Waterford Wines
“The Company Waterford Wines (Pty) Ltd was formed by the acquisition of 120Ha of prime Stellenbosch vineyard land by Jeremy and Leigh Ord in April of 1998. Winemaker, Kevin Arnold, a shareholder of the company, identified the property and planned the building of a new winery, as well as the redevelopment of the orchards and vineyards.”
Waterford Estate has chosen to use only half of the total land for the planting of vines, in order to preserve and maintain the natural flora and fauna of the beautiful Blaauwklippen (blue stone) valley. As part of our biodiversity program, we wish to show visitors our intensions in terms of sustainable agriculture, since we are aiming to achieve an organic approach to wine farming. The Cape is home to the largest and most spectacular concentration of flowers and plants found anywhere on earth. It is our intention to play a small role in preserving the Cape Floral Kingdom by leaving sections of the property untouched, while showing guests some of the Cape’s natural beauty.
The marketing strategy of Waterford has been based on 75% red and 25% white wine with Waterford being registered as an Estate in 2004.
Most of our wine is sold locally with only 35% being exported. The ultimate goal is to achieve a single Stellenbosch brand of red wine that will offer 3000 - 5000 cases of the best red wine from South Africa. To this end we released our flagship red blend called The Jem from the 2004 vintage.
The quality and character of the wine should be able to stand up to the best red wines of the other top red wine regions of the world.
Current production of both white and red varietal wines is running at 35 000 cases, which is our maximum capacity.
The varieties planted under include Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Mourvèdre, Barbera, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Sangiovese, Tempranillo and Grenache. Existing vineyards that are 24 years old include Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
The tasting experience at the Waterford Estate cellar has been lauded by both International and local awards with the latest Great Wine Capitals award rating for the Best Cellar Door in South Africa for 2010 and 2012.
Contact details :
Blaauwklippen Road
Stellenbosch
Tel : +27 (0) 21 880 0496
Fax : +27 (0) 21 880 1007
Email : info@waterfordestate.co.za
Website : www.waterfordestate.co.za