Founded in 1700, Vergelegen (meaning “situated far away”), is located on the slopes of the Hottentots Holland mountain range overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in the region of Somerset West. Some of the world’s great explorers and visionaries have owned the Estate and helped to shape Vergelegen into what it is today. This stunning world-class Estate, blends its rich heritage, beauty and sustainability with vision and innovation. Experienced and talented winemaker Luke O’Cuinneagain, fulfils the estate philosophy of ‘harmony between the old and the new’ in the range of wines produced with minimal intervention.
Cirrus Wines, named after the wispy atmospheric clouds, are terroir driven wines made with fruit from high altitude vineyards on the Ceres Plateau. 2020 marked the first vintage made from this unique vineyard on Rietfontein farm. At an altitude of 1026m above sea level, moderate summers, snowy winters, and intense solar rays create an environment that produces wines expressive of this distinctive landscape.
‘Cavalli’s Wine & Vineyard philosophy is to produce world class wines with a very local character and a strong identity so to be clearly recognized as from the Helderberg region, while endeavouring to be the benchmark with regards to Terroir and quality for the Helderberg in the years to come. We strive for our immediate environment to be represented in the characteristics of our wines while upholding sustainable farming practices to preserve the land which falls within the Cape Floral Kingdom, a Unesco World Heritage site.
The Helderberg region of Stellenbosch is nearest the ocean and lends the estate to the cooling influence of the Southerly winds. Our soils contain large amounts of ”koffieklip” with a higher percentage of clay in the subsoil, affording the wines an innate elegance and expressive fruit characteristic. 100% Vititech motherblock plant material is used on the farm – resulting in virus free vineyards and optimal growth, producing outstanding wines. Extreme attention to detail from soil preparation to bottling, through a hands-on approach secures grapes of the highest quality. Our focus falls on the varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Verdelho.’
Kirrihill is a boutique winery cultivating fine wines that capture the terroir of South Australia’s Clare Valley. Founded in 1998 by long-time friends and locals, Sean Edwards and Rob Stanway. Their focus is on the pursuit of growing the best quality fruit possible, whilst managing the vineyards sustainably and respecting the individual sites. The micro-climates within the three small valleys that make up the Clare Valley region provide their winemakers with a diversity of fruit selections to produce expressive wines of purity and intrigue, particularly aromatic Rieslings, which speak profoundly of their place.
Sitting atop the ‘Golden Mile’, a stretch of rare terra rossa soil, their highly prized Schobers Vineyard is one of the most distinguished red wine producing vineyards in Australia. Contour planted on rolling hills at the southern tip of Clare Valley, Schobers Vineyard has consistently produced Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon wines of great complexity, which are rich in concentration with distinctive Clare Valley character.
Catharina is certainly one of the most daring and controversial figures ever to settle in the Cape. 1662 was far from being the age of rights for women, but despite seemingly insurmountable challenges, this indomitable lady boarded a sailing ship and made the perilous journey to the furthest tip of Africa. Five husbands later, the Widow Ras procured a portion of ground at the foot of the Ou Kaapse Weg in 1688, to “cultivate, to plough and to sow and also to possess the farm below the stone mountain.”
The farm’s original name was ‘Swaaneweide’ – The Feeding Place of Swans. Catharina, mistaking the area’s spur-winged geese for swans! In 1695 Frederik Russouw bought the farm and it was passed down through the generations until 1990 when it was purchased by J.C.I (Johannesburg Consolidated Investments) and re-developed into the glorious vineyard and hotel it is today. Graham Beck bought Steenberg Hotel and Steenberg Winery in April 2005. Steenberg Hotel has since flourished into a luxury destination with an award-winning winery set amongst the estate’s astounding natural landscape.
Within a mere 30 years – one generation – Beyerskloof has become synonymous with South Africa’s heritage varietal, Pinotage.
It all started with a vineyard, planted at a small home farm off the Koelenhof road in Stellenbosch, bought in 1988 when Beyers Truter dug his hands into the soil to plant the first vines. A few years later in 1995, the first Beyerskloof Pinotage was produced and bottled, and one year later it went on to win the first of many Absa Top 10 Pinotage awards. From here, Beyerskloof continued to grow and in 1997, another 100 hectares were bought in the Bottelary Winelands of Stellenbosch, and again in 2018 with the purchase of another 50 hectares of vineyards known as Kriekbult. These vineyards can be viewed from the deck of the Red Leaf Bistro at Beyerskloof, stretching between the winery and the majestic Simonsberg Mountain.
Today, Winemaker Anri Truter continues to build on the legacy of his father, Beyers, while driving new horizons. With his passion for innovation in the vineyards and cellar, the future of Beyerskloof and Pinotage holds exciting promise.
Waterford Estate is situated in the picturesque Blaauwklippen Valley on the Helderberg Mountain in Stellenbosch. The estate is owned by the Ord family and has been developed under the watchful eye of Kevin Arnold, Cellarmaster and Managing Partner, since 1998. Utilising the latest sustainability research, the estate uses only 120 hectares of their land for vines, to preserve and protect the natural fauna and flora on the estate.
Tim Atkin MW assessed the estate as being a ‘first growth’ within South Africa in his 2019 report. The wines are indeed highly garlanded, recognised for their restraint and poise. The aim of the estate is ‘less is more’ to ensure the wines express their vineyard sites to the fullest. ‘We keep things simple, both inside and outside of the cellar’, says viticulturist David van Schalkwyk, ‘We try to interfere as little as possible, allowing nature to do its job. In this way, our wines also have the best chance of truly reflecting Waterford Estate’s unique environment’. Winemaker Mark le Roux adds, ‘interfering as little as possible doesn’t mean the team gets to go on holiday more often! Finding ways to improve or maintain wine quality without manipulation is an art’.
Located in the Greenock sub region of the Barossa Valley and perfectly suited to producing quality, rich, full flavoured Shiraz. The estate was purchased by the Liu family in 2017 and is managed by a sixth generation Barossa grape-growing family along with world renowned winemaker Kym Milne MW heading up the production team.
This successful collaboration immediately produced it’s first Gold medal at the Mundus Vini International Wine Competition in Germany and thereafter followed by a steady stream of accolades including the highly prestigious IWC Trophy for Best Barossa Valley Shiraz in 2022 for the 2020 Golden Amrita Single Estate Shiraz . Seckford are privileged to be looking after this estate in the UK.
Made by Ventisquero Wine Estates, Kalfu means ‘blue’ in Mapudungun, the language of the aboriginal Mapuche people of southern Chile, representing the influence of the nearby Pacific Ocean and the extensive skies of the region. Kalfu wines are made from 100% estate owned vineyards in the coastal regions of Leyda Valley (pictured above), Casablanca Valley, Maipo Valley and the Atacama Desert, the world’s driest desert.
Situated so close to the Pacific, each vineyard site benefits from cooling coastal breezes and a subsequently longer ripening period.
Sustainability is a core value at Kalfu. Last year in their Leyda vineyard they launched a photovoltaic project which will generate 164,900 kwh of clean energy, meaning that 80 tons of CO2 per year will no longer be emitted.
Established in 2004, Greystone draws its name from the steep and unique limestone clay hills in Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. With the aim of making exceptional wines from its unique terroir, since 2014, Greystone has managed its 33-hectare vineyard organically. The team are continually searching for new ways to fully reflect the terroir, including vineyard ferments, which capture the vines’ wild yeasts in situ, while exposing the wine to the elements – the ultimate in natural winemaking?
For a relatively young wine company, Greystone has twice won Decanter trophies for Best Pinot Noir as well as earnin the ranking of Top New Zealand Chardonnay in 2018. More recently, Greystone was Raymond Chan’s 2018 Winery of the Year and winemaker, Dom Maxwell, was named 2018 New Zealand Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet Traveller Wine.
Noon Winery is a small, family-owned winery in McLaren Vale producing earth-shattering red wines! Drew and his wife Raegan – gentle, considered people – took over the family winery in 1996. Their quiet respect for the land they nurture and the vines they tend is reflected in their winemaking style; gloriously powerful wines with minimal processing.
The property has 4.2ha of estate-grown bush vine Grenache vineyards planted in 1934 and 1999 (the Winery and Almond Blocks) and 1943 (BJ’s Block), with plantings in 1999 of a further 1.6ha, mostly Graciano. The Shiraz and Cabernet vineyards are grower owned by friends, the Borrett Family, in Langhorne Creek – tiny vineyards planted in 1962 and 1972 respectively. Production at Noon is only 3000 cases (in a good year) mostly sold to their loyal Australian customers. For most of the year, their cellar door sports a sign simply stating “Sorry, we have sold out of wine. Cellar door will reopen next November”!
Situated in an area of the Adelaide Hills that was littered with goldmines in the 1800s, the Bird in Hand winery was purchased and planted in 1997 by Andrew Nugent, current Executive Director. Andrew has kept the close historical links alive both in the naming of the winery and their wine ranges; Two in the Bush and Nest Egg were the names of mineshafts in the Bird in Hand goldmine. Bird in Hand have 23 hectares under vine in Woodside and 5 ha in Clare, from which they produce classic examples of cool climate Chardonnay and Shiraz that have won world acclaim. Chief Winemaker, Kym Milne MW, joined Bird in Hand in 2003 after many years’ spent gaining international experience. In 2014 he was named Australian Winemaker of the Year by Winestate Magazine. The current Chief Winemaker, Dylan Lee joined the company as a cellar hand in 2011, before rising through the ranks to take over from Kym Milne in 2015.
The site was once a dairy farm, many of the original structures remain and have been transformed to house different areas of the winery. The old cheese and yoghurt factory now houses the offices and the two big silos which were once used as grain storage for the cattle are now a feature for the 5* Halliday award-winning winery.
