Glenelly Estate

In 2003, at the age of seventy-eight, May-Eliane de Lencquesaing did what few in the wine world expected: she left Bordeaux for South Africa. The former owner of Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande — a Second Growth Pauillac Grand Cru Classe, one of the most celebrated estates in France — had been named Decanter Magazine's Woman of the Year in 1994 and had served as President of the International Wine and Spirit Competition. She had nothing left to prove. But when she visited a 123-hectare plum farm in the Ida's Valley area of Stellenbosch, part of the original land grant made by Simon van der Stel in 1682, she saw potential that compelled her to begin again.

May purchased the property, sold Chateau Pichon to Roederer Champagne to fund its development, and set about replacing the fruit trees with vines. She named the estate Glenelly and planted the Bordeaux varieties she knew so intimately — Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot — alongside Syrah, Chardonnay, and other cultivars suited to the Stellenbosch climate. Her vision was a South African wine estate with a distinctly French soul.

The first estate fruit came on line in 2007, and that same year Luke O'Cuinneagain joined as winemaker. O'Cuinneagain brought formidable credentials: he had worked at Screaming Eagle in Napa Valley and at Chateau de Fieuzal and Chateau Angelus in Bordeaux, followed by five years at neighbouring Rustenberg Estate. With viticulturist Heinrich Louw managing the vineyards and Swartland maestro Adi Badenhorst consulting, the team May assembled was world-class.

The first vintage of Lady May — the estate's flagship cuvee, named for Madame de Lencquesaing herself — was released in 2008. A lot-selection of Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Verdot, it is a Bordeaux-inspired wine made with the rigor and patience that defined Pichon Lalande. The wine has earned multiple Platter's 5-star ratings and established Glenelly among the finest producers in Stellenbosch.

Below the flagship, the Estate Reserve tier combines Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc in an elegant blend that also holds Platter's 5-star recognition. The Glass Collection — named for May's lifelong passion for antique glass, pieces from which are displayed in the estate's own Glass Museum spanning two thousand years of glassmaking history — offers varietal wines including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Shiraz at accessible price points.

The Vine Bistro serves French-inspired cuisine on a terrace overlooking the vineyards or by the fireplace indoors during Stellenbosch winters. The Glass Museum, open Wednesday to Sunday, is a cultural attraction in its own right — a collection of antique and modern glass pieces assembled over decades by May de Lencquesaing.

Glenelly is a Bordeaux grande dame's final masterwork: a French vision planted in African soil, where Old World discipline meets New World generosity, and where a two-thousand-year glass collection watches over wines that are still only beginning to reveal what this terroir can achieve.