Vineyard Manager/Old Vine PROTECTOR
Swartland, South Africa

In the winelands of South Africa, one feels a surreal sense of time and space. The earth is so old that granite has eroded into sand. When one stands side by side with other elements of nature like vineyards, contemplating what it is to be old, the concept of time is as tangible as it is abstract. Meeting Rosa Kruger, internationally known and respected champion of old vines in South Africa makes one wonder, is her commitment to justice for nature her own or does she stand alongside her ancestors?

Rosa’s great-grandfather, Paul Kruger, was a child when his family joined the Voortrekkers in the hinterlands north of the Cape in 1836. The area they settled became known as the Transvaal Republic, and he grew up to serve as its president for four terms. He also formed the first game reserve in the country, now part of Kruger National Park. He had to go into exile during the Second Boer War, when the British reclaimed the territory, but the family kept a farm near the reserve. This is where Rosa grew up, possessed with the independent spirit of her heritage.

Rosa left to become a political journalist, then a lawyer. But motherhood made her want to return to farm life to raise her son. As happens when on the right path, she was offered a job running an apple farm in Elgin in 1997. At the time no was thinking about Elgin as a wine region. But Rosa became curious about which wine grapes might do well in the area’s cool higher altitudes. She contacted Eben Archer, a professor of viticulture at Stellenbosch University, who enlisted soil scientist Dawid Saayman and viticulturist Neil Rossouw to advise her. They felt Sauvignon Blanc would be good and they were right. Normally a vine needs a few years to establish itself before producing wine-worthy grapes. But these vines were happy where Rosa put them and wine was made from the first vintage, 2000. It established the region as an excellent producer of the variety.

Rosa’s passion for viticulture was ignited. She began visiting vineyards around the world, absorbing every bit of knowledge she could glean. She was intrigued by gnarly old vines and wondered where they were in South Africa. There had to be some. Her curiosity was perhaps a calling from nature to give it a voice. When Rosa returned home she kept an eye out for old vines on her weekend hikes. One day she found a lovely little patch hidden within the overgrown fynbos. The hunt for old vines became her obsession. She wanted to find them all, learn their stories and give them the celebrated role in South African wine history they deserved. 

Some old vines were lucky: Their farmers nurtured them despite the economic challenges. Others required tender loving care to resuscitate them. Rosa advocates gentle pruning, shoot thinning to guide new growth to the strongest parts of the vine, healthy biodiversity, using only organic soil amendments as needed, and avoiding chemical insecticides to encourage the vines’ wellbeing and longevity. After all that effort, the alchemy of turning the grapes into wine requires someone capable of standing back and letting the old vines tell their stories with clarity the whole world can understand.

Rosa is the first to say she is not a wine expert, but she does have an instinctive sense of what each vineyard should taste like, as if her palate had eyes. She decisively pairs winemakers with vineyards, knowing who has the sensibility to bring out the vines’ truest expression. And those winemakers, grateful for the opportunity, are willing to pay substantially more for the precious grapes. The first winemaker Rosa entrusted with the task was Eben Sadie, who, like Rosa, grew up on a farm. He had a visceral connection with nature and was inspired to let the grapes tell their story. He joined Rosa’s crusade, transmuting the old vineyards into wines that became part of the Die Ouwingerdreeks (Old Vine) series in 2011. His enigmatic way of expressing the life of the wines, combined with Rosa’s passion for the vines, brought international awareness to the historical importance and hedonistic pleasures of South Africa’s old vines.

In 2015, Rosa launched a website dedicated to South African old-vine recovery, aptly titled “I Am Old.” I am old — a declaration that, while simply stated, was defiant, as if the vines were saying, “See me. I defy you to degrade or dismiss me. I have survived in spite of your pull-out schemes and attempts to replace me with the naivete of more youthful vines. I endured disease and neglect. I stand before you, dry skinned, bent and craggy, and I am beautiful! I am glorious testimony to a life well lived because I am old.”

In 2014 the South African Wine Industry Information and Systems gave Rosa their list of vines older than 35 years. South Africa’s harsh elements tend to make vines behave as if they are old when they are only 20. That is when their productivity starts to decline and they get pulled. If a vine makes it to 35, it is either well loved, produces really good fruit or has been forgotten, and healthy vineyard practices can ensure it lives even longer. Acquiring the list was a significant achievement, but it came with the responsibility of contacting every producer so they could approve their inclusion. It was a lot of work, but if anyone could do it, Rosa could.

The Rupert Foundation provided seed money, André Morgenthal joined Rosa and the project became the Old Vine Project (OVP) in 2016. Great progress has been made ever since. In 2018 the OVP established criteria to certify vines over 35 years old. Only wine from certified vines can be labeled with the term Heritage Vineyard. The OVP also initiated a program to make heritage vine cuttings available for propagation. And consumers are becoming more aware: Restaurants and wine retailers are adding a Heritage Vineyard category to their wine lists.

These achievements are what make the OVP so important. Farmers had been losing land because grape prices were so low. At one time the most a farmer could get was 800 rand (55 USD) per ton. Today, well-cared-for heritage grapes command as much as 6,000 rand (411 USD). At last, the dignity of old vines is being restored and the value of the work that goes into growing the fruit is appropriately rewarded. When the farmers can afford to keep their land, there is opportunity to improve the lives of farm workers too.

Pruning is perhaps one of the most important elements of old-vine cultivation. For that reason Rosa and the OVP have partnered with Felco South Africa, manufacturer of pruning and cutting equipment, to provide training programs for vineyard workers to advance their skills. Felco even hosts an annual pruning contest to recognize vineyard workers for their skills. Rosa told Forbes, “We can also improve the lives of our farm workers, give them skills and empower them to break the vicious cycle of poverty and tuberculosis and HIV. This is my dream.”

Everything Rosa does ultimately serves to promote awareness of the value of nature, not only to people’s livelihoods but also to the sustainability of the planet. She cannot drive along the Pienkerkoff Road without noticing how low the reservoir water is and lamenting the drought, let alone the future of the Cape. She may not have a degree in agriculture management, but after more than 20 years working with the vineyards, observing them intimately, she has earned an honorary doctorate from the school of nature. She lives like an old vine, grounded in strength and character. She thinks of the struggles of her ancestors and knows we can persevere as long as we live with compassion for all living things.