Our sprawling estate spans 180 ha and houses our vineyards, our production facility and some of the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley’s most diverse fauna and flora.
“Your wine can only be as good as your fruit.”
LOW-IMPACT FARMING
OUR VINEYARDS
We want the character of our grapes to tell the story of our terroir and therefore believe in growing only the cultivars that truly flourish in the area, and only interfering when absolutely necessary.
Our focus is on rejuvenation instead of pushing a high yield and we believe in letting the land rest as needed and focusing our attention on the areas that are ready for harvest.
We’ve also introduced organic management principles, regenerative farming practices and winter pruning techniques to further improve the quality of the fruit.
MINIMAL INTERFERENCE
OUR CELLAR
Our approach of minimal human interference is carried through from our vineyards to our cellar, where we use French oak barrels from Burgundy for fermentation and for maturation. By respecting the fruit and giving it the opportunity to really come into its own, we are able to truly produce wines with a sense of place.
“We let the character of the grapes tell the story of our wine.”
WINEMAKING LED BY NATURE
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Having specifically selected the farm for its exceptional location, cool climate and unique decomposed granite and clay soils, our goal is to ensure that the terroir is treated with total respect and the grapes are really given the opportunity to shine. To achieve this, we’ve taken a low-impact, sustainable approach to farming, with minimal interference – both in the vineyards and in the cellar.
RESPECTING LOCAL FLORA
OUR FYNBOS
Our whole family is passionate about sustainability and we joined the WWF Conservation Champion program. 53 hectares of our estate are now dedicated to wildlife preservation and nature conservation.
Newly installed game cameras also help us to monitor animal movement on the farm and spot the species that sometimes escape the kids’ gaze on their nightly game drives. Between the kids and the cameras, we’ve already spotted majestic Blue cranes, micro frogs (one of South Africa’s smallest amphibian species), honey badgers, 3 types of antelope, caracals and bat-eared foxes. The majestic Cape Leopard has left its marks but have been able to stay out of the spotlight so far.