Bloemendal Wine Estate

The 300 year old farm Bloemendal, set in the heart of the fertile Durbanville region, originally supplied fresh produce to the Dutch East India Company ships on their way to the Spice Islands. In more recent times the area has become renowned for its grapes of exceptional quality and concentration.

Bloemendal's first cellar was completed in 1920 by the grandfather of present owner and vintner, Jackie Coetzee. His father continued the Estate's concentration on winemaking by the planting of significant amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz in the early 1960's. Building on the family's winemaking tradition, Bloemendal was registered as an Estate in 1987. Concentrating on the noble cultivars, he sacrificed quantity in favour of quality, soon gaining a reputation locally and internationally for his award-winning, 'boutique' style wines, widely known as the 'the waterlily label'.

Although blessed with an abundance of sunshine in summer, Durbanville remains one of the coolest wine-growing regions in South Africa, with a miro-climate ideally suited to the noble cultivars. The cooling effect of the surrounding hills, combined with coastal mists and heavy localised dews result in grapes with fine individual characteristics and great concentration. By contrast, chilly winters, lashed by rains chilled by the South Easter, provide deep rest for the vines in preparation for the following season.