NORMAN MCFARLANE

Change occurs when painexceeds joy – according toTrevor Strydom, owner of

Audacia Wines and director of RedDawn Holdings, a joint venturebetween Audacia Wines and KWV,that is pioneering the use of rooi-bos and honeybush plant materialin wine, beer and cider making.

“Just two years ago, I was desper-ate to find some sort of competitiveadvantage in the wine business,” hesaid at a press conference at Auda-cia Wines last Tuesday, where thenewly patented technology wasunveiled, adding that in an industrywhere production costs far exceedgrape income, it is very difficult tomake a profit.

“Around one third of the pro-ducers in Stellenbosch are runningat a loss. I felt that I was just diggingthe hole deeper and I’d never getout. I was at that point where thejoy of making wine was exceeded bythe pain.”

Mr Strydom said that as a smallproducer, it is very difficult to finda distributor.

“I even started up my own distri-bution business, but then I foundthat even if I could distribute my(and other smaller producers)

wines, it was almost impossible toget onto wine lists in restaurantswithout paying for the privilege,”he said.

This impasse led him to researchwine industry legislation to look fora “blue-ocean” opportunity – anu n c o n t e s t e d m a r k e t s p a c e ,untainted by competition.

The wine industry, on the otherhand, is a “red ocean” industry –according to Mr Strydom, one inwhich there are many competitorsand reduced prospects for growthand profit.

He focused on the legally per-mitted additives for wine, most sig-nificantly wood, and he began tobrainstorm possibilities.

“Wine barrels have been madefrom many types of wood over theyears besides oak, including yellow-wood, acacia, and rooikrans,” saidMr Strydom, “but you can’t make abarrel out of rooibos wood.”

Audacia winemaker Michael vanNiekerk had already been experi-menting with other types of woodin the winemaking process, and MrStrydom was in his own words,“becoming a little moedeloos”.

One day, while drinking a cup oftea with daughter Sarah-Jane (heCeylon, she rooibos), who urgedhim not to give up, the idea came

to him to use rooibos plant materialin the winemaking process, becauseof its well-known anti-oxidant prop-erties.

“That first experiment involvedputting rooibos teabags into a bot-tle of wine to see what would hap-

pen,” he explained, adding that theidea is not to flavour the wine, butto use the natural anti-oxidantproperties of rooibos plant materialto replace sulphur dioxide nor-mally used in the winemakingprocess, to prevent oxidation.

The first commercial wine actu-ally made using rooibos plant mate-rial, was a 2013 Audacia Merlot.

It’s a long way toTipperary page 4 >>

Remembering page 4>>

Musicscene inWinelandspage 11>>

Wednesday March 4 2015

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Rooibos makesits mark

■ Cornelius October harvesting rooibos tea at Kleinpietersielieskloof, Elim.The top third of the rooibos bushis harvested for tea.When the bush is eventually uprooted and replaced after a few seasons – three to fiveharvests – the stump is available for chipping and use in the Red Dawn Holdings patented processes.

Continued on page 3

NEWSBolander Wednesday March 4 2015 3

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From page 1

“Rooibos wood chips in an infusionbag were added before fermenta-tion, along with a small amount ofenzyme to enhance colour,” saidMr Strydom. “No sulphur wasadded at all.”

A natural extension to usingrooibos chips in wine making, wasto experiment with toasting of thewoodchips as a replacement forFrench and other oak in the matu-ration process.

“Oak is aged before it is used inwine barrels, but we supplantedaging with toasting,” explainedMark Howell of Cape NaturalWood Products, the company thatprepares the wood chips for use inwine, beer and cider making.

“I was surprised when I first triedtoasting rooibos wood, that I couldtake it all the way up to 200°C with-out the wood combusting, but ifyou think about it, it’s the anti-oxi-dants in the wood that make it pos-sible.”

Mr Howell said the top third ofthe rooibos and honeybush plant isused to make tea, while the rest isusually uprooted and discarded.“Chipping these stumps makes useof rooibos (and honey bush) chipsan entirely sustainable industry,” hesaid.

A research project, still under-way, by a team from the Depart-ment of Oenology and Viticultureat Stellenbosch University, and theAgricultural Research Council(Infruitec-Nietvoorbij) showed thatthe powerful anti-oxidants in theseindigenous plant materials couldbe used as replacement for sul-

phites as a preservative in wine,beer and cider making.

As the experiments progressed,it emerged that aside from acting asa natural preservative, rooibos andhoneybush chips in natural andtoasted forms, enhances aroma,taste and mouth-feel in wine, beerand cider.

“Consumer feedback on prod-ucts we have created according toour patented processes thus far hasbeen overwhelmingly positive,” saidMr Strydom.

Patent protection and trade-mark registration of Red DawnHoldings IP products is particularlysignificant, given that the EuropeanUnion recently recognised bothrooibos and honeybush as geo-graphical indicators, meaning,according to South Africa’s Minis-ter of Trade and Industry, RobDavies, that local manufacturersnow have “exclusive ownership ofthese particular names” – and thatthe names will only be applicable toproducts that come from SouthAfrica which are officially approvedby his department, ensuring qualitycontrol.

In February, the DTI declaredrooibos a prohibited mark underthe country’s Merchandise MarksAct, making unauthorised use acriminal offence. Traditionalknowledge legislation is now alsoofficially in force in South Africa.

“Rooibos and honeybush havehistorically been cultivated and pro-duced exclusively in South Africa,”Mr Strydom said.

“Their characteristics and prop-erties are the result of our uniqueclimate and geography. In addi-

tion, there is a wealth of traditionalknowledge in existence about howthese plants are best cultivated,harvested and processed, as well asabout their many beneficial andhealth giving properties.

“Europe has traditionally usedgeographical indication protectionfor products such as French cham-pagne or Greek feta. Now we SouthAfricans can do the same – ourrange of rooibos and honeybushalcoholic beverages are at the fore-front of marketing Brand SouthAfrica in a positive and uniqueway,” Mr Strydom added, notingthat patents are pending in SouthAfrica and 83 other jurisdictionsworldwide.

Red Dawn Holdings partnerKWV’s Tania Joubert presentedKWV’s Earth’s Essence Pinotage,Stellenbosch artisanal brewery Stel-lenbrau owner Deon Engelbrechtpresented their Governer’s Redbeer, and Windermere Cider man-aging director Tamsin Mullins pre-sented their just released applecider, all made using rooibos chipsas a replacement for sulphites inthe various processes.

Alan WindeMEC for EconomicOpportunities said in his keynoteaddress: “I just love to see this sortof innovation happening, and it’sgreat to come here and see howthese partnerships are developing.

“This is a prime example ofadding value in the agriculturalproducts space.

“It’s thrilling to see how faryou’ve come since you came to seeme just over a year ago, to shareyour idea.

“It’s my department’s task to cre-

ate an enabling environment, toremove the constraints whichmight inhibit this type of innova-tion,” said Mr Winde, “so you musttell us what we can do to help.”

Speaking after the formal pre-sentations, Mr Winde told Bolan-der that he is excited about theprospects that this new technologywill generate in the area of landreform.

“As this technology gains trac-tion, we will need to grow morerooibos and honeybush in theCedarberg and around Elim in theSouthern Cape (the two areaswhere rooibos and honeybushflourish).

“That presents a golden oppor-tunity to bring previously disadvan-taged people onto the land as farm-ers,” he concluded.

‘A golden opportunity to bring previouslydisadvantaged people onto the land as farmers’

■ Audacia Wines owner Trevor Strydom, with a bottle of 2013 AudaciaMerlot made with rooibos wood chips as a replacement for thesulphites normally used in the winemaking process to preventoxidation.

What’s OnRetirement expo

The Retirement and

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Outdoor movie

The Stellenbosch Waldorf

School is hosting a short

film experience, on

Saturday March 7, at the

school meadow.

Showcasing an eclectic

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Gates open at 6pm, with

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Tickets cost R80. Book at

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for information contact

Leen at 072 213 4009.