Then . . .

Klein Moerbei was established in 1905. In 1998, the current owners bought the property from the grandson of the original owner, Mnr Visser. Since then, the farm and the vineyards have been renovated, leaving only two original blocks, one of Chenin Blanc, close to the homestead, and one of Pinotage.

. . . and now

The Moerbei vineyards are now fully restored and producing award-winning wines. The farm has blocks of Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Semillon in addition to the original blocks of Chenin Blanc and Pinotage.

Klein Moerbei’s Chenin Blanc vineyard produces some of the best fruit to be found in South Africa, and it is the source of Spier's Private Collection Chenin, which has regularly come in the top three in South Africa's Chenin Challenge. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot also go into Spier's top-performing reds.

One of the old farm buildings has been restored and converted into a traditionally equipped boutique winery, which can produce about ten thousand bottles of wine a year. Every bottle of wine is made with loving care!

Let’s raise a glass

Most of the grapes we grow are sold to top quality neighbouring wineries, while we keep a few choice rows to make our own wine.  So far we have produced two wines: White Gold and Sable. White Gold is a Chardonnay/Semillon blend, packed with citrus fruit and vanilla flavours. Sable is a full-bodied Shiraz full of berry flavour and spice. Here are some comments from independent customers:

“Another year and…… another vintage – we are just about to start picking grapes for 2011, which promises to be a good year. We have prized a fantastic block of cabernet sauvignon grapes away from Spier this vintage, as well as retaining some other blocks with different varietals – so some new blends will be possible in a couple of years, which is very exciting. However the wine industry being what it is, we will all have to wait about 2 years for this vintage to be released for consumption!

Even though we do have about 50 bottles of White Gold 2008 still to go, our 2009 vintage White Gold has just been released. We are really pleased with this – our new winemaker Willie Stoffberg is something of a chardonnay guru having spent much time working with Danie de Wet, and he has really focused on getting this wine to be a bit special. Compared to previous vintages, it is fruitier, has more subtle oak treatment and is crisper due to the extra acidity from the Semillon grapes that make up 40% of the blend. It is a really good wine that will probably age well too.

The 2009 Sable shiraz will be released in the next 3 months – we’ve just tasted a bottle and it is developing very nicely since bottling; the fruit is now very expressive and the oak integrating nicely. Also please to say that the alcohol level has come down a tad again to 13.5%, so the risk of headaches has been greatly reduced – not that this would have worried most of us! This wine will be every bit as good as the Sable 2008.

A word about the 2010 vintage, which is just coming out of barrel and will be bottled soon. This was a difficult vintage for everyone in South Africa as the crop was badly affected by very strong winds during flowering, which reduced the grape berry quantities significantly compared to a normal year. Some varietals were especially affected due to the time of their flowering – Shiraz was particularly affected. The quality of the grapes and consequently the wines was not damaged at all – in fact, the quality is probably better than ever as yields were so low. It is a while before we release these wines but when we do there will not be much to go around! There will also be a new wine – a Bordeaux style super-premium red, which needs “naming”. We’ve named our first two wines after things of value or “special-ness” that come from South Africa, and reflect the colours of the wine. All ideas for naming this third wine would be gratefully received!”