Under an hour’s drive from Cape Town, Wellington is a historic gateway to the Cape Winelands. A dozen leading wine cellars from the wine district came together recently to celebrate the launch of gowellington.co.za, a multi-dimensional food, wine and tourism website linking wineries, guest lodges, restaurants, and adventure tourism operators in the heart of the Boland. In the old days, Wellington was known as Limietberg, named after the furthest limit you could ride by horseback in a day. Well, these days it's a short hop on a tourist daytrip from Cape Town.
Dirk Vaeye, the chairperson of Go Wellington, is one of the new foreign investors in the area. The Belgian owner of Dunstone winery, guest house and bistro, one of Wellington’s many boutique cellars, spoke to media about the exciting new initiative. David Sonnenberg, whose family have been one of the driving forces in Wellington for three generations, said the launch heralds a major renaissance of the area, reinventing what was once the Wellington Guild of Fine Wines.
The Go Wellington brand, built around straplines such as "Go further", "Go off the beaten track", "heart of the Boland" and "undiscovered gem", will attempt to attract tourists in search of core values of authenticity, family heritage and integrity. For long periods, Wellington has been subsumed under the umbrella of the Paarl tourism and wine route. The Cinderella of the winelands is going out on its own, underpinned by its demarcation in 2012 as a wine of origin district with its own five wards rather than as a sub-region of Paarl.
Corlea Fourie, cellarmaster of Bosman Family Vineyards since 2006, spoke about the diversity of the Wellington terroir. Divided into five wards – Bovlei, Blouvlei, Groenberg, Limietberg and Mid-Berg – the range of micro-climates, soils and altitudes enables the cultivation of signature varieties, the big six of Wellington, respectively: Chenin Blanc (21%), Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Pinotage, Chardonnay, and Cinsault. Although vineyard plantings are declining at 8% per annum (below the national average of 12%), 3 850 hectares of vines are planted in the Wellington district today.
Wellington is the nursery of South African wine, producing over 80% of the rootstock to the industry nationwide. Bosman Family Vineyards is one of the country’s leading nurseries planted to 47 different grape varieties, with vineyards in Wellington, the Hemel-en-Aarde valley, and the Karoo. Named Editor’s Choice Winery of the Year for 2024 in the Platter's Wine Guide, this eighth-generation wine farm founded three centuries ago epitomises the pioneering spirit of Wellington. Once named Val du Charron (Valley of Winemakers), Wellington has deep roots. Places like Welvanpas (founded 1704), a tenth-generation farm owned by family descendants of the voortrekker Piet Retief; and Welgegund (1777) with 35 year-old Cinsault and Chenin Blanc vines.
Although a wave of British, Belgian, Chinese and Swiss investment has poured into Wellington over the last two decades, many of the wine farms, brandy distilleries, and nurseries remain in old family hands. Over the last three decades, I’ve visited many of the thirty or so wine farms (at Wellington’s peak). I’ve spoken to third generation nurserymen and walked among old vines nurtured in heritage vineyards like the Optenhorst Chenin Blanc of Bosman Family Vineyards planted in 1952, the third oldest in South Africa – home of their legendary five-star rated 2022 vintage.
The sixty grape growers in the valley who are members of Wellington Wines today – the dynamic outcome of the merger between Wellington Cooperative (founded 1906), Wamakersvallei (1941), and Bovlei (1907) between 2010-2013 – produce around two-thirds of the valley’s wine (30 000 tons of grapes from 2400 hectares of vine). Their small-batch La Cave range of wines have won widespread acclaim and awards for their Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage, Chenin Blanc and Shiraz in particular. Producers such as Bosman Family Vineyards, Diemersfontein, Imbuko/Van Zijl Family, Mont du Toit, Welbedacht and Welgegund have won widespread acclaim for wines.
According to press reports, the new owners of Diemersfontein, after the sale of the majority equity by the Sonnenberg family in October 2024, are committed to expanding production of wine on the farm – and to community and Thokozani wines empowerment initiatives. It will be "business as usual" at Diemersfontein. Linton Park, one of the largest former British investments with 80 hectares of vineyards and a thousand-ton model cellar, remains on the market at a reported asking price of R85m – while Doolhof under new British ownership is back under new winemaker Rudger van Wyk (ex-Stark-Conde Wines). Musical chairs in the foothills.
A dozen winemakers presented one of their signature wines at the launch of Go Wellington at Cole The Eatery, a landmark for real Italian pizza and locally sourced fare in Wellington. Over three flights of old vine Chenin Blanc (Bosman, Jacaranda, Welgegund, and Wolvenhoek), Pinotage (Imbuko, Doolhof, Diemersfontein, and Wellington Wines La Cave) and Shiraz (Andreas, Mont du Toit, Dunstone, and Canetsfontein – in the hands of veteran Frank Meaker). Talking of veterans, Francois Roode has been winemaker at Diemersfontein since 2003.
Organic is the mantra of a handful of Wellington’s winemakers. At the tasting, many spoke about their commitment to organic wine and food production, included René Reiser, the Swiss owner of Jacaranda (his SALT Old Vine Chenin 2018 was one of the highlights of the tasting); Frank Meaker (who developed Org de Rac in Piketberg as a leading organic producer) now at Canetsfontein; and Edmund Oettle, owner of Upland Organic Estate (founded in 1990). The tasting of his magnificent Potstill Brandy XO, an intriguing ten year-old spirit made from Colombard, Chenin and Crouchen at Upland, the first registered organic distillery in South Africa, was another highlight of the tasting – along with his Cabernet-based Cape Tawny.
The diversity of styles of Shiraz in Wellington was a key thread of the tasting. Philip Costandius, another of South Africa’s most celebrated winemakers (who forged his reputation inter alia at Delheim and Lourensford) has made Wellington his home, as cellarmaster since 2019 at Mont du Toit, one of the district’s leading red wine producers. While presenting his Les Coteaux Shiraz 2021, he spoke about the classic southern-Rhône style of Wellington Shiraz – the concentration, quality and flavour of minute berries. Dirk Vaeye of Dunstone spoke about the riper, full-bodied, liquorice style of Shiraz in a warmer climate. The new winemaker at Andreas, a British-owned farm which makes a single-label Syrah, describes its basket-pressed Shiraz as northern-Rhône with a focus on purity of elegance and fruit. Talk about diversity of style.
Old vines and old decomposed granite, shale and alluvial soils are the secrets to Wellington’s longevity. The tasting brought back memories of the many great events I’ve attended in Wellington over the years – from watching Freshly Ground play at the legendary annual Pinotage on Tap festival at Diemersfontein, the cellar which put chocolate Pinotage on the world map; to an indulgent caviar tasting at the launch of Linton Park wines; and the day the Duke and Duchess of Wellington attended a ball to mark the launch of the Wellington Guild of Fine Wines.
I also recall memorable tastings inter alia of the award-winning olive oils and low-sulphur, eco-friendly wines of Hildenbrand Wine and Olive Estate founded in 1991 by Reni Hildenbrand, a pioneering German farmer on the slopes of Wellington; Doolhof’s Malbec and big red blends; a walk through the state-of-the-art nursery at Bosman Family Vineyards; and a fabulous tasting of Mont du Toit’s Les Coteaux elegant reds with owner advocate Stephan du Toit.
If you haven’t been to Wellington recently, Go Wellington this summer. Rediscover the wine route in your backyard.