Vondeling Wines implementing an environmentally sensitive approach to farming.
Vondeling, meaning ‘foundling’, lies on the slopes of the unspoilt and undiscovered Paardeberg mountain, approximately a 45-minute drive from Cape Town. It was granted to Swedish immigrant Oloff Bergh in 1704, and a three-centuries-old winemaking tradition began.
Today, an environmentally sensitive approach to farming and minimal intervention during the winemaking process ensures wine with a distinct fingerprint of origin. Vondeling’s flagship wines, Vondeling Babiana and Vondeling Monsonia are named after rare species of fynbos that are endemic to the Paardeberg mountain, the home of Vondeling Wines.
The first vintage of Vondeling wines made from their own grapes was in 2005. Now approximately 100 hectares of vineyard are planted, mostly to Mediterranean varietals. The older vineyards, which include Sauvignon blanc, were planted in 1983 and Chenin Blanc in 1986.
Minimal intervention during the winemaking process ensures wines with a unique ‘fingerprint’ of origin. The day’s fruit, carefully picked in the cool of the early mornings, is transported in lug boxes to a refrigerated storeroom adjoining the cellar where the grapes are cooled down to 6°C.
This is followed by destemming and berry sorting by hand. The winery, a cleverly converted milking shed, is equipped with a raised trussed ceiling and open-top stainless steel tanks for extra gentle handling of fruit. Separate vinification of specific blocks and natural fermentations are an integral part of the process. Basket pressing, hand plunging, minimal filtering, and no fining also feature in the hands-on approach.
Wines are matured in first-, second-fill and third-fill French oak barrels in the atmospheric barrel maturation cellar with its thick clay walls and rietdak ceiling
Contact person: Hilani Van Der Merwe
Email address: wine@vondelingwines.co.za
Contact number: 021 869 8339
Website address: https://www.vondelingwines.co.za/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/VondelingWines
Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/vondelingwines/