Waterford Estate

Waterford Estate occupies a south-facing amphitheatre in Stellenbosch's Blaauwklippen Valley, nestled between the Helderberg and Simonsberg mountains. The estate's name tells its own origin story: 'Water' for the waterfalls that cascade through the property, and 'ford' from the surname of founder Jeremy Ord — a portmanteau conceived by his daughter Ashleigh. Since its founding on 1 April 1998, Waterford has grown from a bare piece of land into one of South Africa's most respected wine addresses.

Jeremy Ord, the technology entrepreneur behind Dimension Data, envisioned a purpose-built winery that would rival the great estates of Bordeaux. He found his winemaking partner in Kevin Arnold, a man who had already spent three decades shaping the reputations of Delheim and Rust en Vrede. Arnold joined as the first winemaker in 1998, and together they commissioned architect Alex Walker to design a cellar from local Table Mountain sandstone and estate timber. The result, completed in 1999, is a building that looks as though it has stood for centuries — gravity-fed, naturally ventilated, and arranged around an Italian-inspired courtyard.

Kevin Arnold's influence on Waterford cannot be overstated. He created the Kevin Arnold Shiraz, a wine that was served at Oprah Winfrey's 50th birthday celebration in 2004, and he conceived The Jem — named after Jeremy Ord — a multi-varietal red blend featuring up to eight grape varieties led by Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Shiraz. Released in 2008 to immediate acclaim, The Jem was South Africa's first hundred-dollar bottle of wine. It has since been ranked among the world's top one percent on Vivino, and the 2016 vintage was named the number-one South African red blend in the United States.

Arnold served as cellar master from 2002 to 2021, mentoring a succession of talented winemakers including Francois Haasbroek and Mark le Roux. Le Roux, who joined as assistant winemaker in 2009 and was named South Africa's Young Winemaker of the Year by Tim Atkin MW in 2017, became cellar master in 2022. Jamie Papenfus, who had served as assistant winemaker since 2016, stepped up to winemaker in 2024.

Waterford pioneered the wine-and-chocolate pairing experience in South Africa, launching it in 2004 in collaboration with chocolatier Richard von Geusau. The Helderberg terroir imparts subtle chocolate-mocha flavours to the red grapes, creating a natural affinity with cocoa that von Geusau translated into bespoke chocolate tablets designed to complement specific Waterford wines. The estate also introduced the Wine Drive Safari in 2006, offering visitors a vineyard tour by vehicle through the estate's diverse terroir blocks.

The wines are arranged in three tiers: the accessible Pecan Stream range for everyday drinking, the Estate and Waterford ranges for serious collectors, and The Jem at the pinnacle. The estate works with a broad palette of varieties — Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Grenache, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, and more — all grown on the property's clay-rich, decomposed granite soils.