Nature’s prism led Yolande to winemaking

Carolyn Frost

Last week I had the privilege of sitting down with Yolande van Staden, the dynamic young winemaker at Morgenster Estate in Somerset West, to gain some perspective and insight into the world of wine.

Yolande comes from Pretoria, where her family lived on a large property, and spending time with her outdoors and garden-loving parents, her formative years inculcated in her a love, and reverence, of nature and the intricacies of biology.

She describes how enchanted and enthralled she was by the many hidden ‘fairy’ corners of her childhood garden, spending countless blissful hours exploring.

The family moved to the Eastern Cape (Port Elizabeth), and then to Cape Town, where she completed high school, before heading to the heartland of all things vinous, to study at Stellenbosch University.

“I didn’t pursue the world of wine initially, but started with the idea of microbiology, before discovering the art of winemaking.

“I always wanted to do something in nature, that’s my passion... I loved being outside, and realised I didn’t want to sit in a lab,” she said.

In 2017, the class of 12 students had an opportunity to take a trip abroad, to Switzerland and Spain (travelling from north to south), a collaboration between the universities of Stellenbosch, Adelaide, and Swiss and American universities... which she describes as life changing.

Yolande worked at De Toren for a while during her studies, but felt that she “needed to know more” – so followed her undergrad with a Masters in Viticulture, specifically on Merlot.

“It was a very complex investigation, starting with the grapes, ending with the wine. I focused on how we reduce the amount of greenness in Merlot, in the South African climate,” she said.

“It’s so difficult with our hot climate, and having a smaller timespan for harvest decisions (versus in Europe, where there’s a much big timespan and window for when and how to harvest). Often we just have a matter of days.

“Because of our high temperatures, sugar spikes (which elevates alcohol), but greenness stays in some red varietals, and we don’t want green pepper aromas in red wine, for example,” she elaborates.

“We need the right amount of sun exposure at the right time, so that grapes don’t turn to raisins.”

To ameliorate this, they can break out leaves of the canopy at a certain time of the growing season, to allow the “green” component to degrade in the berries, while at the same time act like a sunscreen. If you have early sun exposure, the green component degrades, and the berry becomes accustomed to sun, and doesn’t shrivel as quickly with sun exposure,” she says.

Her journey then took her to Guardian Peak, where Danielle le Roux was a big inspiration.

“What I learned from her, as a woman in wine, is never to hesitate to share knowledge with a fellow expert and keep educating and challenging yourself.”

Then, in 2020, Yolande got a call from Chris Keet, asking if she wanted to embark on this opportunity at Morgenster, under his mentorship.

"I said I’d pack my bags and be there tomorrow,” she said, smiling as she recalled this unexpected, wonderful exchange.

Morgenster is an iconic Cape winery, dating back to the early 1700s, and taken over by Giulio Bertrand in 1992, where over time he replicated much of what had been familiar in his beloved home of Piedmont, in Italy.

Bordeaux-style blend was the main focus, and Morgenster Estate provided the perfect climate and terrain, with its steep slopes.

He got the soil analysed, and the micro-climate, and reports all came back the same... perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot (and Yolande says there are still some vines from 1999, planted by Giulio.

“It makes farming challenging, this terrain, and we get quite a low yield, averaging at around eight tonnes per hectare, what with steep slopes and rocky terrain, and more than half the soil is very rocky (also reminiscent of Italy), so very labour intensive,” explains Yolande.

However, the fairly inhospitable terrain yields such special wines (and olive oil, for which Morgenster Estate is also renowned).

“We used to have very intensive irrigation programmes, because we thought that the abundance of rocks implied no water retention.

“Chris Keet said ‘dig some holes and look at root distribution’, and it was between 1m -1.2m deep, with lovely dense clay, so we could back off on irrigation, which is more environmentally friendly, and sustainable,” she says.

The two sources of water are the Lourens River and a natural spring (the water table is close to the surface), which goes through a system containing UV lights to elimiinate bacteria.

“And we have solar panels providing a sustainable source of electricity on the farm” she says.

Just because harvest is done, doesn’t mean anyone gets to relax, and she says they’re busy racking barrels, and labeling at least six months of the year, and do over 150 000 bottles (in addition to the local market, they export mainly to the USA, UK and Europe).

There is a permanent group of four (excluding Yolande) working at the cellar, all extremely experienced, ranging from 17 to 20 years of history with the estate.

In the vineyard, there are employees who have been there for 25 years, men and women.

By now, women in winemaking has become less of a novelty, all over the world, but until the recent past, women generally only rose to being assistant winemakers, but it’s finally changed, she says.

“It’s a challenging industry, having always been so male-dominated.

“However, the excellent reputation of women currently leading the industry has set a humbling standard of respect for us younger women stepping into the industry.

“One quickly comes to learn many more technical, mechanical and problem-solving skills in such a physically demanding workspace.

“However, having an experienced and skilled team to fall back onto makes such obstacles effortless.”

She says that it was wonderful to join such a well-oiled team, and her animation and delight are palpable, as she describes her work and vision.

The nuances are fascinating... this is clearly someone whose love of nature, and keenly observant eye, are a part of the skill set she has developed over time.

She has to work in such a synchronised way with mother nature, and show humility, because there are always unexpected events or unprecedented weather cycles.

“We don’t have hail, but wind can be a big issue,” she says. “The south-easter plays a big role, especially with Italian varietals, with their big floppy leaves, which can break and fall off, leaving berries too exposed, gets sun damage.

“But with every disaster there is always a way you can try and limit the amount of damage... so figure out the problem and work with nature to avoid it.”

For example if you anticipate that leaves are going to be damaged, make sure there’s a second layer of leaves.

“You can always manipulate the vine, make sure you stimulate to get side shoots, generate extra leaves. Then decide, do you break out extra leaves, or leave them to protect the berries,” she illustrates.

“You need to know what’s going on in your blocks, in every season.”

What steps are being taken to reduce chemical load on the land?

“The soil is regularly analysed, and we only use a fraction of the fertiliser they recommend, and that’s sufficient.

“We always have cover crop... legumes that can be worked back into soil, a natural source of carbon and nitrogen.

“We have amazing natural wind; we get quite a lot of mist in the valley, in early mornings and late evenings, but because of the wind, the vines dry during the day.

“So, we rarely have problems with powdery mildew and fungal infections.”

She talks about narrowing the gap between viticulturist and winemaker, and having a greater interchange, and cross-pollination, of sorts, between the two roles in vineyard and cellar.

“That’s what makes the wine industry so interesting, so endless almost... every site is so different, the terroir (combination between soil and climate), and the process you use is flexible and dynamic,” says Yolande.

I ask her how difficult it is to achieve consistency, while working with uniqueness, and amalgamating so many variables.

“Bring knowledge and humility into the process, it keeps you on your toes, and there’s never a dull moment, as no season is the same,” she says cheerfully, embracing the challenge, and clearly in her element.

In her (very scarce) free time, Yolande does videography with her fiance, a quantity surveyor, and they have a YouTube channel, generally on fishing.

She self-educated herself in this filming hobby, and says the benefit is having a plentiful supply of fresh fish to eat, alongside their largely vegetarian diet – an extension of the drive towards sustainable lifestyles.

“At Morgenster Estate, we’re so proud of the past, but want to introduce new things as the next generation takes over, but always giving tribute to where it started, and building on knowledge and experience.”

Giulio Betrand’s daughter, Federica, and granddaughter Vittoria, have taken over the reins of the estate after he passed away a few years ago.

“We want to translate the purity of the fruit into the bottle (with olives as well), reduce our impact on the environment, never hesitate to ask other people what works, and follow the concepts of sustainable and regenerative farming,” says Yolande.

“Putting the most nutrients back into the soil is the biggest challenge in agriculture. Over the years farming has changed the soils, and it’s up to us to change them,” she concludes.

This is a woman close to my heart, and an estate that espouses values I hold dearest...

Custodianship needs to be more respectful and deferential, and we all need to be less egotistical in our relationship with our planet, work more co-operatively, reduce the stressors on our fragile habitats, and discard antiquated systems…

So with the feeling that I’ve spent a delightful rainy afternoon with a kindred soul, I bid Yolande goodbye.

As I walk out the door, she adds: “There’s always so much to improve; always a better way, less impactful. We need to restore the balance. If things are out of sync, we must realise a big part of the problem is us.”

Indeed!