25 years ago
We decided to call our wines Tamboerskloof, because that is where we came from, this suburb, against Signal Hill where our children grew up and where the dream was born.
It is also from here that, in the years gone by, drummers beat their drums (tamboers) as a signal for the farmers to bring their produce to town when foreign ships sailed into Table Bay.
Kleinood then – with only the winery at the end of a long dust road.
With wood from a hundred year old tree
They make sacrificial vessels,
Covered with green and yellow designs
The wood that was cut away
Lies unused in the ditch
If we compare the sacrificial vessels with the wood in the ditch
We shall find them to differ in appearance
One is more beautiful than the other
Yet they are equal in this: they have both lost their original nature
So if you compare the robber and the original citizen
You will find that one is, indeed, more respectable than the other
Yet they agree in this: they have both lost
The original nature of man.
– Chuang-tzu
Trump has threatened a 200% tariff on European wines imported into the U.S….
Why should any of us care about increased prices on French bubbly when petrifying things are befalling thousands of people in the Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa – people ravaged by war, poverty and starvation? Why would we, making wine at the southern tip of Africa, be thinking about anything Trump is doing, and why would wine tariffs be on any body’s list of fears and feelings in amongst all our other feels and fears right now?
Because there is no reason why it could not happen to us. Because if the wine industry in the United States suffers, sooner or later we too will get hurt. We should care. We should care about job losses and poverty added to the crippled health services, broken infra-structure and monstrous social issues. We need to worry and think and talk about and try to find solutions to all these things – the poverty, the wars, the hunger and destruction… And because of what we do, we have to think and talk and work towards a more inclusive, holistic, pragmatic future for wine in South Africa.
With all those thoughts in mind and loving wine as much as we do, allow us to, just for now, to speak of the beautiful complexity of why and how we make wine.
It is the end of March.
The mornings are cool, the midday sun is less scorching, the nights are longer and we know that autumn is upon us.
The swallows have gone. The nests they worked so hard on, forsaken, against the ceiling on the stoep.
Kleinood is quieter and even more peaceful than usual.
The harvest is in the bag and this vintage is in the winery.
We often wonder what it is that keeps us enthralled with what we do. What keeps us at it – this thing that never stops? This living and working with the unpredictability of nature. This waking up and going to bed with the all consuming presence of wonderment and worry called wine.
If we are really honest, we know. It is the wonder of wine.
The wonderment of what nature gives us and how we choose to work with that gift, of the fact that no two wines or vintages are ever the same and the intense relief and joy with every successful wine and vintage.
We love the bustle, noise, excitement, trepidation and physicality of a harvest combined with the quiet, peaceful process that happens inside the tanks and barrels, the beauty of the colours, smells, tastes, aromas and textures, the machinery and human hands that work together to create something new. Those are the things that keep you going and always in love with what you do.
To us wine making is alchemy. It is wind, rain, sun, and soil mysteriously absorbed by the vine to become juice filled berries that we, through the fine balance between magic and science, with our hands and minds create an environment for the fruits of this terroir to become a thing of beauty in every sense of the word.
Harvest 2025
“2025 is a vintage to remember, with exceptional grape quality that make us excited about what the future will bring. The growing season began slowly— spring was cold, and the vineyards enjoyed their winter slumber. By mid-October, however, everything changed, and the season swung into full gear. With tractors humming, the teams worked tirelessly to maintain the canopy and sucker any unnecessary shoots.
The crop wasn’t abundant in terms of volume, but the smaller yield, was compensated for by the intensity of the fruit. Syrah, a variety known for its berries shriveling during harvest, surprised us in 2025 with neither young or old vineyards showing any such signs. The vines were obviously hard at work producing berries packed with flavour. The grapes arrived at the winery in pristine condition, with no rot to be found. We did come across a few raisins which were easy to spot on the sorting tables and pluck them out by hand.
We are thrilled with what we are seeing now, as we watch the wines evolve through lévage, and are truly anticipating the white, rosé, and red wines from this vintage to evolve into absolute showstoppers. What a year!
Cheers to what’s ahead!”
– Reynie Oosthuizen, Winemaker
With love,
