Anyone who ventures outside onto the terrace at the Steenberg tasting room and looks up at the surrounding mountain views will notice the ‘eye of the elephant’ looking back at them. Located on the Southern end of the Constantiaberg, Elephant’s Eye is so named because the eastern profile of the mountain resembles an elephant (the range that continues toward Cape Point being the trunk). The ‘Eye’ itself is a cave which day-hikers often visit with clear days affording sweeping views of the Constantia Valley.
from the 13th hole par 3 on the Steenberg Golf course, Elephants Eye is replicated on the knoll just behind the green.
Besides providing picturesque views from the tasting room, the Table Mountain Range has its part to play in creating the unique terroir at Steenberg. The decomposed granite soil in which our vines are planted has its own story too. The 540 million year old rock formation is known as the Peninsula Granite: a large emplacement of igneous intrusive (also called plutonic) rock that formed from cooled magma deep in the Earth, but has since then been exposed by prolonged erosion.
A scanned legend showing the geological strata of the Constantia Valley and surrounds. The red shows the Peninsula Granite.
It is this decomposed granite soil which contributes to the mineral and flinty nature of our Sauvignon Blanc. The lean soil type is perfect for Sauvignon Blanc as it results in a naturally controlled yield. The vines are naturally strained which means we do not throw off any white berries. This results in very concentrated fruit with only a 4 ton/ha on average: low quantity, high quality.
Next time you visit Steenberg keep an ‘eye’ out for the ‘elephant’!
Makes me nostalgic for my grandfather who took me up there many times; it was part of his fitness regime right into his eighties – he nipped up to the elephant’s eye and then the top on a weekly basis. think you should call a wine after the elephant’s eyes; in the meantime, I’ll indulge in some Rattlesnake in his memory