About Bonnievale Wines
To those looking for a real wine experience that is truly unpretentious, BONNIEVALE WINES promises delightful wines that consistently exceed expectations. Our passionate and skilled wine-makers can select the best grapes from a large expanse of vineyards, accessing an amazing diversity of our area’s varied terroir. We bottle only the very best of each vintage, assuring quality for the wine lover. Our wines are as welcoming and soothing as the beautiful valley that produces them. Evocative of an elegant country lifestyle, the wines invite you to become part of the real-life stories of the people rooted here.
Bonnievale Wines is named after our quaint town. The town was founded by the visionary Scotsman Christopher Forrest Rigg around the turn of the 19th century. Rigg saw potential in the then semi-arid valley on the banks of the Breede River. He used most of his personal resources and all of his persuasive ability to sell the idea to like-minded pioneers and people seeking their fortune in the aftermath of the Gold Rush. He oversaw the construction of an irrigation canal that helped unlock the agricultural potential of the rich soils. It still provides most of the town’s water to this day.
For more than half a century Bonnievale Wines has produced wine from the fertile land in the Bonnievale valley.
Chris van Reenen | New Winemaker
My journey in the wine industry started 2003/4 when I was employed as a harvest intern at Swartland Winery. I subsequently enrolled at the Cape Institute of Agricultural Training: Elsenburg, where I graduated in 2007. After graduation I joined the team at Merwida Winery in Rawsonville as assistant winemaker.
During 2008 I spent four months in the USA’s Napa valley at Newton Vineyards. I returned to the US in 2010 as a Seasonal Assistant Winemaker at Le Crema in the Russian River Valley, California.
For the past decade I have continued to grow and expand in my knowledge and experience as a Winemaker. After working at Amani Vineyards in Stellenbosch, I moved on to Arra Vineyards in Paarl, where I had been employed as viticulturist and winemaker for the past four years. I am privileged to have recently joined the dynamic team at Bonnievale.
Meet Bonnievale Wines
Bonnievale Selection
Spoilt for Choice
The fertile land in the Bonnievale valley boasts a variety of geology, geography and climate, creating a varied terroir that is evident in the grapes produced here.
Over more than half a century Bonnievale has produced wine from the fertile land in the Bonnievale Valley. The area extends to within 100km from the ocean and includes two rivers (the Breede and Riviersonderend) and hills and mountains that offers a variety of slopes and micro-climates.
Bonnievale’s wine makers get to play with this rich palette, picking and choosing from the treasure chest of terroir potential. With the strict policy of ‘only bottling the best’, Bonnievale Wines has managed to establish a reputation for consistently over-delivering on quality.
Nature Range
The River Collection
Sparkling Wine
Barrel Select
Gallery
R300-Million Merger Puts Cape Wine Giant On Track For Long Term Success
The Bonnievale Wines group and Wandsbeck Wines are to merge, creating a wine company with assets in excess of R300m. The amalgamation of the wineries in the Robertson region sees the formation of one of the Cape's biggest wine producers, to be known as Bonnievale Wine...
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National Young Wine Competition
Bonnievale triumphs at Robertson regional SA National Young Wine competition. Just months after its announcement of a new premium tack for Bonnievale and its portfolio of wines, the winery's producers and cellar team's ability to back it up has been affirmed at the...
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Bonnievale is on a Roll
The number of journalists to descend on Bonnievale for the recent launch of the River Collection was arguably among the largest ever. For the town, it meant guest accommodation was booked up. "What a turnout!" exclaimed one authoritative business and marketing website...
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Bonnievale Wines se wynmaak-span brei uit
Bonnievale Wyne het twee nuwe wynmakers op hul span – Jean Slabber en Izak de Vries. Slabber was tot onlangs by Montagu Koöperatiewe Wynkelder waar hy assistent wynmaker was en ook ondervinding in Amerika se top-wynmaakstreek, die Napa-vallei, opgedoen...
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Wine with roots in the community
The wine industry is a significant contributor to the South African economy. It has been the livelihood of thousands of families for centuries. Go deeper and you’ll also discover that the roots of wineries in their local community go even deeper. That is...
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Educational trip broadens horizons
“We always think nothing big ever happens in Bonnievale.” Thus begins a letter that arrived in the Bonnievale Wines post box last week. Written by a learner, it followed an school trip that Bonnievale Wines helped realise. The entire Grade 12 classes of...
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Elethu black-owned farm pays dividends
Elethu, the successful 100% black-owned grape farming initiative that benefits Bonnievale Wines workers, is approaching a significant milestone. The Bonnievale Wines management team has a long-standing mentorship relationship with this successful Black Economic...
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Bonnievale Wines an empowerment success story
Our Elethu project has become flagship for employee empowerment in SA wine industry. The success story of this 30 ha farm is featured extensively in the new documentary short “Creating the blend – The story of transformation in South Africa’s winelands”. We recently...
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We’d Love to hear from you
| Telephone | +27 (0) 23 616 2795 +27 (0) 23 616 2800 |
| Fax | +27 (0) 23 616 2332 |
| E-mail: | |
| Arina Steyn: | info@bonnievalewines.co.za |
| Geraldine Fourie: | tasting@bonnievalewines.co.za |
| Postal Address | Bonnievale Wines P.O. Box 206 BONNIEVALE 6730 |
| Cellar hours for wine sales and tasting: | |
| Monday – Friday: | 09h00 – 17h00 |
| Saturday: | 10h00 – 13h00 |
| Sunday: | Closed |
| Public Holidays: | 10:00-13:00 |
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