Saxenburg Private Collection Pinotage 2020

Officially proclaimed in 1693, Saxenburg is one of the oldest farms in South Africa. The Saxenburg homestead was built in 1701 and had uncommon features for the time. The stoep (veranda) covered only one-third of the façade, with a high flight of stairs leading up to it. The front door did not boast a fanlight, which was a common feature at the time and the gable was considered unique with its flowing, understated outline.

According to official records, the farm changed ownership 37 times between 1701 and 1989. During this time the Cape Colony saw the disintegration of the VOC, the British occupation and Anglo-Boer War as well as the events that established South Africa as a sovereign union and later a republic.

When Adrian and Birgit Bührer took ownership of Saxenburg in 1989, the farm was in dire need of rejuvenation. They traded their familiar surroundings of Switzerland for the, by then, dilapidated homestead in the Cape Winelands on the hills above Kuils River, between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. They and their team brought sweeping changes to the estate and, in 2016, Vincent and Fiona became the second generation to take up the reins of the business.

The grapes were hand-picked at physiological ripeness and destemmed into open fermenters. The crusher was removed, so the berries were left whole which, combined with only gentle pump-overs and cool fermentation temperatures, allowing for a soft extraction. The fermenting juice was pressed off the skins before fermenting dry, to prevent any bitterness at the end of ferment.