Stellenrust was granted in 1692 to Douwe Gerbrand Steyn. Steyn was pivotal in the establishment of the East Indian Spice Route. He did not only oversee the building of the Castle of Good Hope as master stone mason, but was also one of the first to plant vineyards and make wine in the Cape. He registered the Stellenrust ‘finding rest in Stellenbosch’ trademark in 1928 and many moons later, Stellenrust still boasts being one of the largest family owned wine estates in South Africa carrying through generations of winemaking skills. Captured in every bottle lies the legacy of our history and motto ‘where excellence meets winemaking’.
Terroir
Stellenrust harvests from nearly 400ha of vineyards surrounding the beautiful town of Stellenbosch. From the decomposed granite of the Helderberg’s Golden Triangle to the sandy clay soils of the maritime Bottelary Hills – each site is specifically suited and selected for the grape varieties and wines we produce. Winemakers are mere mediators from vine to bottle – it is our duty to capture the essence of the soil and the soul of the vine in every drop of wine we craft.
Farming For Our People
Stellenrust is involved in one of the largest and most successful viticulture black empowerment projects in South Africa. It was a dream of Kobie van der Westhuizen’s farther, as purveyor of the land, to give back to his workers, something in return, for the years of hard labor they have put into building the farms to where it is today. The family empowered 72 farm workers to land they can now call home, homes they can now call theirs and a future they can now call possible. This project enabled the farms to become Fairtrade certified – for us an integral part of ensuring socio-economic sustainability for the people working the fields and making the wines.
