Background

Joostenberg is a living, working farm, run by the Myburgh family who have owned it for over a century. Wine was made on the farm for centuries but since 1947 the grapes were delivered to the local co-op. However, brothers Philip and Tyrrel Myburgh, the fifth generation on the farm, decided to make their own wines and set about replanting the vineyards and refurbishing the old cellar. "Weve started off small with a few thousand cases mainly of Sauvignon Blanc, unwooded Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon," says Philip, the wine grower on the farm, "but we have planted significant amounts of Shiraz, Viognier, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon which will come into bearing soon." Philip is currently doing a Masters Degree in Winemarketing and Viticulture through correspondence at Monash University in Melbourne.

Tyrrel studied Philosophy at Stellenbosch but soon realised his vocation topping his education with an agricultural diploma at Elsenburg and gaining experience abroad in the cellars of the St Emillion and the Languedoc regions in France as well as in Sonoma, California and locally at De Meye and Villiera.

Joostenberg has approximately 40 hectares of vineyard, of which almost 50% are young red grape vineyards. Most of our wine is made from our own grapes and we buy in grapes and wine when the best is available.

Our philosophy is simple: our product must be a high quality, appropriately priced wine that is a showcase for our farm and the Muldersvlei area.

In addition to the wine, there is also a Guesthouse on the farm, run by Anette Myburgh (Tyrrels wife). Anette studied Plant Pathology and Horticulture at Stellenbosch University. She worked at the ARC - Nietvoorbij in the Grapevine Disease Management Division and has recently completed her Masters thesis and will be receiving her degree in December 2001. Anette now runs the tasting room and the guesthouse. The guesthouse is run as a B&B, but dinner is available by prior arrangement. Guests are shown the cellar and given private wine tastings and come into intimate contact with the wine making process while staying in Joostenberg Guesthouse.Picnic lunches are served between October and March.

The farm is situated in Muldersvlei, approximately 40 kilometres out of Cape Town. Many people will have seen the farm as they drive through Muldersvlei on the N1 to Paarl. As you pass the Stellenbosch/Klipheuwel offramp, you can see our historical homestead and the large dam with its dead oak tree on the left hand side of the road.

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