De Grendel Wines - South Africa
De Grendel means the latch or the gateway in Dutch, and the estate is named due to its location on the Tygerberg, which was traditionally a stop over for ox wagons on their way to Durbanville, Stellenbosch and the interior of South Africa. The Graaff family has owned De Grendel since the late 1800's, however the potential for growing quality wine grapes was only identified by the present owner Sir David Graaff. The first vines were planted on the De Grendel estate in 2000 following exhaustive soil surveys to identify the best grape varieties and clones for each site. Today there are 104 hectares of vines from which the fruit for De Grendel wines is sourced, and a new winery built in 2005 designed to Feng Shui principles. An in-depth study completed in May 2008 has shown that the De Grendel estate is carbon negative, so you can be sure that the wines produced have a minimal affect on the environment.
De Grendel Vineyards
At an average of 250 metres elevation and only 7 kilometres from Table Bay and the Atlantic Ocean's cold currents, this area has one of the coolest climates in the western Cape, and with misty nights is ideal for maintaining fresh flavours and acidity in grapes. The area is a very important site of Cape biodiversity, and is only one of a few examples left of rare Malmesbury Shale Renosterveld vegetation. Several species of venerable and critically endangered flora grow on the De Grendel estate and are being carefully conserved for future generations.
De Grendel Reputation
Cellar master Charles Hopkins is responsible for winemaking, and is well respected throughout the world wine industry, with spells in California and Bordeaux as well as nearly two decades of making wine in South Africa. Winemaker Elzette du Preez has also worked in Marlborough, New Zealand, and is a specialist with Sauvignon Blanc, fast becoming De Grendel's signature variety. New to the range this year is the Koetshuis (Coach House block) Sauvignon Blanc - a rich, multi layered expression of the Tygerberg terroir.
