The Winemaker

But then you also need to take a peek at the Jacobsdal cellar by way of explanation. Built in 1920, nothing has changed, from the simple gable with crudely cut holes for ventilation to the open concrete fermentation tanks beneath, to the hand-made instrument for 'punching the cap'. The 21 year old Cornelis Dumas had to abandon his oenological studies at Stellenbosch University when his father passed away in 1966, to take over the management of the family farm and also became the winemaker.

	Although he followed very closely in his father’s footsteps, he soon had to face dramatic changes in market conditions. His father and grandfather predominantly made red and white Port to be exported to the U.K. Only a small percentage of the crop was sold as dry red table wine. Soon exports were brought to a virtual standstill due to economic sanctions applied by importers.
winemaker & owner, Cornelis and son Hannes

His only option was to produce table wine for the local market. Cornelis started to replace the existing Chenin blanc vineyards with Sauvignon blanc and the Cinsaut vineyards with Pinotage. The decision to plant Pinotage was taken because he liked the fruity wines it produced and had faith in its future. Pinotage is closely related to Cinsaut which did very well on Jacobsdal. The variety ripens early and is well suited to dryland conditions.

In the cellar he remained the traditionalist; open tank fermentation, natural yeast and stirring of the must and skins by hand before using only the free-run juice. This method allows for subtler but deeper flavours where tannins are less evident, so distinctive of Jacobsdal Pinotage.

Terroir plays a important role in the wine production of Jacobsdal, allowing the untrellised, low yielding bush vines to grow under entirely dryland conditions, producing outstanding quality fruit with deep concentration of flavour. Great care is taken to make well structured wines with fruit, acid, alcohol and tannins perfectly balanced. The wine is matured in small French oak barrels for a period of 15 to 18 months before bottling. Cornelis aims to produce wines ready to enjoy when released after 3 years from vintage date but with an ageing potential of ten years.

When sanctions were lifted in 1994 Jacobsdal Pinotage 1989 was one of the first South African wines to be selected by the Norwegian controlled Wine Monopoly for export to Norway. It was also one of the South African wines selected to be served at the ceremony in Oslo when Mandela and De Klerk received the Nobel Peace prize .

In 1997 the Jacobsdal Pinotage 1994 was awarded a gold medal at Vinexpo ,Bordeaux and was also selected as one of the Absa Bank’s Top Ten Pinotages and received a Gold medal at the annual Veritas awards.

In 2007 the Jacobsdal Cabernet Sauvingon 2003 won one of just ten Grand Gold medals awarded at Sélections Mondiales des Vins, the largest International wine competition in North America.

Cornelis proved that even today natural fermentation and traditional winemaking methods can still produce spectacular wines.

CORNELIS DUMAS

Date of birth: 6 January 1945

Marital status: Married with three children

Tertiary education: Studied viticulture and economics at Stellenbosch University (not completed)

Experience: Winemaker at Jacobsdal since 1966