Raka

by Tia August 14, 2024

This wine is named after the beloved black fishing boat of Piet Dreyer, founder of Raka Wines. For more than three decades, Piet voyaged the seas of the Southern Ocean in search of the finest catch. This same passion pioneered Raka’s vineyards, where the Dreyer family continues to harvest the earth’s bounty in the creation of fine wines. The Dreyer Family bought the farm, Remhoogte south east of Hermanus in the Akkedisberg area in 1982. Piet Dreyer was doing commercial fishing at the time. They ran livestock and later planted citrus trees. Piet’s wife and children tended the farm in his absence. During 1999 the Dreyers planted 10 hectares Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz. Since then a few hectares were added every year, and the 73 hectares on the farm at present, includes plantings of Pinotage, Sangiovese, Viognier, Mourvedre, Petit Verdot and also larger plantings of Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc, making the farm self-sufficient as far as varieties needed for the different blends are concerned.

The farm is 17 kilometres from Stanford in a glen in the Kleinrivier Mountains, where the Klein River flows through. The Kleinrivier Mountains is the southernmost mountain range in Africa and its slopes provide a variety of aspects and soil types. The farm’s proximity to the sea ensures cooling breezes from Walker Bay in the afternoon while the South Easter blowing in from Agulhas on the Indian Ocean reduces the summer heat. The Klein River wine of origin ward is adjacent to the Walker Bay district and is cooler than the traditional wine growing areas of the Cape. The vineyards are planted on either side of the Klein River that flows through the valley on its way to the Atlantic Ocean in Walkerbay. This means that there are both north and south facing slopes under vines and even some vineyards facing to the west. The altitude varies between about 58m above sea level for the vineyards planted next to the river to 120m for the vineyards lying on the higher slopes. The soil types are equally diverse. The highest slopes consist of decomposed sandstone and Cartref soils of sandstone origin are found. On these soils Sauvignon Blanc and some Shiraz were planted. The reds are mostly planted on schale of the Glenrosa type; some deep and rich, while other areas contains rock, and elsewhere patches of Oakleaf occur. There are also some sandy soils along the riverbanks – these are good for Viognier and Sauvignon blanc.

Piet and Elna Dreyer are blessed with three sons and a daughter. Gerhard, the eldest, went into squid fishing after school, and is now shouldering his father’s responsibilities, the second son, Josef obtained his B Agric degree from Elsenburg at the end of 2006 and he is now Raka’s winemaker. Younger son Pieter is the viticulturist and farm manager. Besides wine they farm with wheat and cattle as well. Jorika, the Dreyer’s only daughter do marketing and sales.The whole family pitch in during harvest when every hand counts.