Lammershoek scores a goal with new Franz Beckenbauer Libero No 5!

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On Friday I attended the Lammershoek launch of Franz Beckenbauer Libero No 5 2015, named after one of the three German investors in this Swartland wine estate. The mention of the name of Germany’s most-revered soccer hero in the invitation made this a not-to-be-missed event, held at The Grand on the Beach.

Lammershoek CEO and co-owner Andreas Abold sketched the background to the involvement of himself, Beckenbauer, and Fidor Reidmann as the three owners of the wine estate, all having German soccer connections for the 2006 and 2010 Soccer World Cup bids. Andreas’ wife has South African links, and he described our country as ‘love or leave it’, choosing the former! They had operated from Durban and Johannesburg for the World Cup, and after returning to Germany, they realized they missed our country. Andreas said he could only live here if he had a business involvement here, choosing as his goal (pardon the pun) to buy a wine farm. Beckenbauer and Reidmann immediately said that they wanted to be part of it too.

The search for a wine farm led Andreas to Franschhoek, Stellenbosch, Paarl, and Robertson, all the obvious wine destinations, but most of them were too developed already, being boutique wine estates with restaurants, accommodation, and more. They wanted a more basic wine farm, and identified the Paardeberg area in the Swartland as being ‘real and authentic‘, ‘rough‘ in a positive sense, with a healthy environment. Andreas sent an email to wine farmers in the area, and asked them for their advice in buying a wine farm in their region. The previous co-owner of Lammershoek wrote back, saying that his partners may want to sell. Andreas communicated that they wanted all or nothing, and so he and his two German partners came to be the new owners of the 80 ha vineyard Lammershoek, in the Aprilskloof Valley of the Paardeberg, 80 – 300m above sea level.

Their first goal was to switch to organic wine making, requiring more input and generating lower yields. They eventually parted ways with their winemaker Greg Hawkins, and welcomed former Holden Manz winemaker Schalk Opperman as winemaker and General Manager. Andreas was bold enough to remove the wines of their 2013 and 2014 vintages from retail shelves, a costly but necessary quality step. Andreas praised the neighborliness of Eben Sadie, who is literally on their boundary, and who has provided advice, and done tastings with them, always having an open door for them, and going beyond neighborliness. Lammershoek is the largest farm in the area, with a capacity of 300 tons. Wolfgang Leyrer is their marketing consultant locally, having previously been at Allee Bleue.

They redid their brand image, the black eagle becoming the new focus of their branding, which they launched at CapeWine last year. Their vision and mission is ‘Striving towards Excellence’. Once the foundations of the wine estate had been addressed, it was time to start making their ultimate wine, the Franz Beckenbauer Libero No 5 2015, a unique blend of 77% Syrah, 12% Carignan, 7% Grenache, 3% Viognier, and interestingly 1% Chenin Blanc. The wine is endorsed by Beckenbauer, and the wooden container it is marketed in is signed by him. I was told that ‘Libero’ was Beckenbauer’s soccer nickname, being the last defender before the goal line. The number 5 was that of his soccer jersey, being synonymous with him, and no German natinal soccer player has ever used this number again. A total of 600 bottles has been produced, and costs Euro 18. Beckenhauer was at the launch, and dutifully signed and dated all our wine boxes. I thanked him for his confidence in our country, and he replied that it is the most beautiful one he knows!

Lammershoek has three ranges:

# The Innocent Range, with a White Blend 2015, Rosé 2015, Red Blend 2015, Pinotage 2015, and Syrah 2015, each costing R85.

# The Reserve Range, with Reserve Chenin Blanc 2015 (R150), Terravinum
Reserve White Blend of Chenin Blanc, Viognier, and Chardonnay (R180), Reserve Syrah (R180), and Terravinum Reserve Red Blend of Syrah, Carignan, Grenache and Chenin Blanc (R200).

# The Mysteries Range, with Die Oranje 2015 (R260), Die Harde Blaar 2015 (R260), Die Swart Strooi 2015 (R280, their straw wine made from desiccated and vine-dried Syrah grapes), Die Duiker 2015 (R280), and Die Ou Man 2015 (R280).

Lunch was served as platters, the starters being a roast mushroom, pecorino, green bean, and hazelnut salad, paired with Lammershoek Chenin Blanc Reserve 2015; as well as a grilled calamari and prawn tempura with chermoula sauce, which was paired with Lammershoek Terravinum White Reserve 2015.

Main course platters were an excellent tender rare fillet béarnaise, kingklip tagliata, hand-cut chips, and seasonal vegetables, which were paired with Lammershoek Terravinum Red Blend 2015, and Libero No 5 Signature Red 2015. A cheese platter concluded the meal, paired with the Lammershoek Mysteries Die Swart Strooi Syrah 2015.

It was a very special privilege to have been invited to the launch of this very special Lammershoek Franz Beckenbauer Libero No 5 wine, and share a few words with German soccer hero ‘Der Kaiser‘ Franz Beckenbauer, even if we could not interview him due to the FIFA sensitivity!

Disclosure: We received a signed gift pack of Lammershoek Franz Beckenbauer Libero No 5 2015.

Lammershoek Farms & Winery, Paardeberg, Swartland. Tel (022) 482-2835 www.lammershoek.co.za Twitter: @Lammershoek