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South African Wine :: Handcrafted, boutique wines from Voor Paardeberg, Paarl, South Africa

THE Voor Paardeberg Wine of Origin Ward is a unique wine producing area with its own character and it was recently added to the exclusive wine areas of the Western Cape. The Voor Paardeberg is one of the newest wine appellations being declared for producing distinctive wines of a significant quality. This small wine region runs along and embraces the south eastern slopes of the Voor Paardeberg outcrop, from the R 45 to the north and the R44 to the south. This rocky granite outcrop is located roughly 15km to the north west of Paarl.

A warm area as Paarl is known, here a southerly wind prevails throughout the year, helping to cool the vineyards. As a result the summer daytime temperatures are approximately five degrees cooler than the average Paarl region. This rocky outcrop has soils of pure granite, rich in potassium, which offer high grape quality potential; lower on the slopes the granite formations are mixed with varying percentage of clay and shale. Generally the vines are trellised to restrict excessive growth and offer protection against the prevailing winds.

The exceptional terroir of the Voor Paardeberg ward and the grapes cultivated in the area has been the source of various international wine awards. It is the location of this ward that makes it so unique. The mountain slopes of the Paardeberg, together with the soil composition and prevailing winds, create a specific qualit§y in the grapes. The wines produced here have the potential to become part of the elite wines of the country.

Voor Paardeberg is situated between the winegrowing areas of Paarl, Wellington and the Swartland, with a definite own identity and terroir due to the open side towards the West Coast. The climate of Voor Paardeberg has a huge influence on the natural taste of their wines. Cool south westerly breeze that causes temperature fluctuations – sometimes as much as 20 degrees Celsius during the hot summer months that creates high quality grapes with concentrated flavours.

This hot and dry climate favours red varieties however some interesting white wines are produced. Shiraz is the most prominent red variety however also grown here is Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Mouvedre. As for white wines, very good examples of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc can be found. New plantings are found of Viognier and small plantings of Sauvignon Blanc, Nouvelle and Semillon. The style of our wines compares more to the Rhone style than the Bordeaux style wines. We concentrate on the production of red wine, although historically more emphasis was placed on the production of white wines

This wine ward consists of 7 wine producers and members that present an experience of untamed Cape winelands, a classic lifestyle and distinctive high quality wines. The members are Ayama, Bernheim, David Frost Estate, Horse Mountain Wines, Oude Denneboom, Scali and Vondeling.

Voor Paardeberg also offers numerous other tourism attractions. These include the unique breeding programme of the Cape Quagga on the farm Far Horizons in an effort to re-breed this now extinct animal, (www.quaggaproject.com) the orchid nursery on the farm Staart van Paardeberg, historical buildings on the different wine farms and the natural beauty of the environment.

Farms in the area were allocated during the reign of Simon van der Stel and the gable on the old farmhouse on Schooneoord indicates that it was built in 1707. This area is not unbeknown to wine production, but local farmers initially concentrated on wheat and cattle farming as well as table grapes.

In the past few years more and more farmers have begun to plant wine grapes because they realised that the quality of the grapes produced in this area is of great value. The first wine from this ward was vinified in 1999 under the Scali label and in the past six years the other producers were added. Different ranges of wines from this ward are now on both the local and international markets. We all produce wines of exceptional quality and have had tremendous successes on the local market as well as overseas.

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