Lalapanzi Lodge

South African Wine | wine news | Soup Kitchens, Sheep and Sauvignon blanc

2012-01-16T01:31:00.000-08:00

South African Wine wine news Soup Kitchens, Sheep and Sauvignon blanc

Soup Kitchens, Sheep and Sauvignon blanc

19 January 2012 by Dave March

Many people from overseas have yearned to live in South Africa having fallen in love with it after an initial visit. Few make that move. Even fewer encourage others in their family in their move to a new country, build a business, make their own wine and commit to uplifting their community.

That’s exactly what members of the Schaap family from Holland have done. It was a dream of Thierry Schaap, a highly successful young banker who had a vision of making his own fine wine and drinking it with friends and family whilst enjoying the beauty of the Western Cape, "I loved the scenery, nature, wildlife and that families were together, enjoying great food and wine in beautiful vineyards". The discovery of a neglected bed and breakfast lodge high on the Schaapenberg was the catalyst. Lalapanzi Lodge (Xhosa for 'where I lay my head to rest') is now a four star luxury guest house with two self-catering cottages and is run by the owner's sister Marie-Helene and her partner Ian.

Among the 17 hectares of fynbos, pine trees and natural flora around the Lodge are just four hectares of vineyards. As keen members of the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI) the family were determined to keep the area as natural as possible, leaving more than half to nature, with areas of fynbos and pine.

Soil surveys showed deep, stoney, rich soil and some lime was added to moderate acidity. To curb natural vigour, the vines are unirrigated. Early experiments with straw mulch had devastating effects when the vines were engulfed by the fires of 2009 and even the roots were burnt. The fires took all of their young vines and lead to a complete replant with just two varieties, Thierry’s favourites; Sauvignon blanc and Shiraz. Until they are ready, small parcels from Durbanville, made by Riaan Oostenhuisen, will carry their label and as their own vines mature, more and more of the total will comprise of their own fruit. The young vines have taken well and should produce some fruit this year, about a tonne, but will need longer to reach the quality levels expected of them.

So, Thierry is able to enjoy the vista with his own labelled bottle in his hand, and soon it will contain more of his own grapes, but there is more to it than that. The family had always intended to support and be part of the community, the wine is only one way of doing that.

With guidance, support and continued input from Thierry and Marie-Helene's parents, Henk and Leny, sponsors and friends, their charity, "Children's Foodure" (Children’s Future) was established. First came the soup kitchen in Sir Lowry's Pass, which is staffed completely by volunteers and on a daily basis provides food to a more than two hundred children. Also, every morning a group of about 30 infants get fed separately and personal attention is given to them by means of reading children's stories and playing games. The next step was education. Some 60 children are sponsored through primary and secondary school (clothes, tuition, school supplies and materials for a homework class). Children are encouraged to join the program and if they don't attend regularly and work hard lose their place.

Thierry also wanted to help young adults get an income and sells the products of local craftspeople through a Dutch shop called 'Saam' (together). Eventually, the aim is to employ people here making crafts to sell abroad. Thierry believes that through food, education and employment the cycle of poverty can be broken. "I am in a position to help, so why not ? I felt obliged to help, and I want to", he says.

It is the Dutch connection that makes it all work. The family has outlets for its wine in Holland and some 90% of production is currently exported there. Together with the income from the sale of local products and donations from financial sponsors the Foundation also receives €1 (about R10) from every bottle sold.

If the Dutch connection provides the outlets, it is the wine that is at the heart of the venture. The family's Dutch name, Schaap translates as 'sheep' in English, and their location on the Schaapenberg made the choice of their 'Skaap' label logical, and the design of the label came from local wire and bead artists. Each year the label will feature the work of local artists who receive a fee and considerable exposure of their work in Holland.

Skaap wines will never reach the supermarkets, there will always be limited production. This year, for example, fewer than 7000 bottles were released and only fifteen barrels of the Shiraz lie maturing in their cellar from 2011. "With our vineyards in full production, we might get to 2 500 cases, but we will always be a boutique winery", says Thierry. Their wine will go to Holland, to members of an as yet unformed wine club and to visitors and guests at the Lodge. With neighbors like Journey's End, Wedderwill and Vergelegen, you can expect something special, and in the meantime, certain plots of Durbanville Sauvignon blanc are meeting the family's approval. The 2011 Sauvignon shows classic aromas of nettles and zesty citrus with a rich, smooth palate, good enough to develop over the next six or so years and reflecting the minerality of its origin. Just the thing to enjoy with friends and family and doing exactly what the Schaap family think wine should do, 'bring people together'.

For more information please visit www.lalapanzilodge.co.za.

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December afternoon wedding

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A relaxing spring day a Muizenberg beach.

2011-10-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

September wedding at Lalapanzi Lodge

2011-09-27T06:45:00.001-07:00

August Wedding at Lalapanzi Lodge

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Skaap wines - early days part 2

2011-07-07T11:42:00.000-07:00

Skaap wines - early days

2011-07-07T11:31:00.001-07:00

Carols by Candle Light - Vergelegen 2010

2011-01-24T11:30:00.000-08:00

Football fever is still here

2010-08-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

Started clearing for the olive grove

2010-08-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Winter at Lalapanzi

2010-06-17T02:38:00.000-07:00

World Cup 2010

2010-06-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

Schoone oordt Swellendam

2010-06-07T07:26:00.000-07:00

Limo

2010-05-21T08:40:00.001-07:00

Dinner at Ben's at the beach

2010-05-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

Lalapanzi Lodge APRIL 2010

2010-05-14T04:50:00.000-07:00

Opening cellar door Journey's End (our neighbours)

2010-03-26T07:25:00.000-07:00

Vergelegen Picnic January 2010

2010-03-26T06:25:00.000-07:00

Valentines Dinner

2010-02-26T02:22:00.000-08:00

Picnic at Spier

2010-02-26T02:21:00.000-08:00

Helderberg Nature Reserve

2010-02-26T02:19:00.000-08:00

SUMMER AT LALAPANZI

2010-02-12T07:12:00.001-08:00

New Years Eve at Lalapanzi Lodge

2010-01-08T00:50:00.000-08:00

Cape Town station is ready for the world cup soccer

2010-01-08T00:49:00.000-08:00

Vergelegen Christmas Carols

2010-01-08T00:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas party of Children's Foodure, Sir Lowry's Pass

2010-01-08T00:43:00.001-08:00

A day at the nature reserve

2009-08-05T00:54:00.001-07:00

Started planting again

2009-07-28T11:55:00.001-07:00

Nice winters' day to walk the Helderberg

2009-07-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

Cape Eagle Owl on the drive way

2009-07-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

All still busy with our pond

2009-07-28T11:13:00.001-07:00

We started filling up our pond

2009-07-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

Autumn's arrived

2009-05-14T01:16:00.000-07:00

Back at work again

2009-05-13T08:05:00.000-07:00

March 2009

2009-05-13T07:50:00.000-07:00

We've finally finished renovating - 2!

2009-01-27T02:04:00.001-08:00

We've finally finished renovating!

2009-01-27T02:00:00.000-08:00

August 2008 - Upgrading 2-bedroom Lodge

2008-09-08T12:31:00.001-07:00

August 2008 - Planting of our vines

2008-09-08T11:45:00.001-07:00

After a year of preparing we were delighted that the vines finally were planted.
Only a little disappointed with the new look (Vines look like dead sticks). Hopefully we have a nice looking vine in a couple of years!

February 2008 - On the top of Lion's Head

2008-09-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

In February we were lucky to be able to go on a holiday again!
So we enjoyed this walk up to Lions Head and the views were spectacular!

Happy New Year

2008-01-10T01:47:00.000-08:00

New Years eve was celebrated with a big braai (BBQ) and then a bonfire and champagne at the lapa, where we watched the fireworks over False Bay.

The weather has been fantastic over Christmas with only a few days of rain, which we were glad to see as it cooled things down a bit. We're now looking forward to spending our days in the pool as it looks as though we're in for a long hot summer.

Mark turns 40 and Charlie's brother comes to visit

2007-11-23T01:00:00.000-08:00

Mark turned 40 today so we celebrated with a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake.

As you can see Charlie's brother dexter came to visit which was a slightly more chaotic affair.

Spring at Lalapanzi

2007-11-03T01:03:00.000-07:00

Opening Children's Foodure

2007-11-02T23:41:00.000-07:00

Table mountain

2007-10-02T01:11:00.000-07:00

We went for a drive on Sunday to go and see Table Mountain from Blauberg Strand (the view point where it actually looks like a table). We found a lovely beach and cafe too.

Blauberg Strand is about an hours drive from Lalapanzi.

Bontebok spotting

2007-09-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

We took Charlie for a walk around the estate this morning and stumbled across a bontebok (top picture). You can also see the vineyard taking shape (bottom photo) we're going to be planting the vines around the stables.

Soup kitchen

2007-09-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

Work starts tomorrow on the upgrading of the Soup Kitchen we sponsor. We're having the kitchen re-built to help feed more children in the local village.

Charlie says hi to the Huguenots

2007-09-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

We took Thursday off and took Charlie to Franschhoek for the day.

The photo at the top of the listing is the view over the Franschhoek valley (55 mins from Lalapanzi). And the last image is the view from the top of Sir Lowry's Pass.

Vineyard carnage

2007-09-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

We hope the vineyard will look alot nicer by the time we've finished!

Charlie jets in from Joburg

2007-09-03T03:26:00.000-07:00

Our new puppie Charlie finally arrives from Joburg. We now know what it's like to have a child and getting up to take him to the toilet at 4am. But as you can see he's beautiful and worth it. He enjoyed his walk around Vergelegen wine estate and had a nice sleep while we tasted a few of their new wines.

Ian's birthday

2007-09-03T03:21:00.000-07:00

Ian's age is finally catching up with his grey hairs. To celebrate his birthday we had cake for breakfast followed by a long lunch at Guardian Peak, a very nice wine estate on the way to Stellenbosch.

The drive to Hermanus

2007-08-19T06:34:00.000-07:00

The drive along the R44 between Gordon's Bay and Hermanus is one of the most beautiful coastal drives we've ever done. You even get to see seals playing in the surf as you drive along. We felt very lazy when we saw a white water rafting competition, so we decided we're going to enter it next year.

Our new vineyard

2007-08-19T06:28:00.000-07:00

Over the next couple of years we're going to be establishing a vineyard at Lalapanzi. Work started this week on the first stage which is clearing some of the pine trees.

Springbok

2007-08-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

On our Sunday morning stroll around the estate we bumped into a few Springbok which seem to have escaped from the game park.

We had a whale-y good time in Hermanus

2007-08-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

It's whale season again. Between August and November each year huge numbers of Southern Right and Humpback Whales can be spotted just off the coast, a short drive from Lalapanzi Lodge. The best palce to spot them from the shore is coast road between Gordon’s Bay and Hermanus. The last photo is of a Dassie, a small friendly indigenous animal that lives along the coast.

We've gone barking mad

2007-08-13T00:42:00.000-07:00

After months of trying to find the perfect dog for the guest house we've finally decided upon a friendly little Beagle. But of course the Beagle is one of the rarest breeds in SA. So we're going to have to drive to JoBurg to get one. These are pictures of the litter from the breeder.

Steenbras dam hike

2007-08-13T00:19:00.000-07:00

Only got half way up to the dam on this walk as we left it a bit late setting off. Apparently there are lots of small pools and waterfalls to cool off in as you trek to the top. This walk starts about 20 mins drive away from Lalapanzi Lodge.

View of the lodges

2007-08-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

This is a view of all three lodges set against the backdrop of the Hottentots Holland Mountains. The Main Lodge is the larger one on the right hand side. And the two smaller lodges on the left are the self-catering lodges.

After - Room 5 Bathroom

2007-08-08T09:29:00.001-07:00