Our story
Koelenberg means cold mountain. The name is older than the vines: sheep farmers gave it to the ridge for the air that drains off it at night.
The farm
Sixty-four hectares, eighteen planted
Of the farm’s sixty-four hectares, eighteen are planted and the rest are left to fynbos, a firebreak and a dam. The vines run from 310 metres at the road to 390 at the foot of the sandstone ridge: two varieties, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, in twelve blocks.
We farm under the Integrated Production of Wine scheme and have not used a herbicide since 2012. Cover crops grow between the rows in winter and are rolled flat in spring. The vines are not irrigated after véraison.
The cellar
Cut into the ridge
The cellar was dug into the ridge in 2011 and faced with stone from the excavation. Grapes arrive at the top and move down by gravity: sorting table, open concrete and oak fermenters, then the barrel hall, which is underground and holds fourteen degrees all year without machines.
Fermentations are wild. We use oak for texture rather than flavour, and most of our barrels are between two and six years old. Nothing is fined, and the Single Vineyard wines are not filtered.
The site
What the ridge gives the wine
- Elevation
- 310–390mCold nights through February hold the acid in the fruit.
- To Walker Bay
- 4.5kmThe afternoon wind comes straight off the Atlantic.
- Annual rainfall
- 1,180mmNearly all of it falls between May and September.
- Shale & clay
- BokkeveldThe clay holds water into summer; the shale gives the wine its grip.
Since 1961
Sixty-five years on the ridge
- 1961
The Marais family buys 64 hectares of sheep pasture and fynbos on the ridge.
- 1998
The first three and a half hectares of Pinot Noir go in on the lower slopes.
- 2002
First vintage, made in a borrowed cellar on the valley floor. 700 cases.
- 2009
Die Kloof is planted, one hectare on the steepest slope, facing the wind.
- 2011
The cellar is cut into the ridge.
- 2014
Nadia Theron joins as winemaker.
- 2019
The last block is planted. The farm stops at eighteen hectares.
Koelenberg
The people
-
Nadia Theron
Winemaker
Joined in 2014 after vintages in Burgundy and Central Otago. Picks early, extracts gently, and tastes every barrel before it is blended.
-
Sipho Ndlovu
Viticulturist
Has walked every row on the farm since 2009, when he helped plant Die Kloof. Keeps the soil-pit records and the weather station.
-
Anri Bester
Chef, the Harvest Table
Cooks from the kitchen garden, two Overberg farms and the Hermanus harbour. Writes the menu on Wednesdays.
-
Marike Louw
Cellar door & trade
Runs the tasting room and looks after importers in fourteen markets. Probably the person who answered your email.
Visit
Come and taste the ridge
Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00, fourteen minutes from Hermanus.