Vive la difference as urban winery charms

Hidden away behind the thick stone walls of Heritage Square, Signal Hill Wines is showing off what the Cape Town’s tiny urban vineyards can produce

Far from being the cliched laconic Frenchman, Jean-Vincent Ridon is a machine-gun-rattle of tales and winemaking secrets. From the moment we sit down in the cosy tasting room of Signal Hill Wines I’m regaled with his tales of spinning tunes as an Alabama radio disc jockey and trading commodities into Africa. It’s a colourful life that landed him on South Africa’s shores in 1996, and it didn’t take long for the first bottles of Signal Hill Wines to hit the shelves.

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As the “Vive La Difference” label on each bottle suggests, JV wasn’t interested in turning out case after case of easy-drinking everyday wine.  Rather, the raison d'être of Signal Hill Wines is, largely, to explore the tiny patches of urban vineyards dotted around Cape Town. In the past he’s made wine from the rows of Cabernet Franc above Kalk Bay, the vineyards in the gardens of the Belmond Mount Nelson, and the centuries-old Chenin Blanc vine which graces the courtyard of Heritage Square.

Today, though, it’s his Clos d’Oranje 2005 Syrah that is the standout wine on the table. From a handful of vines in Oranjezicht, it’s a wine that often tops the star ratings and awards in local wine guides. Over Kloof Nek, a tiny vineyard in Camps Bay provides just enough grapes for a barrel or so of Mourvèdre each year. The grapes from both vineyards are harvested by hand, then sorted, crushed and fermented in the hallways of Heritage Square. Stop in for a tasting with JV, or winemaker Laurence Buthelezi, and you’ll find the press, fermentation tanks and barrels piled in one corner.

JV also sources grapes from further afield, snapping up small batches of Grenache Noir, Carignan and Cinsault. Made in an austere Old World style his wines may be a shock to the palate of those used to ripe and ready “fruit bombs”, but are well worth discovering. Open for tastings throughout the week, it’s only a cynical soul that won’t be charmed by Cape Town’s original – well, for a century or two at least – urban winery.

Call 021-424-5820.

This article was originally published in one of the Sunday Times Neighbourhood: Property and Lifestyle guides. Visit yourneighbourhood.co.za, like YourNeighbourhoodZA on Facebook and follow YourHoodZA on Twitter.