Delheim has celebrated numerous milestones since Hans Hoheisen and his wife Del bought the Stellenbosch farm in 1939.
This past October, Delheim marked another significant milestone with the official celebration of the winery’s 80th anniversary. In honour of the momentous occasion, the winery released a once-off and super-exclusive Cape Blend that celebrates the life of the late Spatz Sperling.
Called Iconoclast, this wine from the 2012 vintage is a tribute to the legendary South African wine pioneer and his fearless challenge of conventional wisdom.
The well-crafted wine is a blend of four cultivars although not typical of a Cape Blend, which commonly use South African Pinotage as the lead variety. Iconoclast is Shiraz-driven, a quirk that would have made Spatz smile not only for being contrary to the mainstream but also because Shiraz was his favourite cultivar. The wine is rounded off with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.
Spatz passed away in October 2017, at the age of 87. Challenging conventional beliefs and institutions he became a pioneering icon of the South African wine industry despite the obstacles.
Recognition of his extraordinary contribution came in 2009, when he was honoured with the 350 Celebration Scroll in the year South Africa celebrated 350 years of winemaking.
Iconoclast is a reflection of Spatz. Stemming from the Greek words eikon, meaning “image,” and klastes, meaning “breaker”, iconoclast is used to describe individuals – rugged individualists and bold thinkers. The logo takes inspiration from Spatz too. He was never seen without his hat and his Jack Russell, Nelson.
In many ways, Iconoclast is a mirror of the historical milestones that combined and comprise Spatz’s legacy.
Spatz arrived at the Cape in 1951 as a 20-year-old from Germany to join his uncle and aunt on their beautiful farm Delheim, a name inspired from the German meaning Del’s Home. Over the next 70 years, Spatz grew the farm on the Simonsberg into one of the most enduringly popular and successful wine destinations, creating many firsts in the process.
The family-run wine farm also became a microcosm of Spatz’s visionary work in the greater Stellenbosch community and the Cape Winelands as a whole. In the days when there were few privately owned farms, Spatz, Sydney Back of Backsberg and Frans Malan of Simonsig were instrumental in transforming wine estate legislation. Together with Frans Malan of Simonsig and Neil Joubert of Spier, Spatz was a founder member of the Stellenbosch Wine Route.
“So many years were spent – almost wasted – just learning the command of local customers and skills so easily picked up by his peers who had been born into this world,” recalls Vera Sperling. “Languages, habits, political participations – all were denied to him as he had no ancestry here and I often felt as though he did not really fit in. No wonder he was known as ‘the difficult German’!
“Much later, one realises that the art of success is to sieve out the minor points for the sake of issues of importance.”
Spatz’s unstoppable energy matched by his larger-than-life character and cheeky sense of humour made him the life of the party. He was a ready, generous and excellent friend to many and from all walks of life – much like the character contained in every bottle of Delheim’s new Iconoclast tribute wine.
The retail price of the wine is R1000 per bottle. Only 2100 bottles of Iconoclast have been produced by the Stellenbosch stalwart.
