When brothers Danie and Koffie (“Coffee”) de Waal planted what would become the Top of the Hill vineyard in 1950, Pinotage was still a young and little-known variety.

 

Their cousin, C.T. de Waal, had produced the very first Pinotage wine only nine years earlier.

 

Because the grape was so new, the brothers were reluctant to replace their prized Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz vineyards with Pinotage.

Instead, they chose to plant just one hectare on an open spot at the top of a small hill, beside a wild fig tree. Danie de Waal had planted the fig tree years before to give vineyard workers shelter from the winter rain.

 

What the brothers didn’t realise at the time was that this site offered the ideal conditions for exceptional Pinotage: moderately to poor, sandy soils with good depth and a layer of clay at the base.

 

Today, the old Top of the Hill vines yield fewer grapes each year as they age — but the fruit they do produce is increasingly concentrated, complex and expressive.

 

Over the decades, this vineyard has delivered some remarkable wines. Top of the Hill Pinotage has been named a Top 10 Pinotage Award winner six times.

 

Top of the Hill Pinotage
Crafted from the oldest producing Pinotage vineyard in the world.
Limited annual production of fewer than 3,000 bottles.

 

Selected as one of “1001 Wines to Enjoy Once in a Lifetime” by European gourmet journalist Francesca Negri.