A world apart: the power of stepping back
HAVE you seen the news? Sometimes it’s like the world is falling apart. And sometimes when the going gets tough, you need to get away.
That’s how I felt on the drive to the Oldenburg Vineyards Homestead: through Stellenbosch highway construction, up the winding Helshoogte Pass and over gravel roads that made me think we were lost and in need of a 4x4.
Yes, we were off the beaten track, but our overnight stay would be far from rough. If anything, driving through a final gauntlet of trees, with never-ending vineyards on one side and expansive lawns on the other, was like stumbling upon Downton Abbey in the heart of SA.
Although it dates back more than 200 years, the six-bedroomed Cape Dutch property has all the modern amenities of a luxury villa. Indeed, the 600m² double-storey homestead was even the location of a surprise party for 100 online influencers and special guests.
But our overnight stay was a far quieter affair; the kind of experience I imagine would be ideal for C-suite executives in need of a corporate retreat. Just 10 guests, two housekeepers, two chefs, a house manager and butler.
The afternoon began with lunch on the main terrace and bubbly by the pool. Although the homestead offers access to the owner’s private wine collection, we took a quick evening walk to the cellar door for a private wine-tasting of our own. It was here that sales and marketing manager Ina Basson told us the story of the estate.
The property began as a fruit farm, with the main body named “Rondekop” because of its prominent hill. But after buying it at an auction in 1955 — many buyers didn’t show up because of the miserable weather — Helmut Hohmann changed the name to Oldenburg, in memory of his German hometown and to forget a painful water rights dispute that went to the Supreme Court.
The first vineyards were planted in the 1960s, with a combination of cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc doing well. But when Hohmann died in 1993, the estate went into a trust and the vineyards declined.
Adrian Vanderspuy, whose maternal grandmother lived with Holmann at Oldenburg, bought the farm in 2003 and replanted all 30ha. He believed the property had the potential for making premium wine. He was right, given the collection’s long list of awards and its inclusion in British Airways’s menu for business and first class.
Back at the homestead, while some warmed up in front of the fireplace and others huddled under blankets outside, our private chefs prepared a royal feast: fillet, quail and a crayfish braai. We sat down to dinner right there in the kitchen (destined to appear on a cooking show one day).
It was the same at breakfast the next morning. “What would you like to eat?” the chef asked. “I can make you a salmon omelette with some cream cheese and fresh dill. Or standard bacon and eggs. We also have homemade, artisanal muesli with fresh cranberries.”
I reminded him of his promise to make me a crayfish omelette with the leftovers from the night before. But much like the other guests, I had a bit of everything, happy in the knowledge that the homestead included a private gym.
Despite our reluctance to leave, there was time for a walk through the steep vineyards. We were only 10 minutes from Stellenbosch but being in the Banghoek Valley was like being in a world far away, with a mist in the distance and mountains on all sides. More than that, closing my eyes and feeling a breeze blowing a smile on to my face made me realise the power of stepping back for perspective.
It’s much like Maya Angelou wrote: “Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”