Noble Hill

On the northern granite slopes of the Simonsberg mountains, where the Paarl and Stellenbosch wine regions meet, Noble Hill has quietly become one of the Cape's most compelling small estates. The farm itself has deep roots — the Simonsberg has produced wine for more than three hundred years — but its modern chapter began in 2006 when the Tillery family purchased the property and set about transforming it into an estate dedicated to organic viticulture and terroir-driven winemaking.

Kristopher Tillery, Harvard-educated in economics with additional studies in sustainable development at Sciences Po in Paris, returned to the family wine estate after years in the United States working as a strategy consultant. He brought with him a conviction that great wine begins with healthy soil and that the granite terroir of the Simonsberg deserved wines made with minimal intervention. Under his direction, Noble Hill embarked on a journey toward organic certification, and in 2019 the vineyards were formally enrolled in both the European (EOS) and United States (NOP) organic programs.

The results speak through the glass. Noble Hill's wines are marked by a delicate mineral structure that reflects the decomposed granite soils of the Simonsberg. The estate's Mourvdre Rose has been consistently ranked among South Africa's finest, a benchmark of the variety's potential in the Cape. The Simonskop Chenin Blanc, sourced from dryland bush vines planted in 1987 on decomposed granite, is one of the estate's most compelling single-vineyard wines — hand-picked and vinified in old 300-litre barrels and clay amphorae. The Sur Lie Chenin Blanc, naturally fermented in clay amphorae and concrete tanks, comes from the oldest and highest-elevation vineyard on the property.

The red wines are equally distinctive. The Field Atlas, a Syrah-dominant blend co-fermented with whole bunches, captures the estate's deep connection with the Simonsberg soils. The Cabernet Sauvignon, from granite slopes where the variety has grown for centuries, delivers classic elegance. The Estate Reserve — a Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot — is the estate's flagship red, made with organically grown grapes and minimal-intervention winemaking. At the pinnacle, Sic Transit Gloria Mundi, a Grenache-Mourvedre-Syrah blend whose Latin name means 'so passes the glory of the world,' is a philosophical statement bottled as wine.

Beyond the cellar, Cosecha — Spanish for 'harvest' — is the estate's restaurant, set right next to the harvest area where grapes arrive from the vineyards each season. The kitchen serves Mediterranean-inspired cuisine made with fresh local ingredients, offered on a terrace overlooking the Simonsberg slopes. The Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs, a single-vineyard Chardonnay sparkling wine aged on the lees for twenty-four months, makes a fitting aperitif before lunch.

Noble Hill is a pioneer of the organic movement in South African wine. It is an estate where regenerative farming philosophy, Simonsberg granite, and a winemaker-proprietor's dedication to minimal intervention produce wines of uncommon finesse and mineral purity.