ABOUT RAKA

Our farm, brand and family:

The Dreyer Family bought the farm, Remhoogte south east of Hermanus in the Akkedisberg area in 1982. Piet Dreyer was doing commercial fishing at the time. They ran livestock and later planted citrus trees. Piet’s wife and children tended the farm in his absence. During 1999 the Dreyers planted 10 hectares Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz. Since then a few hectares were added every year, and the 68 hectares on the farm at present, includes plantings of Pinotage, Sangiovese, Viognier, Mourvedre, Petit Verdot and also larger plantings of Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc, making the farm self-sufficient as far as varieties needed for the different blends are concerned.

The farm is 17 kilometres from Stanford in a glen in the Kleinrivier Mountains, where the Klein River flows through. The Kleinrivier Mountains is the southernmost mountain range in Africa and its slopes provide a variety of aspects and soil types. The farm’s proximity to the sea ensures cooling breezes from Walker Bay in the afternoon while the South Easter blowing in from Agulhas on the Indian Ocean reduces the summer heat. The newly demarcated Klein River wine of origin ward is adjacent to the Walker Bay district and is cooler than the traditional wine growing areas of the Cape.

Name and Brands:

Piet Dreyer was a fisherman all his life. As a child, when he was about 16 years old, his father was seriously injured in a motorcycle crash and he helped his mother to support the family by catching fish over weekends and after school on a friend’s fishing boat. The sea and fishing remained his passion and he grew from ski-boat owner to freezer-vessel owner and the "kaalvoet (barefoot) skipper" on his vessel Raka became well known amongst the squid fisherman. Because of the squid squirting black ink all over the boat, Piet decided to have himself a black freezer vessel built, so that he need not repaint that often, and called it RAKA. (From the Afrikaans poem by N.P. van Wyk Louw, about an African tribe being threatened by Raka, half man half beast and as black as the night). He took this name as his brand when he ventured, with equal passion, into winemaking - hence the slogan: born of the sea, guided by the stars, blessed by the earth

The Winemaker

Finally a Dreyer as winemaker!

Josef is the Dreyer’s second son. He was keenly interested and whole-heartedly involved in the planning of the cellar, the planting of the grapes and the first five harvests, regularly relieving the night staff over weekends, and commuting daily between the school and farm at harvest time so that he could be in on the action. He studied viticulture and winemaking at Elsenburg College, obtaining his B.Agric degree in 2006. He took charge of winemaking at Raka from the 2007 harvest.

Terrior

The farm is situated in a narrow valley in the Kleinriver Mountains, southernmost mountain range in Africa. The vineyards are planted on either side of the Klein River that flows through the valley on its way to the Atlantic Ocean in Walkerbay. This means that there are both north and south facing slopes under vines and even some vineyards facing to the west. The altitude varies between about 58m above sea level for the vineyards planted next to the river to 120m for the vineyards lying on the higher slopes. The soil types are equally diverse. The highest slopes consist of decomposed sandstone and Cartref soils of sandstone origin are found. On these soils Sauvignon Blanc and some Shiraz were planted. The reds are mostly planted on schale of the Glenrosa type; some deep and rich, while other areas contains rock, and elsewhere patches of Oakleaf occur. There are also some sandy soils along the riverbanks –these are good for Viognier and Sauvignon blanc. Vines and rootstock were selected="true"="true"="true" to suit the soil type. The prevailing winds are the southeaster blowing in from the Indian Ocean (Agulhas area) during summer and the rain-carrying north westerly in winter. The proximity to the sea ensures a cooling westerly sea breeze from Walker Bay in the afternoon. The farm is sheltered by the mountains from the south easterly rains which sometimes comes untimely to the Overberg during summer.

Raka Biography Shiraz 2006

All grapes were hand picked and sorted twice before a pure yeast culture was inoculated The juice was pumped over the skins 3-5 times per day for 5 days. Once fermentation was complete, the wine was drained of the primary lees and transferred to a resting tank. Malolactic fermentation and a brief settling period preceded the wine to a combination of 225 litre barrels of French and American oak types.

This Shiraz shows leather and meat spices on the nose. The palate is a well combined mixture of spiciness, up-front fruit and smokiness.

RAKA FIGUREHEAD 2006

All grapes were hand picked and sorted twice before a pure yeast culture was inoculated. The juice was pumped over the skins 3-5 times per day for 5 days. Once fermentation was complete, the wine was drained of the primary lees and transferred to a resting tank. Malolactic fermentation and a brief settling period preceded the wine to a combination of 225 liter barrels of French oak types. The wine spent between 12- 14 months is barrel before bottling and labeling.

This Cape-style blend (30% Pinotage) reveals raspberries on the nose with a hint of spice and sun dried tomatoes. The spiciness comes through on the palate, leaving a mouth-coating long finish.

RAKA QUINARY 2004

This still young Bordeaux blend reveals a complex nose of blackberries, spice and liquorice against a cigar box background. Casis with a hint of licorice developing in elegant oak flavours. A deep-coloured, well balanced wine Juicy with soft tannins, a full mouth feel and lingering after taste that will improve with ageing up to 8 years.

52% CABERNET SAUVIGNON
17% CABERNET FRANC
18% MERLOT
8% MALBEC
5% PETIT VERDOT

This still young Bordeaux blend reveals a complex nose of blackberries, spice and liquorice against a cigar box background. Casis with a hint of licorice developing in elegant oak flavours. A deep-coloured, well balanced wine Juicy with soft tannins, a full mouth feel and lingering after taste that will improve with ageing up to 8 years

Listed in Harrods UK and selected for Harrods Christmas Hamper

Listed South African Airways First Class Business Class

Listed British Airways Club Class

4 Stars Platter 2007 & 2008

Gold Michaelangelo 2007

Top Ten Caylon Trophy Show 2007

Listed in JIKO’s at DISNEYLAND US as wine by the glass

The Cellar

The cellar and winemaking

The private family owned cellar was completed in time for the 2002 harvest, and can accommodate 400 tonnes per harvest. It is gravity-fed, so that pumps are only used to get the wine from the fermenters to the barrels in the adjoining barrel cellar. There are sufficient small fermenters to separately accommodate the grapes from each vineyard block. The wine so separately vinified is also kept separate during the ageing process when the wine from fermenters (thus each block) is kept in a separate batch of 225 litre French and American oak barrels.

The harvest and winemaking process:

The grapes are handpicked in small lug boxes in which it is transported to the cellar. Hand picking allows for pre-sorting. Bunches not at optimum ripeness or spoiled in any other way are left in the vineyard. In the cellar the lug boxes are emptied onto a conveyor belt where all matter other than grape is removed before destemming. After desteming the berries are further sorted (green berries and stems removed) before being crushed directly into the tanks. The grapes from each block are vinified separately in small stainless steel fermenters. Cold soaking takes place for up to three days before fermentation starts. The cake is punched down manually every four hours during fermentation. Some wines are left on the skins for further contact after fermentation. All red wines are matured in small French or American oak barrels.