Swartberg Wingerde

Swartberg Wingerde, located on the slopes of the majestic Swartberg on the top of the Pierkenierskloof plateau, is a place where time has stood still. The Piekenierskloof gets its name from the Dutch soldiers known as the 'piqneniers' (piekenmen), who were sent to the 'Great Clooff' during the Second Khoi-Dutch War in 1673 to protect convoys crossing this mountain pass. A rugged wilderness with naked rock formations.

The gnarled bushvines of this region include Grenache noir vines that are said to have been planted on the Piekenierskloof plateau as early as the early 1700s. Legend has it that during his exile on the island of St Helena in the early 1800s, Napoleon Bonaparte drank a sweet wine that came from these Grenache noir vines. A unique terroir of dry farming at elevations of 550-750 m above sea level and the cold, harsh sea influence of the west coast shape these individual wines. The wines are made by Rudiger Gretschel, known as production director at Vinimark (the producer of Boekenhoutskloof, Franschhoek, among others) and the winemaker at Reyneke (Stellenbosch). Rudiger has now also made wine under his own label after almost 20 years of searching for the most suitable plots in Piekenierskloof.