About us
For many centuries the 2000ha of the Devon Valley was planted to fruit trees. This started changing in the mid 1900’s when certain sites were selected for the planting of vines. Currently the Valley has a total of 750ha of vines of which 12ha are our much treasured Louisvale vines. Our first vines were planted in 1985 under the astute supervision of Jan Boland Coetzee, shortly after which the property was bought by “Businessmen refugees from Johannesburg” Hans Froehling and Leon Stemmet in 1988.
Hans and Leon became the perfect and most amazingly flamboyant ambassadors for their range of Chardonnays, which enjoyed a very special place in the South African market and have had a loyal following ever since.
In 1994 the 1993 Chardonnay was one of only three Chardonnays from the Cape among “100 of The World’s Best Chardonnays” chosen by Oz Clark for Britain’s Wine Magazine.
During 1993 Marinus Bredell (1983 SA Winemaker of the year) took over the winemaking role from Neil Ellis and decided to include red wines into the Chardonnay only range, the maiden 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot blend received a four star rating in the 1997 John Platter.
In July 1997 a brand new cellar welcomed winemaker Simon Smith (ex Weltevrede Estate) to Louisvale to nurture the vines and wines, which he has passionately continued to do for the past fourteen years. His love for Chardonnay was soon revealed in the highly acclaimed award winning wooded Chardonnay. The 1997 vintage saw a name change of the flagship red; the four star rated Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot was renamed ‘Dominique’ in honour of the then owners’ miniature champion Schnauzer.
Louisvale was sold to a group of businessmen in 2002.
In September 2010 a company led by Altmann Allers, Hendrik Kluever, Zane Meyer and Johann Kirsten became the owner of Louisvale. The four have been friends and business associates in diverse business environments for many years. Each one contributes different skills and the team looks forward to a new and exciting challenge.
The Vineyard
Louisvale, one of the pioneers of Chardonnay in South Africa is still solely planted to Chardonnay albeit different Davis clones. The vineyards are all east-facing and planted in an east-west row direction, the Bottelary Hill in the west offers welcoming cool shade at the height of summer when the sun sets behind it in the afternoon allowing for slower ripening and richer fruit development. Deep well drained Hutton and Clovelly decomposed granite soils ensure that the vineyards remain ‘dryland’ until after the harvest, after which the vines are irrigated. The Louisvale grapes are hand-harvested and the vineyard blocks vinified separately.
Since 1994 our Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes have been sourced from the neighbouring property where Simon partners with the owner in managing the vines. This has ensured that the red wines have retained their Louisvale character. As of the 2011 harvest we will also be receiving grapes from a sister farm in Wellington, which will bring an exciting new dimension to our wine portfolio.
