The mystery of how places get their names was solved on Friday. We’d overnighted at Paul Cluver’s small European country cum wine farm, De Rust in Elgin, where Paul had cooked us spaghetti Bolognese and plied us with 2008 vintage Pinot Noir (a great match, foodies). The railway line from Caledon to Cape Town wriggles through the farm and to reach Paul’s lair in the Old Smithy, it’s necessary to cross the track three times, which may surprise topologists.

The last crossing is now called Christiaan’s Crossing after Christiaan Truter, one lucky farm manager who came second to a freight train at the end of January. Two trains run through the farm every day at 6am and 6pm, taking malt from Caledon to SAB in Cape Town to slake the thirst of Mother City beer drinkers at Boo Radleys and other city watering holes.

Christiaan's Crossing

To avoid “being thrown with stones by kids” train drivers have taken to ducking at crossings and also “forget” to hoot to avoid tipping off their stone throwing nemeses. So when the 6am malt express hit Christiaan’s bakkie, no one was more surprised than the train driver. The accident occurred a stone’s throw from one of Paul’s Riesling vineyards, which could explain why the 2009 vintage is more steely than usual. The 11g/l residual sugar is camouflaged by huge acidity better than a ducking train driver and the stoney mineral character provides lots of ammunition for kids and wine lovers alike.

If the train crossing has been christened to commemorate the accident, überdesigner Anthony Lane should fire up his Adobe Acrobat and start designing appropriate labels: Railway Riesling, perhaps or A Narrow Escape?

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