De Toren

De Toren is a boutique winery in the heart of Stellenbosch. In the early 1990s, Emil den Dulk and his wife bought the property on Polkadraai Road to start producing Bordeaux-style wines. The name of the winery refers to the construction of the wine cellar. Namely, it has a small tower that allows one to use gravity during the winemaking process. With this cellar, De Toren was the first South African winery to have a gravity cellar. In addition, the tower also offers mesmerising views of False Bay, Helderberg and Table Mountain.

Emil first started by thoroughly researching the region's terroir. For instance, he was one of the first to recognise the potential of the Polkadraai Hills. Here the vineyards are at an average altitude of 200 metres. This ensures that the ripening process is influenced by the cool breeze from False Bay. The vineyard area covers 25 hectares in which you can distinguish 15 different soil types. The main soil types consist of granite, sandstone, pebbles and clay. On these are planted cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, malbec and petit verdot. Since 2020, the winery has been officially certified organic.

In the cellar you will find winemaker Albie Koch. He produces six different wines, including Délicate, Z, Fusion V, Book XVII, The Black Lion and Patronus. Of these, The Black Lion and Book XVII are definitely the two top wines. Both American and French oak is used for wood maturation. The maturation lasts an average of 12 months. With these six wines, De Toren has set the bar very high for South African Bordeaux blends. The winery is among South Africa's top wines for good reason.