Springfield Estate

Look into Jeanette Bruwer's eyes and you'll see mineral blue mischief and steely determination. Springfield Estate choose to take the path less travelled and go against the grain in order to make sure the drinking experience is perfect at the consumer end and sustainable at their end. Jeanette and winemaking brother, Abrie, believe in minimal intervention in both winery and vineyard. "Terroir is a gift from God, inherited by our ancestors", so the Estate produces site-specific wines where the terroir's the star. Minimal spraying, a team of snail-eating ducks (!), night time harvesting, minimal filtering and wild yeasts all go into producing natural bottles of wine.

And how do the wines taste? Words that spring to mind are mineral, pure, linear, elegant. The Sauvignon Blancs are particularly well known for their intensely vibrant flavour and knife-edge texture. If you've visited the rocky vineyards in Robertson you'll understand exactly why this is as the roots dig deep and pick up those trademark mineral characters from the nutrients deep in the quartz heavy soils.

Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are the other twin passions and both find their ultimate expression in the Methode Ancienne wines. These are the perfect example of the Bruwers' uncommercial philosophy as they are only released when judged ready to drink. The Cabernet Sauvignon from 30 year old vines spends 2 years in new barrels before a further 3 years in bottle in the cellar before release. With its wild yeast and absence of fining or filtration the Chardonnay is a sensory lesson in what elegant, intense Chardonnay can taste like. Given the challenges of making wine in Robertson with its intense summer heat and hard, rocky soils, the fact these wines have soaring fruit flavours and definition, alongside real minerality is testament to Abrie's endless perfectionism.