In the 60’s we had a run of 10 dry years resulting in serious drought. Now we are going into a third dry year and due to greater demand on water, the drought has already reached crisis levels. It will certainly affect our business as it will affect all our lives. Recycling, capturing winter rain water and using borehole water allows us to be independent of municipal supply, but for how long? Capturing winter run off in dams possibly allows for some irrigation, but this water may have to be put to more important uses. We will survive but yields will be lower and water conservation will become top of mind forever.

On the brighter side, some young blood has joined the Villiera winemaking team. Christiaan Visser left us towards the end of last year and he was replaced by Nathan Valentine, who initially joined us on a temporary basis after graduating from Elsenburg and gaining some local and overseas experience. He did vintages both here and at Domaine Grier and he was a natural replacement for Christiaan. Xander Grier joined us in May which ensures family succession at Villiera. After graduating from Stellenbosch University, Xander has done vintages both here and at Domaine Grier. He has also done vintages in California and Australia, before settling down in the Hemel and Aarde Valley for 3 years. With this experience he was ready to join Villiera.

Jeff is going nowhere yet, but he has acknowledged that he is not getting any younger. He remains to mentor and guide these two talented winemakers to ensure that they understand the value system, pioneering spirit, consistency and innovation that Villiera has become known for over the years.

This dream team of experience and energetic passion will certainly create some exciting wine in the future. This changing of the guard is something we have been working towards for years but in true Villiera style, continuity will be ensured.

Awards

There are not many competitions in the first half of the year but, of particular interest was a new competition referred to as the "10 year Old Wine Awards". Christian Eedes felt that there was place for a competition highlighting the best wines after 10 years of maturation. After all, great wines should all have the ability to keep and the most common question we hear in our "Tasting Room" is "how long will it last?"

Our Monro red is created as a world class wine and one of its characteristics should be that it will last for 10 years or more. We decided we had to enter our 2007 Monro and it performed really well, scoring 91/100, making it one of the top 10 ten year old wines. Limited stock of this mature blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are available.

If you have not yet joined our Wine Club, simply email club@villiera.com to receive your membership form. For further information and benefits, contact Hannelie on 021 865 2002 or follow the WINE CLUB link on www.villiera.com.
     

Our online shop is now available to facilitate ordering Villiera wine for Club members. You can register as a member online on www.villierashop.com.

We are situated 40km from Cape Town, 20 km from Paarl and 10 km from Stellenbosch.
Take exit 39 from the N1 highway.
Travel 2 km down the R304 in the direction of Stellenbosch.
Villiera Wines is on the right corner of the R304 and R101, opposite the Koelenhof winery.