Anglo American, for several generations the brand name for SA Incorporated until the head office jetted offshore to the flesh pots of London in 1999, got a new chairman in August and one with an auspicious name for wine watchers – Sir John Parker – any relation to Robert Parker (the most influential palate in the world) I wonder? Sir John now controls the dimmer switch for the brightest star in the SA wine planetarium: Vergelegen. If ever the Somerset West estate the size of small European principality needed a good Parker rating, it is now.

Danie, Andre and Neil, not a new Boy Band but certainly friends of Vergelegen

For Anglo is shedding assets faster than an Eskimo dumps his anorak in the Long Street Turkish Baths. The Anglo corporate mission statement has become one of “selling off assets in a bid to streamline operations and focus on its mining portfolio.” Another round of asset sales and executive retrenchments was announced last week. Including Philip Baum, who usually hosts the annual Vergelegen press and luvvie dinner in November, the hottest ticket in the Winelands graced by the presence of the Greta Garbos of the Grape.

The corporate gyrations at Anglo leave Vergelegen like Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives, up a coconut tree contemplating the rising sea levels.

The last time we heard the “core business” mantra was back in 2004, when Boschendal was sold off to Brett Kebble (well at least that’s what Brett told his friends), a disposal that was a PR disaster for Anglo and one which still reverberates around Franschhoek, as opposition to the patrimony of Cecil John Rhodes being carved up into gentlemen’s estates, was unexpectedly intense. Urban legend insists Anglo had to wait years to cash the purchase cheque of R323 million which was far from a Donald Trump deal for 2240ha if you remember that Tokyo Sexwale dropped R105 million on 239ha at Bloemendal last year.

Another urban legend has it that Anglo invited Napa Valley property developer billionaire Bill Harlan to SA back then in an attempt to interest him in Boschendal. They put him up at Vergelegen and Bill was keen on buying. But not Boschendal, Vergelegen! So would Bill be an acceptable partner to fellow American Cynthia Carroll, Anglo CEO, now? The strength of the rand against the dollar would make this a much more expensive deal for Bill than it would have been five years ago.

But from a wine point of view, Bill would be bad news indeed for Vergelegen. Winemaker André van Rensburg is one of the most gifted in SA and he almost single-handedly invented the seamless white blend as well as out-Aussie-ing the Aussies in the crackerjack Shiraz game when he set the benchmark at Stellenzicht.

For Bill is a big fan of flying Bordeaux winemaker Michel Rolland and his super-ripe works, a style that is anathema to André and his classical interpretation of the best of Bordeaux: steely Sauvignon Blanc with or without Sémillon and Cabernet Sauvignon with all the trimmings.

2009 has been an annus horribilis for Vergelegen: huge swathes of the farm burnt in the bush fires of February and the financial meltdown did the same thing to marketing manager Eddie Turner and other staff members retrenched in July. They say that disasters occur in threes, so let’s hope Carl, the pimple-faced, London-based Boston Consulting boffin assigned to vending Vergelegen (if indeed there is one) knows his claret from his Bordeaux.

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