in the vineyard : Background
Stellenzicht's Hill & Dale label offers a range of accessibly styled wines with a New World character for international appeal, created by award-winning winemaker Guy Webber. Despite their being made for early and easy enjoyment, Webber has eschewed a generic format for these wines, instead choosing to clearly express their origins.
Grapes for Hill & Dale are sourced exlusively from Stellenbosch, with an extensive vineyard management programme in place, which includes inputs from international specialists such as world-renowned winemaker, viticulturist and researcher, Pascal Chatonnet and vineyard guru, Dr Eben Archer.
The vineyards (viticulturist: Eben Archer)
The vineyards, planted between 1990 and 1993, are situated on slopes facing west and north-west, planted at an altitude of 150 m above sea-level, grow in a combination of decomposed granite and Table Mountain sandstone. The vines, grafted onto nematode-resistant rootstocks of Richter 99, R110 and Ruggeri 140 and trellised on five-wire fence systems, all received supplementary overhead irrigation when necessary, and yielded an average of 7.2 tons per hectare.