Freedom Hill, boutique winery -
Value for money
Freedom Hill is a boutique winery situated on the south western
slopes of the Wemmershoek mountain range in the Paarl wine region.
Owner,
Francois Klomp, a civil engineer by training, bought the historic 82
hectare property in 1998. The farm was originally granted to
Francois Retief, a French Huguenot in 1699, and measured 414
hectares. This was later subdivided into 11 smaller properties.
Winemaker, Francois Naude qualified and then practised as a
pharmacist for 18 years in his home town of Pretoria, before making
the break to Stellenbosch and turning a passionate hobby into an
extremely successful career. He first tried his hand at winemaking
in 1991 and joined L'Avenir Estate in 1992.
Francois has earned many awards and collected an enthusiastic
following at home and abroad, where he has excelled in competitions
such as the Chardonnay du Monde and the International Wine and
Spirit Competition in London, from which he has brought home the
Perold Trophy (for the best Pinotage in the world) three times.
L'Avenir Pinotage have also been a winner in the ABSA Top 10
Competition for a record 7 times.
Since his retirement he has become an honorary member (Keeper of the
Key) of the prestigious Cape Wine Makers Guild , after 10 year's
active involvement
where his wines made it to the "Auction" every year!
He is also an honorary member of The Pinotage Association and was
the Chairman of The Chenin Blanc Association's "working group" for 2
years.
The name Freedom Hill was inspired by the release of Mr. Nelson
Mandela from the Victor Verster Prison (now Drakenstein prison) on
11 February 1990, as the farm overlooks the facility.
The Freedom Hill 1.5 L Magnum bottle also has Mr. Nelson Mandela's
prison number 1335/88 on the bottle (his official number at Victor
Verster).
The competent winemaking duo at Freedom Hill consists of Francois
Naude and Kowie du Toit, who have in excess of 50 years of
winemaking experience between them.
All red wines are made from grapes grown on the farm, and the total
production amounts to 6000 cases. Chris Immelman has been the
viticulturist at Freedom Hill since 2006 and is also very involved
with assisting in the cellar. The Freedom Hill wine portfolio
includes a sauvignon blanc, made from Elgin fruit, a Pinotage rose,
a Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon blend, a Pinotage, a Shiraz, and a Cape
blend.
The soils of the farm consist of tukulu and oak leaf and all the
vineyards are located on the mountain slopes. Currently 19ha are
planted, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinotage and Shiraz, while
25ha of high quality vineyard soil is still available for future
plantings. The immediate focus is to utilise the existing 10 year
old vineyards to produce the best possible quality wines.
Francois and wife Adila are passionate about wine and the bush, and
they also own a luxurious game lodge and bush spa, named Shibula
Lodge.
This 5 star game lodge is situated in 36 000 ha of pristine malaria
free big 5 wilderness in the Waterberg. See www.shibulalodge.co.za.
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