Wildeberg is our small farm in Franschhoek. Wildeberg Terroirs is an expression of the most exciting vineyard blocks we work with in the wider Coastal Region. The first red in the range shows the exceptional quality Cinsault is capable of from old, low yielding bush vines and hands-off winemaking.

A fresh, lifted nose with ripe cherry and damson fruit and hints of cinammon and allspice. Bright and finely balanced on the palate with juicy red fruit and tangy acidity offset by warm, gently earthy notes leading to a pure, focussed finish.

The Earth’s mantle thrusts up above the gentle town of Franschhoek, a wild slice of untamed mountain on which sits a farm named Wildeberg. An established wine region for some 350 years, sensible generations never thought to plant a vine here until a happy band of idealists recently craned their necks up at this hillside and, dizzy with hope, decided to give it a go. Franschhoek is on the very edge of the south-eastern corner of the Cape’s venerable Coastal Region, indeed Wildeberg’s property border runs over the top of the mountain where the Coastal Region gives way to the baboon-strewn road to Grabouw and the wider Western Cape.

The Wildeberg wines express the most captivating Franschhoek Valley fruit. In our Wildeberg Terroirs bottlings we look beyond our home to a clutch of exceptional sites of other origin.

A mountain rich in metaphor with the visual heft to flatter any wine, releases of Wildeberg and Terroirs express our continued purpose – exceptional wines of place, however humble the origin. If the abiding memory of our wines remains a textural sense of place then we are portraying the Cape as hoped.

Made from a single site of bush vine Cinsault in Wellington, planted in 1974 on well-drained slopes of deep, soft loams littered with granite and quartz in the shadow of the Hawekwa mountains. Hand-harvested bush vine fruit is naturally fermented at Wildeberg with 30% whole bunch pressing. 9 months ageing in 600 ltr French oak, mainly older barrels, 15% new. Minimal intervention at all stages in order to capture the natural site-specific energy of this unique fruit.

Pairs well with a variety of different dishes, but excellent with hoi-sin duck, Karoo salt lamb off the braai, seared tuna with roast Mediterranean vegetables, and well-matured hard cheese.