Nitida - Giannikos Winery

The history of Nititida. Started as a small estate in Durbanville with a herd of 50 sheep, 2 cows and a sheepdog, which is now one of South Africa's most successful boutique wineries and part of the Cape Town - Durbanville Wine Valley appellation. Now, 28 years later, this family-run wine cellar is one of the most consistently awarded and loved boutique wine cellars in South Africa with a host of double gold, gold and silver medals, a few 5-stars from Platter and 90+ points from Tim Atkins. A lot of work is done with French grapes and the style is comparable to the beautiful Bordeauxs

At Nitida they are fully convinced that beautiful wines come from well-thought-out day-to-day management in the vineyards. Good wine comes from a healthy unique vineyard. Of course, modern techniques are also used, but people are mainly concerned with the proven indicators of taste and appearance. Each bunch of grapes is picked by hand and only the very best are chosen for the wines. The vineyards are inspected daily to ensure that the leaves, buds and bunches are healthy and to check that the spiders and ladybirds are alive because pesticides are not sprayed. The winemaker Etienne Louw is the undisputed hero of the vineyards. Etienne is a creative spirit who draws inspiration from the terroir, the wild creatures that live among our vines and the balance in the soil. Etienne prides herself on being part of a team and not the celebrity who does it all alone. Nitida has won numerous awards for its wine labels and is highly appreciated. The labels were not a quick design sketched by an agency and sent to the printer. No, on the contrary. People spent months thinking about the best way to incorporate everything Nitida stands for. To capture the essence of the estate, the unique characters of the wines. The label artwork is hand drawn with ink made from our Nitida tree leaves. Inspired by protea nitidus in the garden, they also include local Renosterveld plants and some of the other residents/animals that also call the wine farm home and so you will encounter on the labels the Cape Eagle Owl, Cape Clawed Otter, the Golden Globe Spider, Yellow-billed Duck, Cape Cobra and protea Nitida tree (waboom).