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 Rustenberg
Simonsberg, Stellenbosch, South
Africa
Rustenberg - About the
vineyard:
Rustenberg has a wine-growing history dating back to
1682, when Roelof Pasman from Meurs, near the Rhine, recognised its
wine-growing potential. By 1781 3 000 cases of wine were produced on the farm.
Production doubled by the end of the century and a new cellar was built. Wine
has been bottled at this cellar for an unbroken period since 1892.
In
the early 1800s Rustenberg was divided by owner Jacob Eksteen and a section was
given to his son-in-law, who named it Schoongezicht and sold it soon after.
Rustenberg and Schoongezicht were at their peak around 1812, with beautiful
homesteads and flourishing vineyards. But by mid-century, recession coupled
with disease in the vines, brought bankruptcy and dispossession.
Schoongezicht was rescued in 1892 by John X Merriman (who was to become
Prime Minister of the Cape) and Rustenberg by his brother-in-law Sir Jacob
Barry. Together they revitalised the farms. Fruit was sent to Covent Garden;
new vines were grafted onto disease-resistant American rootstock; wines were
exported to England and the Continent - and even found in Siberia.
In
1941 Peter and Pamela Barlow bought Rustenberg, later acquiring Schoongezicht
and reuniting the properties. Their son Simon took over the running of the farm
in 1987 revitalising the vineyards and commissioning a new cellar to take
Rustenberg into the new millennium. The Barlows have been at Rustenberg for
over 60 years: the longest period any one family has owned the estate.
Rustenberg - The wines:
Wines at
Rustenberg fall into three distinct tiers:
-Premium single vineyard or
site-specific wines, which express the unique terroir of special sites or
vineyards;
- Area-specific, classic wines that encapsulate the regional
characteristics of the southern slopes of the Simonsberg in Stellenbosch
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Wines with New World appeal in their fruit-forward accessibility and
structure.
This range is known as BRAMPTON.
Click
here for more info on BRAMPTON.
To meet demand, supplementary grapes for
the Brampton range are sourced from selected growers in exciting new areas,
grown to strict guidelines set and monitored by our vineyard team. Once the new
plantings at Rustenberg start to bear, the quantity of bought-in grapes will be
reduced.
We recognise that quality determines market share, and believe
that our no-compromise insistence on the highest quality standards makes us
less vulnerable to market shifts and trends.
The Rustenberg label
implies wines that combine individuality with intensity, depth and structure.
Wines that exude a sense of place.
Winemaking follows a traditional
"custodian" path, with minimum intervention from the winemaker. Focus is on
interpreting what the fruit itself wants to express. Maturation takes place in
French barriques and the Cabernet Sauvignon is regularly racked oxidatively to
assist in clarification and tannin polymerisation.
Length of maturation
in barrel depends on the vintage. We allow at least a year's bottle maturation
before release to ensure that wines are completely settled after the bottling
process.
Single vineyard / site specific
wines
(To order online simply click on any high-lighted wine,
or wine label)
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Curently there are two single vineyard/site
specific wines: a Cabernet Sauvignon that honours
Peter Barlow, who set up rigorous quality
standards for Rustenberg, and a Chardonnay named after five stone pines that
stand sentinel over the estate (Rustenberg Five Soldiers).
The
vineyards are the oldest on the farm free of leaf-roll virus, and in tandem
with the terroir, produce fruit of unique character and personality. |
The Rustenberg
Stellenbosch range
(To order online simply click on any
high-lighted wine, or wine label)
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Currently this also comprises two wines: a
Merlot-dominated Bordeaux-style blend (named after former owner of
Schoongezicht and Cape Prime Minister,
John
X Merriman, who was convinced that South Africa was capable of making
better wines than Australia) and a Chardonnay made in the traditional
Burgundian style, with oxidative juice handling, natural fermentation and
natural malolactic fermentation in barriques, with no addition of sulphur until
immediately before bottling. |
More information
(Click on links):
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