De Grendel Wine Estate and Restaurant

High on the Tygerberg hills, where the city of Cape Town falls away to reveal sweeping views of Table Mountain and Table Bay, De Grendel has been a working farm for more than three hundred years. The land was first granted in 1720 to businessman Claas Meyboom, but it was the purchase of the property in 1891 by David de Villiers Graaff that set the course for everything the estate has become.

Graaff was a remarkable figure. Born a farm boy in Villiersdorp, he built Imperial Cold Storage into one of the world's largest refrigeration companies, served as mayor of Cape Town from 1890 to 1892, and was knighted by King George V in 1911 as the first Baronet of Cape Town — a recognition of his role in forming the Union of South Africa. He commissioned Herbert Baker to design the manor house in 1898, introduced Arab horses and Friesland cattle, and planted the first vines on the property. The phylloxera plague of the 1890s destroyed those early vineyards, and for a century De Grendel remained a cattle and grain farm.

It was the third Baronet, Sir David Graaff, who returned winemaking to De Grendel. A politician who had served as Member of Parliament for Wynberg and Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry under F.W. de Klerk, he retired from politics after the 1999 elections and turned his attention to the farm. He planted 100 hectares of vineyards across the estate's 300 hectares at 350 metres elevation, built a new cellar, and in 2004 produced the first 1,800 cases — Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, and Shiraz — under cellar master Charles Hopkins, who was lured from Graham Beck with the irresistible offer of designing and building his own winery from scratch.

Hopkins has been the creative engine of De Grendel ever since. Working with the estate's distinctive Durbanville terroir — cool maritime breezes, high elevation, and ancient Malmesbury shale soils — he has built a portfolio of remarkable range and quality. The Koetshuis Sauvignon Blanc and Op Die Berg Chardonnay showcase the estate's white wine pedigree. The Amandelboord Pinotage and Elim Shiraz represent the red programme at its finest, the latter earning a coveted Platter's 5-star rating in 2019. The Rubaiyat, a complex red blend first made in 2006, stands as the estate's flagship, while the Sir David Graaff 1st Baronet bottling pays tribute to the family patriarch. The Proposal Hill Cap Classique Brut Rose adds an element of celebration to a range that now spans more than fifteen wines.

Sir David Graaff passed away in 2015, but the family legacy continues under the fourth Baronet, Sir De Villiers Graaff, who moved to the estate in 2011 with his wife Lady Gaedry and their four children. In 2012 they opened the De Grendel Restaurant, which has since been named among the top ten fine dining establishments in Africa by TripAdvisor, with head chef Ian Bergh at the stove.

De Grendel has also invested in sustainability: a solar photovoltaic plant installed in 2015 powers 30 percent of operations, a reverse osmosis plant conserves water, and the farm has achieved carbon-negative status. Three centuries after Claas Meyboom first worked this land, De Grendel honours its heritage while looking firmly to the future.