The Year Belongs to Diemersdal

The late South African rugby legend Boy Louw had a famous saying when his team’s narrow victory was questioned by the opposition: “ag man, well just looks at the scoreboard.” As the South African wine industry wraps up 2024 and reflects on the year’s achievements, those who look at the scoreboard will see another Louw at the top: Thys, owner and winemaker at Diemersdal Estate in Durbanville.

When it comes to awards and honours, Diemersdal indisputably stood out as the top performer in the South African wine industry this year. Anyone doubting, just look at the scoreboard.

The names Louw and Diemersdal are especially renowned for their Sauvignon Blanc wines, and they indeed excelled in that category this year. However, the standout performance is how well the estate’s other wine varieties performed.

Take, for example, Cabernet Sauvignon. This year, Diemersdal won its third General Smuts Trophy at the National Young Wine Show. With this king of red grapes, Diemersdal also excelled at the Veritas Awards, where The Journal Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 earned double gold. The Journal Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 received a five-star rating in the Platter’s Guide, placing it in esteemed Cabernet company.

Then there’s the Diemersdal Pinotage. The Journal Pinotage wines from 2020 and 2022 each received double gold at Veritas, with the 2022 Pinotage Reserve reining in an Absa Top 10 Trophy. The Platter’s Guide also named The Journal Pinotage 2022 as the top Pinotage in the country.

For another red variety, Shiraz, Diemersdal achieved a Veritas double gold, and their Syrah 2023 shone with five stars in Platter’s.

Diemersdal’s Sauvignon Blanc wines maintained their prominence despite their reds’ success. Wild Horseshoe 2023 was named Platter’s Sauvignon Blanc of the Year, while The Journal Sauvignon Blanc 2023 earned five stars. Diemersdal Winter Ferment Sauvignon Blanc 2024 was also among the FNB Sauvignon Blanc SA Top 10 winners this year.

Reflecting on these achievements at year-end, Thys remains characteristically humble, despite frequently being asked about the reasons behind Diemersdal’s competition successes. While 2024 may be their most successful year yet in terms of wine accolades, Diemersdal consistently features on the awards stage year after year.

Thys feels blessed to farm in the Durbanville region. “It’s a cool climate influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, combined with soils of weathered granite and clay that just create good terroir for the varieties we grow here,” he explains.

Certainly, where you farm is crucial, but so is how you farm. Although my own relationship with plants and soil is mostly unsuccessful, I can see that Diemersdal’s vineyards are managed with precision and skill. Recently, I toured some of Thys’s Sauvignon Blanc blocks, the vines verdant and lush, with small green clusters ripening. The foliage is uniform, each vine’s arms neatly tied to the wires, and the dry, expired cover-crops between the rows rolled flat. Not a weed in sight.

While Thys is now at the helm, the influence of his father Tienie is evident in this precise, organised wine farming operation. Tienie is a man of detail and of discipline. He still reprimands Thys if the kid’s bakkie is left outside of a farm garage at night, and pity any team-member who during harvest time allows juice or grapes to spill from the trucks without cleaning up the werf, pronto.

It’s values, and family. Thys believes it is family that underlies Diemersdal’s current success. The estate was established in 1698 and has been owned by the Louw family since 1885, with Thys as the sixth generation in the roles of owner and winemaker.

Winemaking runs generations deep in the Louw family’s veins, even before their time at Diemersdal: Thys is a direct descendant of Jan Pietersz Louw, better known as Broertjie, who was tasked by Jan van Riebeeck in 1660 to plant vineyards and make wine along the Liesbeek River in Cape Town’s southern suburbs. Broertjie did this successfully, even before Simon van der Stel’s famed involvement in winemaking at Constantia.

“When we talk about terroir in the wine industry, it’s usually about the soil, location, and climate that influence the vineyards and wine character,” says Thys. “But I believe that the impact of people and generations of farmers plays an equally significant role in shaping a vineyard’s wine.

“What we do today at Diemersdal is simply a continuation of what was initiated in 1698: planting these Durbanville soils with vineyards and ripening the grapes to make wines that reflect the terrain and sites. A value that crosses generations. What my team and I do in the vineyards today is influenced by my father’s farming methods, which he learned from his father and his ancestors.

“While each generation adapts to its circumstances and plants according to market demand, the roots of vineyard farming here run deep into the past. Without this, Diemersdal and its wines would not be what they are today.”

One practice that has remained unchanged since the estate’s beginnings is dryland vineyard farming. “The 190 hectares of vineyards here have never been irrigated,” says Thys. “All of the world’s great wines come from dryland vineyards; it simply makes better wine.”

Thys’s involvement with Diemersdal began in 2005, after completing his studies and gaining experience at other wineries, when he joined Tienie. Sauvignon Blanc wasn’t the primary grape variety at the time, but with his predilection for this wine and recognising a rapid market growth, Thys ensured that Diemersdal and Durbanville became synonymous with Sauvignon Blanc.

“I suppose I’ve been somewhat lucky,” Thys admits. “Even though Diemersdal has a history of producing good red wines, my sheer love of Sauvignon Blanc – and the estate’s ideal cool location for the grape – led to an increase in plantings of this variety and a focus on its diversity in styles. This focus coincided with the phenomenal growth of the Sauvignon Blanc market over the last 20 years, making it today’s most popular single-variety wine in South Africa.

“However, I’m just the current custodian. The next generation might choose to focus on something completely different. The impact of history is, after all, fluid.”

The saying goes that wine is made in the vineyard. As the late wine legend Duimpie Bayly used to say, “you don’t win the Durban July without a jockey.” The role of the winemaker is crucial, especially when you’re processing over 2 000 tons of grapes to create a variety of wines from Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay to Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Shiraz.

With top winemakers like Mari Branders and Juandré Bruwer by his side, Thys leads the team, but his word is final. I can attest to the importance of a head winemaker with a discerning palate and the intuition for wine. Tasting through the tanks and barrels with Thys, he confidently discusses aspects like the nuances of oak influence on Pinotage or how the lees contact affects his single-vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, and what further steps are needed to prepare a wine for the market to get it “just right”.

I recall asking Thys one year, just before the Easter weekend, if he was heading to his beloved West Coast for a getaway after a busy harvest period. “No,” he replied, “I’m staying on the farm for the weekend. All alone – just me and the wines.”

Because, scoreboard or not, that’s what truly matters here.