This family-owned South African winery takes pride in serving patrons at their vineyard | Canada Voices

Heavy rains and winds in September, 2023 caused severe flooding, loss of life and damage to communities and farms in the coastal regions of South Africa. More than 200 millimetres of rain fell in 24 hours, causing landslides and rivers to burst their banks.

“We have lived on this farm for 50 years and have never seen anything like it,” says Sebastian Beaumont, owner of Beaumont Family Wines in Bot River in the Overberg district, east of Cape Town. What Beaumont calls a once-in-100-year deluge washed away six hectares (15 acres) of fruit orchards and deposited sediment and sand creating a makeshift beach on the banks of the river that winds its way through the property. (The vineyards were spared.)

On Sunday, Beaumont and other winemakers from the region used the site for a beach party, welcoming guests from Canada, Sweden and other countries who travelled to attend the CapeWine trade show, which runs this week in Cape Town.

The afternoon event introduced the range of quality wines crafted in the area (rechristened as the Bot Riveria on this occasion) as well as the resilience of the winemakers.

The Beaumont family bought an old wine farm called Compagnes Drift in 1974 on an agricultural site first established in the 1700s by the Dutch East India Company. Sebastian Beaumont took charge of the farm and cellar in 1999.

Hope Marguerite Chenin Blanc, from vineyards planted in 1974 and 1978, is consistently one of South Africa’s top expressions of the grape variety. Beaumont is equally adept at producing elegant pinotage, mourvedre and blended wines. While his success and the growing acclaim for neighbouring producers, such as Gabrielskloof and Luddite, continues to grow, the Bot River region is overshadowed by Stellenbosch, Swartland and Hemel-en-Aarde.

“This area remains under the radar, which is kind of healthy,” Beaumont explains. “It keeps you down to earth.”

Bot River wineries are family-owned operations and pride themselves on catering to the wine lovers at their cellars. “You get to talk to the producer,” says Beaumont who points to Luddite’s Niels Verburg and Gabrielskloof’s Peter-Allan Finlayson who are also typically on-site to engage with guests. “We concentrate on how we look after people who make the effort to come here,” he says.

CapeWine is organized by Wines of South Africa every three years to showcase the country’s wine industry. An estimated 2,000 guests from more than 50 countries are expected to attend this year’s 11th anniversary event this September to connect with producers.