In the late 1980s, when certified Chardonnay clones became available in South Africa, the high-elevation Fijnbosch Vineyard was established in Stellenbosch. The Jackson family acquired the property in December 2014 and founded Capensis (Latin for ‘from the Cape’). Winemaker, Graham Weerts, creates their Chardonnay from sites located in Stellenbosch, Overberg, and Robertson.
The Capensis home vineyard, Fijnbosch, was named after the Dutch settlers’ term for the natural vegetation in the area—meaning “fine bush” or “fine woods.” Cool-favouring varieties, like Chardonnay, develop best when planted on sites at high elevations and in close proximity to the ocean and the nearly twenty acres of Chardonnay on Fijnbosch are planted in clay soils on the steep terrain of the Groot Drakenstein mountains in the Banghoek Valley.