Baboons Terrorizing the S.A. Winelands.
What do Baboons and South African Wine have in common? Ask Mark Dendy Young from La Petite Ferme in Franschhoek!
During my trip to the winelands last week, I visited one of our favorite producers of boutique SA wines, where Mark – winemaker and owner of the gorgeous La Petite Ferme – reminded me of all the excitement about the the baboons on his property last year. Sadly for him, he lost a large amount of his chardonnay in 2010 where the wild fires drove the baboons from the mountains down to the farms to forage for food. So what did these creatures find? Well, only the best crop of golden ripe chardonnay grapes about to be harvested. They tucked in and gorged until their bellies were full, and poor Mark was left with only enough grapes to make 3 barrels instead of the typical 12 – 15 barrels he was planning to mature!
The result of all this carnage was the press continuously calling and emailing from all over the world. Mark realized the story had been so embellished, even the Washington Post called Mark and said “hey Mark, we hear the baboons are getting drunk on your grapes!”
A variety of stories about the tipsy baboons hit the tabloids, you can read one from MSNBC here.
Mark, renown for his passion and enthusiasm, is so animated while he tells us the sequence of events, and after all this had happened, he explained, he did a very clever thing – He made a wine dedicated to all those imbibing baboons!
‘Baboon Rock’ is an unwooded chardonnay with a flavor profile of ripe pear, honey and lime. It has a complex palate with a natural acidity. Unfortunately La Petite Ferme is sold out on the recent vintage, but Mark’s ‘ode to the baboons’ deserves a round two after losing more than half of his crop again this year. The baboons got a taste, and now they want more!
Mark is currently working on a second vintage of ‘Baboons Rock’ and we will keep you updated on its arrival!
In the mean time we are excited to announce the near arrival of a larger range of La Petite Ferme wines. The Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and their flagship wine ‘The Verdict’ will be available to purchase in our online store in two week’s time!
La Petite Ferme will be added to our ‘Cellar Door Direct Program‘ , a popular feature of our new website, where our customers can visit the virtual tasting room of our participating wineries. To view our Cellar Door page, click here.
In the mean time, we are looking forward to returning home soon, we hope you are enjoying the summer!
Baboon Rock from La Petite Ferme
The view of the Franschhoek valley from La Petite Ferme winery
Mark Dendy - Young, owner and winemaker at La Petite Ferme
