Hazendal Wine Estate Release An Impressive Array of Fine Wines Produced by Their New Winemaking Talent Kiara Scott-Farmer…

July 6, 2026July 7, 2026 ~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Situated in the heart of prime Stellenbosch terroir, the Hazendal Wine Estate is entering an exciting new chapter in its long history. With a legacy dating back to 1699, this historic property has long been synonymous with traditional winemaking, but under the stewardship of new head winemaker Kiara Scott-Farmer, Hazendal is being reimagined for a new generation of wine lovers.

Kiara assumed the role of Head Winemaker at Hazendal in early 2025, bringing with her from Brookdale Winery, a reputation as one of South Africa’s most exciting young winemaking talents. Born on the Cape Flats, she trained at Elsenburg Agricultural College before rising through the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme, and in 2024 she made history as the first woman of colour to win the Diners Club Winemaker of the Year award.

At Hazendal, Kiara’s philosophy of minimal intervention centres on the belief that great wines are made in the vineyard, with a deep focus on understanding each block’s soil and character. This philosophy finds its fullest expression in the estate’s celebrated Bottelary Hills ward, whose unique, light Granitic soils lend the wines a transparent, ethereal fruit character not easily found elsewhere in Stellenbosch. Through her debut single-cultivar collection featuring Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Syrah, Carignan and Pinot Noir Rosé, Kiara is giving Hazendal’s terroir a fresh, confident voice, ushering the estate into a compelling new era.

Hazendal Wine Estate Pinot Noir Rosé 2025, WO Bottelary, Stellenbosch, 12.5% Abv.

This beautiful Sancerre-styled Pinot Noir Rosé is a very classically elegant wine that shows an intense salmon pink colour and boasts intense, highly seductive, mouth-watering aromatics of red berries, white flowers, white peach, and subtle wild strawberry hints. Medium bodied and cool, the mouthfeel is dry but slightly less mineral than her maiden 2024 release but deliciously fresh and tangy with an enticing assortment of red summer berry fruits, red cherries, and delicate dried herb notes on the finish. A wonderfully sophisticated Rosé expression with real intent and ambition. Drink now to 2030+.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Hazendal Wine Estate Pinotage 2025, WO Bottelary Hills, Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

This small 3,050 bottle Pinotage cuvée from the superb 2025 vintage has really allowed Kiara to flex her winemaking expertise with South Africa’s own homegrown cultivar Pinotage. Grown, produced and bottled on the Hazendal Estate, the wine was matured for 11 months in 500 litre French oak barrels along with some concrete tanks. Youthful but already a head-turning beauty, this wine reveals a shimmering, perfumed opulence, boasting intricate notes of violets, freshly picked rose petals, a summer medley of red and black berry fruits, mulberries, bramble berries and a subtle whole bunch sapidity alongside delicate cedar wood spice nuances. In the mouth, the wine is vibrant and fresh, the tannins effortlessly silky and soft, adding just sufficient ballast and frame to the wine. The purity and precision on the palate are breathtaking, the multiple layers of fruit, spices and tangy acidity seamlessly interwoven together creating a very juicy, attractively elegant premium Pinotage. Very impressive indeed. Drink now and over the next 8 to 10 years.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Hazendal Wine Estate Chenin Blanc 2025, WO Bottelary Hills, Stellenbosch, 13% Abv.

One of Kiara Scott-Farmer’s signature grapes is of course Chenin Blanc, and the 2025 vintage has offered her the perfect canvas to create a true masterpiece. The aromatics are rich and enticing with complex notes of perfumed honeysuckle, white blossoms, peaches, wet hay and melted honey on warm white toast with a delicate kiss of cinnamon wood spice. The crystalline purity, clarity and complexity follow to a palate that shows an impressive textural density and yellow orchard fruit concentration while at the same time exhibiting a sensation of lightness, elegance and lithe weightlessness. The finish is delicately spicy and mineral with an overt underlying salinity that makes it deliciously mouth-watering. This new wine undoubtedly cements Kiara’s place at the top table of Cape Chenin Producers. Drink now and over the next decade.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Hazendal Wine Estate White Blend 2025, WO Bottelary Hills, Stellenbosch, 13.11% Abv.

This impressive white blend forms part of the new ‘Estate Collection’ from Hazendal and is carefully crafted by cellarmaster Kiara Scott-Farmer. Made from primarily Roussanne and Marsanne, grown on a tiny 0.4-hectare site with weathered-Granite and Clay soils, the aromatics definitely transport you to the Northern Rhone with notes of apricot, yellow peach stones, dry straw, fynbos, quince and delicately honied chamomile nuances. Handled correctly, Marsanne and Roussanne can produced wines with a delightful acidity and this wine positively bursts forth with a tangy bright freshness, orange peel zest, honey drizzled peaches and delicately pithy wood spice nuances. The minerality is ever present and supportive, adding yet more complexity to this delicious white blend. Beautifully layered, intense, and harmoniously balanced, this wine is another impressive success for Cellarmaster Kiara. Drink now to 2034+.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Hazendal Wine Estate Syrah 2025, WO Bottelary Hills, Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

The Bottelary Hills is prime red wine territory, and with this maiden release Syrah, Kiara has utilised 22% whole-bunches in the fermentation before being aged for 9 months in 60% older 500-litre French oak barrels together with a 40% concrete tank portion. Bold, wild and exotically perfumed, the aromatics reveal attractive notes of violets, potpourri, rose petals and black pepper before more subtle hints of salty black liquorice, black cherries and black kalamata olive tapenade. In the mouth, the palate is cool, plush and polished with a medium body, silky fine grained tannins and a tangy fresh vivacity that makes the mouth water. The texture is sleek and elegant, showing Kiara’s signature weightless concentration, before finishing gently with a drying mineral persistence. A really majestic Syrah that simply does not put a foot out of place… and of course it is also crazy value for money! Drink now and over the next decade. (10,828 bottles produced.)

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The wines of Hazendal Estate are imported into the UK by South African specialist merchant Museum Wines. The range also features a limited release single varietal Carignan 2025 bottled exclusively in magnums.

Anthonij Rupert Wyne Pays Tribute to the Huguenot Founder of L’Ormarins with their Premium Jean Roi Rose 2020…

December 23, 2021December 23, 2021 ~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Rose remains one of the most popular and fastest growing wine categories globally and several things all the very best examples have in common is subtlety, balance, freshness and supreme drinkability. The Jean Roi Cap Provincial 2020 joins the growing global ranks of premium dry Roses and impresses from the word go.

The Riebeeksrivier farm is situated on the slopes of the Kasteelberg, over-looking the Swartland towards the iconic Table Mountain. Its unique terroir, especially with the brown friable shale soils, expresses itself strongly in the wine with unique varietal characteristics. The vines for this blend are all planted on south facing slopes at elevations of 350 – 400m above sea level. The Cinsaut and Grenache bushvines were planted in 1990 and 2017 respectively, and the higher density échalas trellised (vines trained on its own wooden stake) Shiraz vineyard was planted in 2011.

Grapes were hand-picked and packed into lug boxes before being transported to the cellar in refrigerated trucks. Great care was taken to minimise the amount of colour extraction from the grapes through gentle pressing, before settling and fermentation in stainless steel tanks. The wine was blended and kept on its fine lees for 9 months before being bottled.

Jean Roi Cap Provincial Rose 2020, WO Riebeeksrivier, 13.5% Abv.

5.4g/l TA | 2.6g/l RS | 3.22pH

Based on a classic Southern French Provençal blend of Cinsaut (48%), Grenache (43%) and Shiraz (9%), the aromatics are delicate and restrained showing fine nuances of savoury red berry compote, dried guava roll, rose petals, dried strawberries, complex pink rock candy and a dusty stony minerality. On the palate, the wine is crystalline and fresh but also harmonious and cool with purity and finesse. The finish is focused and long displaying mouth-watering acidity and delicate red cherry, cut apple and white peach fruits. But the true measure of a great Rose is of course drinkability and a wine’s ability to deliver hedonistic pleasure – this wine excels on both counts. Perfect for a summer of indulgence!

(Wine Safari Score: 91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Revisiting the Mind Blowing Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva Rosato 2009…

April 19, 2020 ~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

I recently read an interesting tweet by my good buddy Dr Jamie Goode, one of the most well known global wine journalists writing daily on his http://www.wineanorak.com website. Never one to shy away from controversy, his tweet really did get me thinking.

Inspired by his comments, I thought I’d revisit probably one of the most authentic wines on the market that also happens to be one of the rarest new releases, the Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva Rosato. I last tasted the 2009 vintage of this wine way back in June 2019 and also bought a couple of cases for myself. So with UK lockdown recently extended by a further three weeks, I thought it was time to crack one of these unicorns!

The Lopez de Heredia portfolio extends over 170 hectares and four separate vineyard areas of which Tondonia is both the largest (70 Ha) and the most famous. The other three sites making up the estate are Cubillo, Bosconia and Gravonia, each with distinctive terroir characteristics, vineyard aspect and differing styles of wine. The Tondonia Rosato must surely be one of the rarest wines in their portfolio as it is aged for 10 years before release and is also not made every vintage.

Tasting the new Rosato 2009 release in June 2019 with Andrea Mullineux, Maria-Jose and husband Jose-Luis.

Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva Rosato 2009, Rioja, 13 Abv.

What a mind blowing Rosato wine experience. A fabulously iconic wine that offers up the expectation of greatness… and then delivers it in bucket loads! The nose is jam packed with notes of dried ginger, saline orange peel zest, star anise, red liquorice and enticing crushed pomegranate nuances. On the palate, there are seductive notes of bitter blood orange citrus, dried tangerine peel, sweet vermouth botanical spices, white peach and oodles of wet stone liquid minerality. A truly sublime palate that is supremely taut, saline, concentrated and linear while simultaneously being super elegant, slightly tertiary but beautifully pure and focused. All in all, any one lucky enough to drink this wine will experience a profound, authentic Vina Tondonia expression shaped by this iconic winery’s unique philosophy and historical cultural heritage. An incredible wine!

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Summer’s Almost Here … Tasting the Kleinood Tamboerskloof Katharien Syrah Rose 2015, Stellenbosch, 13 Abv…

April 22, 2017 ~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Cracking out the Rose trumpets the arrival of summer. For such an affordable category of wine style, these boutique dry wines deliver a disproportionate amount of joie de vivre and drinking pleasure.

Grapes for the 2015 Rose were handpicked between 22 and 25 degrees balling to obtain the full red fruit spectrum of the grape. The grapes were hand sorted across our sorting table before being de-stemmed into a stainless steel basket press. The juice settled overnight at 14 °C, where after the clear juice was racked off the lees and fermented in stainless steel tanks.

WINE ANALYSIS

Alcohol 13.0 % volume, Total Acid 5.5 g/l, pH 3.35, Residual Sugar 1.2 g/l.

Tasting Note: This pure Syrah beauty is pale salmon pink and has a most seductive perfumed nose of wild forest strawberries, cranberries, rose petals, potpourri, dusty garrigue, dried herbs and fynbos complexity. The palate is sleek, lithe and silky with a light, fine boned feminine texture, gravelly mineral spice and a long elegant finish boasting rose water, tangerine peel, liquid minerals and spicy red bramble berries. Perfectly delicious on its own, but would certainly be killer with some tapas nibbles!