Villiera Wines

On the outskirts of Stellenbosch, where the R304 meets the R101 at Koelenhof, Villiera Wines occupies 400 hectares of rolling farmland that the Grier family has been transforming since 1983. Cousins Jeff and Simon Grier purchased the property and immediately began an extensive replanting programme of classic and local grape varietals, laying the foundation for what would become one of the largest private wineries in South Africa.

The name Villiera honours the original owners of the property, the de Villiers family, and the Griers have built their legacy on that borrowed heritage with characteristic quiet determination. Cathy Brewer, nee Grier, later joined the team to lead sales, marketing, and exports, making this a true family operation now into its fourth generation. The patriarch, Grandfather Grier, arrived in South Africa from the United Kingdom in the 1920s, studied at Elsenburg agricultural college, and started a poultry business. The second generation developed County Fair, while Jeff, Simon, and Cathy decided they were more interested in what to drink with the poultry and started making wine.

Villiera's defining contribution to South African wine has been in Cap Classique, the country's traditional-method sparkling wine category. In 1984, through a joint venture with a French Champagne specialist, the Griers began producing bottle-fermented sparkling wine. That early collaboration established a pioneering expertise that endures today. The estate's Cap Classique range is among the most comprehensive in South Africa, spanning the light and playful Shooting Star Brut, the flagship Tradition Brut and Tradition Brut Rose, the additive-free Brut Natural, the prestigious Monro Brut, and the recently introduced Pearls of Nectar and Villiera Gold.

In the cellar, winemaker Jacobus van Zyl, with Jeff Grier in consultation, crafts wines using natural winemaking methods including spontaneous fermentation for all still wines. Amphora have been introduced alongside oak for selected parcels. The cellar is IPW certified, HACCP accredited, and all Villiera wines are vegan friendly. The range of still wines includes Cellar Master selections of Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, the accessible Down to Earth blends, and reserve wines including the coveted Monro Merlot and The Clan, a red blend produced in very small quantities representing the zenith of Villiera craftsmanship.

Sustainability is not a marketing exercise at Villiera but a governing principle. The estate ceased using insecticides in the early 2000s, relying instead on a flock of around 1,000 Peking ducks to control snails and guinea fowl to manage vineyard pests. In 2009, together with two neighbours, Villiera established a 230-hectare Wildlife Sanctuary stocked with springbok, kudu, giraffe, waterbuck, bontebok, eland, gemsbok, wildebeest, zebra, and numerous other species. Over 100,000 indigenous trees have been planted across fallow land to offset the carbon footprint. Solar panels installed from 2010 now generate a large portion of the farm's energy, and a rainwater harvesting system captures six million litres annually.

Socially, Villiera is home to the Pebbles Project, an after-school club and early childhood development centre for farm workers' children, and the Owethu Clinic. The estate holds WIETA accreditation and BBBEE certification. Visitors can experience the wines in The Wine Sanctuary tasting room or on an outdoor terrace under ancient oak trees, and game drives through the Wildlife Sanctuary offer a remarkable two-hour safari experience just forty kilometres from Cape Town.