DE TOREN is a boutique Private Cellar, established by Emil & Sonette Den Dulk in 1994.

The site for the vineyards was selected based on the location (and the view!) with breathtaking vistas extending from Table Mountain in the West, Cape Point in the South, False Bay, Hang Klip and ends with Helderberg and Stellenbosch Mountains in the East.

The farm was named DE TOREN; which translated from Dutch means “the tower”, and refers to the winery structure which allows for gravity-flow winemaking.

The farm’s maiden release was the 1999 vintage “Fusion V”; a Cabernet Sauvignon driven five varietal Bordeaux style blend; a first for South Africa’s wine industry. The 1999 vintage received a gold medal from the IWSC competition and 90 points by both Parker and Wine Spectator, placing DE TOREN immediately amongst the world’s elite.

Latter vintages have continued build upon that reputation, gathering numerous accolades and featuring with regularity on the short list of wines deemed worthy of “5 STARS” by John Platter. In 2004 the cellar added another site specific wine to it’s line up; this time a Merlot lead blend of the same five varietals, called “Z” – named after named after the Zephyr-wind that frequently blows over the farm in the afternoons.

DE TOREN’s vineyards, comprising of a mere 22 hectares, are uniquely positioned on the Polkadraai Hills overlooking Stellenbosch; South Africa’s “Wine Capital”.

The elevation of the vineyards (between 200-400 meters) overlooking False Bay to the south and Table Mountain to the west, allow the cooling effects of the ‘Cape Doctor’ (the south easterly wind that makes its way inland off the Atlantic Ocean) to form a micro-climate that lends itself to the production of world class red wines.

This unique location provides us the opportunity to combine all the elements of nature – soil, climate, plant and weather conditions to give us a balanced terroir; a canvas to create exceptional wines.

At DE TOREN we decided what wines we wanted to make, then planted the vineyards according to the style of wine and the demands of the soil.

The varietals planted, the clones & root stocks used, the direction & width of the rows – even the number of vines on each row – was calculated based on in depth analysis of the soil that lay underneath. By producing just two site specific wines, and only working with the same five varietals, we can focus our efforts on drawing out the complexities of each; we do not adopt a ‘blanket’ approach to anything.

The extensive pruning & crop thinning practices reduces DE TOREN’S yield down to a maximum of 150 tons of grapes per harvest, but that’s not where the attention to detail stops.

During harvest itself, our “If in doubt, throw it out” philosophy is transparent; we will not accept second best. A staggering 23 quality control checkpoints (between bunch sorting and fermentation) restrict the amount of grapes that can be processed in a given day down to just six tons; which takes no less than 12 hours to complete – a task that a commercial winery would perform in roughly half an hour.

Only the very best of the best make it into a DE TOREN bottle.