Background

In 1661, one of Jan van Riebeecks corporals, on a journey of exploration to the hinterland, crested Kasteelberg, and before him were the splendours of natural, wild Africa. In honour of his mentor he named the mountain Riebeecks Kasteel. Less that forty-five years later - in 1704 - Jan Bothma, an acclaimed wine farmer from Stellenbosch, was awarded 60,10 morgen of land on the slopes of the mountain by the Governor of the Cape, Willem Adriaan van der Stel. This was the beginning of Kloovenburg.

Bothma named his estate the "place in the ravine" and he would have gazed over the valley at the distant Elandskloof Mountains observing vast herds of buffalo, antelope and Cape lion. By the middle of the 18th century Kloovenburg was already planted with about 50 000 vines, and from 1860 until 1942 produced wines in its own cellar.

In the mid 20th century the farm came into the ownership of Piet du Toit and when his son, Pieter, was old enough to join him, they formed a formidable team. Together they created one of the most outstanding farms in the Swartland Region. Then in 1997, Pieter and his son Pieter-Steph picked and destemmed the first batch of Shiraz and pressed the resultant crop barefoot in open barrels. The product, after fermentation in Stellenbosch and maturation in American Oak for 12 months, was the first wine Pieter made - the maturing of a du Toit idea, and the beginning of a projected annual event for him, Annalene and their four sons.

During 1998 and 1999 Riebeek Wine Cellars gave Pieter the opportunity to make his own Shiraz and Pinotage, using their facilities. These wines created the base for the fulfillment of their dream this year when the first wine, a Chardonnay, was produced in Kloovenburgs own cellar. The process created great excitement in the du Toit household, from the picking of the crop, the actual making of the wine through to the daily ritual of checking the fermentation. The emphasis was always to create a limited quantity wine of quality with the distinctive aura of the Swartland. The intense pride that was generated by the whole process will be a legacy for Kloovenburg wines. The knowledge and enthusiasm of Pieter and Annalene will be evidenced in the future by the involvement of their four sons, the future "wealth" of the farm.

We can look forward to many years of fine wines from the Kloovenburg estate.

Kloovenburg produces a variety of Olive products and uses three different cultivars of olive trees.

Kloovenburg planted their first olive trees in 1989. An olive tree reaches its full capacity after seven years and can live for hundreds of productive years provided they are looked after properly. All the trees on the estate are drip irrigated and are planted 6 meters apart and once they reach full capacity they can produce anything from 60 to 200 kg of olives per year.

On average each liter of olive oil requires between 6 and 7 kilos of olives. All oil produced for Kloovenburg is cold pressed. Our oil is of excellent quality and qualifies as extra virgin, as the level of fatty acids is less than 1%. Each cultivar has a different characteristic and the three types thar are grown on the estate are Mission, Manzanilla and Leccino.

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