Dormershire Wine Estate - Kuils river

Dormershire is a boutique wine estate situated in the Stellenbosch wine region and is the Stellenbosch estate located closest to Cape Town, the Mother City. It is situated on the Kanonkop hill between Stellenbosch and Cape Town. The cannon which alerted Stellenbosch inhabitants to the arrival of ships in Table Bay was fired from the hill. The estate is in close proximity to both Table Bay and False Bay, with their cool ocean breezes and enjoys the benefit of the temperate ocean climate. It has a panoramic view of Table Mountain from the vineyards, this also being depicted on the front labels.

The estate has, since 1996, been developed with plantings of Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz cultivars which were selected to complement the terroir of the farm which is  

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enhanced by its temperate climate. The estate encompasses only nine hectares resulting in limited quantities of the cultivars being available. Marketing of Sauvignon Blanc commenced in 2001 followed by Shiraz in 2003 and Cabernet Sauvignon and Rosé in 2005. Both red wines are matured in small French oak barrels in the estate’s maturation cellar which provides storage space for approximately 250 barrels.

Harvesting is done by hand to ensure minimal interference with nature and that grapes are only picked at optimum ripeness. Bunches are hand sorted and selected in the cellar to obtain optimum quality wines.

The estate in owned by attorney Paul Frost and his wife Sunette. The winemaker is Michelle Louw. The wine making consultant, Kowie du Toit, has been the recipient of various wine-making awards, examples of which are winning gold at both Veritas and Fairbairn Capital wine shows, being a regular participant at the Nederburg Auction and often being in the Absa Pinotage Top Ten.

The Sauvignon Blanc is elegant, full bodied and has typical tropical fruit flavours with grassiness and flintiness on the nose. The Rosé has been innovatively wooded and is crisply dry with a berry character. Both red wines of the 2003 vintage received awards at the 2005 Veritas National Wine Show and are elegant and characterised by excellent balance between fruit and oak.

Early in 2006 we decided to open our venue for tour groups and corporates for private wine tastings and functions and it should be noted that we do not have full conference facilities and can only accommodate a maximum of 30 persons.