Diemersdal Estate in Durbanville, one of South Africa’s most historic and awarded wine farms, has been named Winery of the Year in the Platter's by Diners Club South African Wine Guide 2026, earning an unprecedented six five-star awards across both red and white wines. For an estate founded in 1698 and farmed by the Louw family since 1885, the accolade is a landmark moment, seen as one shaped by centuries of continuity, dryland viticulture, and the distinctive cool-climate terroir of Durbanville.
“We have been privileged to receive a number of awards, honours and top-ratings for our wines over the past few decades,” says Thys Louw, sixth-generation proprietor and winemaker, “but a Platter’s Winery of the Year has to seen as one of the very top recognitions for the quality of the our wines and the Diemersdal team’s unwavering commitment to excellence.”
The Platter’s awards were announced following the assessment of more than 8 000 wines submitted by over 900 producers, from which 316 wines garnered five stars (95pts and over). This year’s Platter’s recognition celebrates Diemersdal’s consistent excellence across styles and varieties. The estate’s six five-star wines for the 2026 edition are:
- Diemersdal Pinotage Reserve 2024
- Diemersdal The Journal Pinotage 2023
- Diemersdal Private Collection 2023
- Diemersdal The Journal Sauvignon Blanc 2024
- Diemersdal The Globe Sauvignon Blanc 2024
- Diemersdal Winter Ferment Sauvignon Blanc 2025
This sweep is a rare accomplishment in South African wine, reflecting technical excellence in winemaking, a deep, intuitive relationship with the land and generational wine farming.
“Diemersdal’s success cannot be separated from its location,” says Louw, “and before we are Diemersdal, we are Durbanville, a region that has defined, and continues to define, who we are as a wine farm.”
The Durbanville appellation is a maritime pocket on the outskirts of Cape Town, known for long ripening seasons, breezes from the nearby Atlantic Ocean, and soils derived from ancient granite and shale. The combination yields wines of natural freshness, purity and linearity, qualities that have become hallmarks of Diemersdal’s signature style.
One of the estate’s defining distinctions is its commitment to dryland farming. At a time when most Cape vineyards rely heavily on irrigation, Diemersdal refuses to irrigate its vineyards, allowing the vines to rely solely on rainfall as they undergo their seasonal growth cycle. This approach results in berries of concentration and character, fruits that express the landscape with uncompromising clarity.
“The vineyard has to feel the place,” says Louw. “Dryland farming limits your options, certainly, but it also sharpens your understanding of balance. The vine tells you exactly what the season is giving, and we try not to interfere with its natural cycle more than absolutely necessary, resulting in the optimal expression of terroir and a vivid sense of place.”
This philosophy is evident across the estate’s acclaimed wine range, led by its signature Sauvignon Blancs – from the precision-driven The Globe Sauvignon Blanc, aged in glass Wineglobes, to the richly textural wooded The Journal and the innovative Winter Ferment, a wine that has become one of the most original modern expressions of the variety in the Cape.
“Terroir is often defined in terms of land and climate, but Diemersdal’s achievement also reflects a profound human terroir,” says Louw. “Since 1885, six generations of the Louw family have worked this land, each passing on knowledge, instinct and craft. That continuity is rare in the South African wine landscape and forms an unbroken chain of insight that underpins the estate’s evolution.”
The estate’s red wines, particularly the five-star Pinotage Reserve 2024 and The Journal Pinotage 2023, embody the refinement that comes from more than five decades of familiarity with the variety. At Diemersdal, Pinotage has never been treated as a curiosity; it has been handled with respect, seriousness and a pursuit of finesse. The result is wines that offer depth without heaviness, structure without austerity, and a marked cool-climate profile.
“I learnt from my father and grandfather that you never arrive as a wine farmer,” says Louw. “Every season teaches you something, and every generation must add its own small piece of understanding. What you inherit is only the starting point.”
What distinguishes Diemersdal’s Platter’s 2026 performance is the breadth of excellence: a simultaneous mastery of structured reds, classic Sauvignon Blancs and boundary-pushing white winemaking. The Private Collection 2023, a Bordeaux-inspired blend, showcases the estate’s ability to craft wines of proportion and poise, driven by fruit purity and disciplined tannin management.
Being named Winery of the Year in the Platter’s Guide is more than an accolade for Diemersdal, but one seen as a defining moment. “The honour acknowledges the estate’s centuries-old commitment to its land, its relentless pursuit of quality, and the continuity of a family whose identity is woven into the farm’s soil, seasons and cellar,” says Louw.
“This is the greatest recognition we’ve received in my time here,” says Louw. “And it belongs to everyone on the farm as well as those who worked this farm before the current generation.”