There are a few famous people in the world of Information Technology, or IT as we computer literati call it.  People like Bill Gates, Steven Job, Hewlett Packard, Sam Sung, have become household names, and I'm sure there must be many more, though for some reason they just don't spring to mind at the moment.

All have contributed enormously to the unchecked explosion of information which permeates every aspect of our daily lives.

One of the most beneficial spin-offs of this phenomenon has of course been the World Wide Web, or W3 to use the vernacular, or THE WEB as everybody else knows it.

Now contrary to his own belief, it was not Al Gore who invented THE WEB.  It was conceived and developed in Europe by Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau, as recently as the 1980s.  I cannot explain why these two are not more famous – perhaps they forgot to patent their ideas, and are therefore relatively penniless, thereby guaranteeing obscurity.

Whatever, I think any fame they may have garnered would have been misplaced, because I have seen evidence that THE WEB was around long before that, and was probably dicovered deep in the foothills of the Simonsberg Mountain, on the outskirts of sleepy Stellenbosch.

There you will find a wine farm, with a history dating back to 1685, when the first vines were planted on the farm.  Of course, I'm not going to try and convince you that that was when THE WEB originated, but it was when the foundations were laid upon which THE WEB was built.

Just off the R44, on the way to Paarl, you will find a road which becomes a track, and which leads you through a farm which, in terms of its buildings, equipment, serenity and charm, seems locked in a 100 year old time warp.

The name of this sea of tranquility is MURATIE, where time has stood still in all ways, except for the quality of their range of predominantly red wines and ports.  Some 250 years ago, the farm was owned by Martin Melck, and stayed in the Melck family until 1897.  In 1988, the farm was bought by Ronnie Melck, one of the true characters of SA's wine history, and the circle was complete.  One of Ronnie's sons, Rijk, has given up his medical practice and is now the winemaker.  The tasting area consists of the original concrete storage tanks, converted into individual alcoves where you can sit at leisure and soak up all of the atmosphere that lines the walls, along with artwork of previous owner, George Paul Canitz.

The range of red wines includes Pinot Noir (SA's first Pinot Noir grapes were planted at Muratie), Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and their Bordeaux-style blend, the Ansela.  As you would expect, these are not New World wines; there is an underlying elegance, structure and balance that will be fully rewarded only with the passage of time.

But it is not all olde-worlde.  There is an easy-drinking red, called, of course, Melck's Red, which is also known as "The Lips" wine because of the painting on the label of the lady with bright red lips.  Then there is Amber Forever, a fortified Hanepoot, a beautiful golden honey colour, and portrayed on the label by a similarly-named lady of somewhat dubious repute (there can't be too many wine labels in the world with a glimpse of stocking top and suspenders!).

And so back to THE WEB.  There, occupying a corner of the tasting area is quite a collection of webs (arachnaphobes beware!), and one of them is constructed around a 1977 edition of a KWV calendar, thereby giving irrefutable proof that, as steeped as it is in history, Muratie's WEB SITE pre-dates the rest of the world by at least 5 years!

Muratie's wonderful wines are available at Manuka Fine Wine Boutiques in Steenberg, Somerset West, Noordhoek and Pretoria.

Stephen Digby
Manuka, Somerset West