverwachtung or Vriesenhof.
