Thelema - Stellenbosch - South Africa

Thelema Mountain Vineyards, a short history
In July 1983 the McLean Family Trust bought the old fruit farm Thelema, situated on the top of the Helshoogte Pass about 6 kilometers outside of Stellenbosch. This purchase was the culmination of a long search by Gyles and Barbara Webb for that rare location where exceptional wines could be made, for this is their sole intention.

Thelema in the morning, rising up the Simonsberg. Photo: BS Hall

The farm comprises 157 ha of land on the slopes of the Simonsberg. The elevation ranges from 370 to 640 meters above sea level of mainly south-facing slopes, making Thelema one of the highest and probably coolest wine farms in the Stellenbosch area. Although wine had been made on the farm in the early part of the century and table grapes produced until the late 1960's, there were no vines on the farm at the time of purchase. The 25 ha under cultivation consisted of plums, apples and pears in varying stages of degeneration. The neglected state of the farm could not detract from its charm - there are spectacular views of the Simonsberg, Drakenstein and Jonkershoek Mountains and the farm is dotted with enormous oak trees. It has, however, involved an enormous effort to convert Thelema into a wine farm. The farm workers housing has been renovated and new cottages built and the old Cape Victorian farmhouse restored. The orchards have gradually made way for vineyards and virgin mountainside cleared and prepared to increase the arable land to about 40 ha. Detailed tests of the soil have revealed them to be high potential decomposed granite with excellent water-retention capacity.

Gyles Webb directs all farming and winery operations, his wife Barbara is director of marketing, mother-in-law Edna manages the tasting area and the remaining directors are David McLean and Jennifer de Tolly.

July 2006
Dear Friends

The year seems to have whistled by; it feels like just the other day since I wrote our last newsletter. Maybe it's because we've been busy. Last vintage was, by some margin, the biggest we've handled in the winery, totalling over 500 tons of fruit, with Sutherland contributing about 65 tons. Fortunately the weather during harvest behaved beautifully, allowing all varieties to ripen slowly and fully, and in logical sequence, so there was no undue rush in the cellar. It was one of the driest summers I can remember, so judicious irrigation was the order of the day and we ended up with brilliantly healthy, small, concentrated berries. We had a scare in early January with fires on Simonsberg, but little damage ensued, apart from smoke inhalation irritations and sleep deprivation to all our loyal staff who man and womanfully battled the blazes at the top of the farm, usually in the middle of the night. In 2000 we had to ditch quite a lot of Sauvignon blanc that was irredeemably tainted with a nasty smoke flavour from the mountain fires, but we learnt lessons from this episode and, with the help of our neighbours, successfully kept the smoke out of the vineyards this year. Apart from that it turned out to be one of our easiest vintages, helped by the fact that I made an inspired decision early in February to heed press reports of imminent power outages by buying a bloody great big generator. It makes an awful racket when it runs but we always have lights, cooling and enough juice to keep all our equipment running, including the espresso machine.

Sutherland, our Elgin property, is progressing encouragingly well. We have 36 hectares of vineyard planted to date, with another 6 hectares to be planted this year, including some Pinot noir, that beguiling variety that every winemaker would love to master, but very few do. Maybe this is the site? Maybe I'll get it right and become famous! Maybe Eskom will get it's act together! I believe we all like to dream, and if this is true, I wouldn't be surprised if every enlightened winemaker dreamt about getting fruit from this site: it is a brilliant property and the vineyard development has been done impeccably, thanks to Chris, Andre and Aidan. If ever there is to be a local model vineyard, this will be it. So there!

I'm going to touch on that touchy subject again; wine shows. I think I mentioned last time that Thomas, one of our clever sons, was going to get involved with marketing and other stuff he learnt in Australia. Well, he did, and he entered us in some shows. So far he hasn't done too badly, because in the International Wine Challenge we entered 5 wines and got 5 medals:

Gold - Chardonnay 2004 Gold - Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 'The Mint' Silver - Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 Silver - Merlot Reserve 2003 Bronze - Shiraz 2004 He forgot to enter the standard Merlot 2004, which is a pity because I think it would have done very well.

These results are most gratifying, especially with regard to the Chardonnay. This is a terrific wine and, fortunately, we still have some left, so place your orders fast! Chardonnay, in my opinion, is still the prince of dry white wines, showing complexity and finesse, and it ages well. So why don't people want to buy it anymore? Beats me. Our other gold is for 'The Mint' Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. This is made from fruit from the first Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard we planted, back in 1985. The wine is concentrated and rich with lovely blackcurrant and black fruit flavours and a distinctive minty flavour. A knockout! Wine from this vineyard has always shown powerful mint flavours, quite different from the aromas of the wines from our other three Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards. We decided this year to give our customers a choice between the 'Full Minty' and the 'Barely-discernible Minty'. They are both terrific wines - buy a case of each and decide which style you prefer.

We have another new wine this year as well, the Arumdale Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. This is from fruit bought from our next-door neighbour in Elgin, and is a pretty example of cool-climate Cabernet Sauvignon, not too dense, with a savoury herbaceousness (not green) associated with Bordeaux wines.

We have also purchased a screw-capping machine, and will be bottling some of our Sauvignon blanc wines under screw-cap, available in a couple of months time. Phone us for details.

If you would like to buy some wine, please simply order online. If you'd like any other information about us or our wines contact me or Thomas or any one of the girls in the office, and we'd be very happy to talk to you. What would be even better is for you to pop in to visit when next you're in the Cape.

Until next time

Kind regards
Gyles

Who we are


Thelema is a family-run team.

The Directors


Gyles Webb - Cellar Master
Barbara Webb - Trade & Distribution
David McLean - Finance & Transport
Edna McLean - Wine Sales
Jennifer de Tolly - Director


The Team


Mathew Castle - Farm Manager
Rudi Schultz - Wine Maker
Karen Moon - Bookkeeper
Elana Sauerman - Wine Sales
Chateau Tourell - Wine Sales & Transport
Thomas Webb - Trade & Marketing
Hannes Antonie - Cellar Foreman
Lillian Williams - Deliveries
Cecil Siebritz - Farm Foreman

The Cellar Master


Gyles Webb. Photo: A Vorster

Gyles Webb was a Chartered Accountant in Durban when he decided to change careers and become a winemaker. After reading an Enology degree at Stellenbosch University, and working stints in South Africa and abroad, he and his wife's family bought Thelema, a run-down fruit farm situated on the slopes of Simonsberg, a few kilometers outside Stellenbosch, and began converting the property into a wine estate.

Apart from wine, Gyles's other interests include food, music, bird-watching, wild-life, fly-fishing, golf and travel. He is married to Barbara and has three children, James, Thomas and Caroline, who are pursuing careers in non-wine related areas.

The name "Thelema"
Rabelais was one of 16th century France's most colourful writers. His rather salty tales told of the glories of life and celebrated the hedonistic pleasures of the body. This was strong criticism of the puritanical Church of the time which pressed its concepts of piety and guilt onto Europe. Rabelais' stories tickle and indulge the senses, throwing social and religious commentary into the same pot as history, comedy and tragedy.



The tale of Thelema comes from a collection of his stories entitled "Gargantua and Pantagruel". In the book of Gargantua, he tells of a great battle between Gargantua and Pichrocole, in which the former "utterly defeated" the latter. After the battle, Gargantua divided the spoils and finally only had to provide for one Monk. Gargantua offered him many lofty titles, complete with bountiful lands, but the Monk refused them all. The Monk explained that he did not wish to rule over other monks - instead Gargantua could reward him with leave to found an Abbey after his own "minde and fancie". This intrigued Gargantua, who thereupon offered him all the land of Thelema by the river of Loire, till within two leagues of the forest of Port-huant. Here, with Gargantua's blessing, grew up a unique religious order.

The Abbey of Thelema was not walled; time was not circumscribed by clocks or sundials; men and women were allowed to live freely with each other; they were dressed in the finest satins and cloths. Rabelais enters into some rather bawdy detail as to what sort of person would qualify as a devotee of Thelema.... " Therefore it was ordained, that into this religious order should be no women that were not faire, well featur'd and of sweet disposition; nor men that were not comely, personable and well conditioned."

In complete contrast to the three vows of chastity, poverty and obedience taken by conventional religious men and women, the followers of Thelema were allowed to be honourably married, become rich and live at liberty. Rabelais' sumptuous account of the Abbey and its followers is best read in the context of his rich writings, which whet the appetite with their lavish descriptions of Serpentine marble, huge libraries, lush fields and magnificent landscapes.

At the foot of this earthly paradise stood a gate bearing a rather stern Admission Reserved Sign. It began:

"HERE ENTER NOT vile bigots, hypocrites,
Externally devoted Apes, base snites...
And forerunners of baboons.
Out strouting cluster fists, contentious bulls,
fomenters of divisions and debates,
Elsewhere, not here, make sale your deceits."

One law governed the Thelemites, a simple and beautiful one,

"Do what thou wilt."
It has been greatly abused and much misunderstood, for the rule is not an open invitation to chaos, but a call for true self-examination.

Our Crest
The phoenix dates back to distant mythology. It was thought to be a magical bird as large as an eagle, with scarlet and gold plumage and a melodious cry. It was said that only one phoenix existed at any one time. As its end approached, the phoenix made a nest of aromatic branches and spices, set it on fire, and was consumed in the flames. The next morning, from the ashes rose a new phoenix. Scholars regarded the bird as a metaphor for the sun as well as a being a symbol of immortality. Ancient Chinese, Sumerian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Incan and Aztec tales all tell of this fascinating creature.

A little closer to home, in the early 1900's, Rudolph Giloi started the Phoenix Garden Hotel in Kimberley. The owner's granddaughter is our very own Edna, who went on to marry David McLean, and is now the Thelema matriarch. But that's not all as synchronicity would have it, the Webb family crest is also the phoenix. This can be traced back all the way to England in the 1700's.