Sweet South African Style
Roberston Winery is driven by a strong sense of community and innate belief in nature’s role as a consummate winemaker, all of which shows immaculately in its fine bunch of wines
What goes into making good wine is a question that perpetually concentrates the collective minds of makers, experts and enthusiasts. The standard inputs and terroir apart, there’s the intangible element of community and belief in nature’s capacity for brilliance. And there’s heaps of those virtues soaked into Robertson winery, a producer of fine traditional and modern wines, nestled in South Africa’s Robertson Valley in the Western Cape. Robertson Winery was established in 1941 in the town of Robertson, close to Cape Town. The region’s first cooperative winery, Robertson repurposed the local church to accommodate a winery and extensive cellar. The winery right from the onset engaged the town’s entire community with 26 farmer families contributing fruit and local inhabitants enlisted to handpick grape. 70 years on, Robertson Winery is one of South Africa’s biggest, receiving grapes from more than 36 families harvesting 2400 hectares of vineyard and consistently turning out top quality wines across award winning labels. At its very core though, Robertson is a community driven initiative that has lost none of its ethos irrespective of its massive scale. It is still essentially a community of imaginative and hardworking vintners who handpick and vinify only the best grapes to make wines of great flavour and character.
Furthermore, the cellar master Bowen Botha ensures minimal mechanical influence on the fruit before vinification to retain a natural character. The region’s god given gift of a favourable climate is another of Robertson winery’s strengths. Flanked by the Langeberg mountains and the Breede river with plenty of sun, the vineyards benefit from the warmth, its fruit ripening nicely and attaining great balance thanks to the significant different in day and night temperatures. Rich alluvial soils containing plentiful lime imparts remarkable concentration flavour to the grape and subsequent wines. Robertson boasts a range of labels, prominent among them is the natural sweet wine –- a style made popular by South Africa which has long had a history of making sweet and fortified wines. Natural sweet wines as the name gives away are sweet wines low in alcohol and discernible sweetness. And Robertson Valley is perfectly placed to produce this style thanks to copious sunshine and warm afternoons that ripen the fruit early, allowing for the production of top notch natural sweet wines. Robertson Winery has done so much more than just make superb ferment – it has put the region of Robertson prominently on the world map as one with the potential for greatness and no longer just a bulk wine producer which was the case twenty years ago. The estate’s own words best express its philosophy that has powered its remarkable success and bounty of brilliant vintages : Winemaking is a hands-on, natural process. From the soil it is grown in, the water that feeds the vine and the elements each harvest is exposed to, our grapes are the product of many influences before they are even turned into wine. And we gladly invite you to explore and savour our curated collection of Robertson’s wines finest modern sweet and dry wines. Cheers!
Robertson Winery, Natural Sweet White Wine NV
This traditional style thrills the palate with intense fragrance and a balance of sweet character and ripe tropical fruit.
Robertson Winery, Natural Sweet Red Wine NV
Showing deep coral pink hue, this sumptuous red tastes of sweet berry flavours with refreshing acidity, rated 4.0 by ViVino.
Robertson Winery, Sauvignon Blanc 2021
A refreshingly crisp white in fine form, beaming with passion fruit, green apple and freshly cut grass, best enjoyed chill with salads and a seafood feast.
