Recently we were invited to participate in an introduction to brandy course at the famous Van Ryn’s distillery in Stellenbosch. Our visit would include a tour of the distillery and a course on brandy appreciation. The course included how brandy is made and the styles of brandy. Now being self-educated on brandy, Master Yack jumped at the opportunity to not only refine his skills but also as a refresher. As we know, to be a master of your craft you have to go back to basics every now and then; which is so much better when you get to learn from the masters.

As we arrived at the distillery, we were greeted by a big water feature just in front of the building; big, grey, and imposing in its presence. There‘s just something I find calming about water; be it the sea, rivers or lakes; they have a calming effect on me. A warm greeting indeed and so I was already feeling quite at home by the time I went into the reception area through the dark glass entrance; itself big and the only modern looking feature from the outside, in contrast to the style of building, reminiscent of times gone by. In Kasi lingo, I’d just say this building has been there since van toeka af.

Inside the reception area, we were met by a comfortable open space compartmentalised by big dining tables setups, luxurious, soft leather couches, with coffee tables, and other “lounging spaces”. The style is a mixture of rustic and vintage; with textured wall, black painted steel, concrete, red stone, dark polished floor tiles, and wood finishes. Not much natural light comes in; just enough that it’s not dark. It is then complemented by artificial lighting that creates a cosy ambience even during the day. Then boom, in the middle of it all, is a functional potstill distillation system, complete with a fire burning beneath. The space is inviting and comfortable, an atmosphere to enjoy a tipple with good friends. Y’all must go check it out; it’s proper.

We were welcomed by Distell’s senior brand ambassador good ol’ Nicky boy Holdcraft, a very calm relaxed and poker faced individual who led us into the room where the class would be taking place. Much like his demeanour, Nick’s approach was very lax giving us the odd chuckle in between how serious the man was about his brandy. The course starts with a background on how brandy made it to South African shores by way of a cook on a Dutch ship distilling Cape wine. For the “integrity” of history the ships name was De Pijl.

We then went on to the making which starts at grass roots level (no pun intended); we were quite literally taught about the soil in which the vines are grown and the types of grapes that are chosen. These are the best of Chenin Blanc and Colombar grapes, take that you wine people, we brandy folk get the best grapes, maybe it’s time you switched it up a notch and joined #teambrandy. We were taken through the two distillation processes which include the column and potstill which you can read about in our insert, “how brandy is made”; you can also click here to access it.

The next subject was something of a controversy where Nick was concerned; he doesn’t think one of the styles should be on this list, a position which is in common with yours truly. As you have probably gathered that next topic was the styles of brandy which are listed as four; being Blended, Vintage, Potstill, and Single Estate. The Single Estate style is where the bone of contention comes in.

This category is for those brandies which come from a single estate; grapes grown, harvested, made into base wine, distilled and matured all in one estate. So where does the bone of contention come in? Well single estates are essentially one of the other three styles. So is it really necessary to have them in their own category? Master Yack thinks not. For more information about the different styles, click here, to see our insert, “The 3 Styles”.

Then came the really fun part; a tour of the distillery with Marlene Bester, the master distiller at Van Ryn’s. The woman responsible for many of the award winning brandies to come from these shores. This is not your average brandy loving tanie; this is a tanie who has mastered her craft. Marlene took us through the paces which included a stop off at the distillation room which houses massive potstills and three column stills. The column stills are no longer in use and so no longer form a part of Marlene’s repertoire, it’s just not kosher.

Next stop was the maturation room. Oh my! The aromas! The moment you walk into that space you can just smell the wooden barrels at work, making sweet love to the brandy; slowly secreting flavours and colour to our spirit; magical at work. That is when you realise that the All Mighty surely must be sending for the collection of 3% each year, without fail.

The next part of the tour was probably the group’s favourite part, this was with the cooper; the man who makes the barrels. A very comical man who took us through the making of the barrels, an art in its own right considering there is no school for being a cooper and there are no tools that you can buy; each cooper has made their own tools during an apprenticeship with older coopers. The best part came when, in the midst of the noise made by hammers at work, knocking, the cooper would signal by beating a distinct rhythm and that is the cooper finishing his barrel.

For the finale we had a great tasting of various brands which ranged from Klipdrift Export to Oudemeester Sovereign (perfection). The funny thing is when doing the tasting we kept going back to the first brandy Klippies Export. The older you get you soon realise just why those Klippies are made for mixing. Hey for the purest out there go on sipping on our nectar neat; that’s the best way you know how. To conclude the day, we were given these awesome Van Ryn’s cases, and lo and behold inside was a wonderful Van Ryn’s 12 year old accompanied by two balloon snifters; a great way to end an awesome day.

Remember the best way to enjoy brandy is the way you like it.