Avondale Wine

The picturesque 160-hectare farm that is today known as Avondale has been under cultivation for more than 300 years. Early records show that the land was one of the first in the Paarl Valley to be allocated specifically for the production of wine grapes. Avondale is now home to the Grieve Family and 25 farm worker families. As the pioneers of Vital Health Foods, South Africa’s leading health food company, the Grieves have an innate focus on well-being that encompasses the land and its community of people. Avondale are committed to providing fair and decent living and working conditions to enable their people to enjoy healthy, balanced lives.

Dark purple in colour with classic berry aromas and a hint of tobacco leaf. On the palate there are layers of mineral intense fruit, with gentle tannins and a lovely freshness to the wine.

Enjoy with cider and maple syrup glazed pork chops.

The grapes of these noble cultivars were picked in the cool early mornings between 23˚ and 24 º Balling. The different batches of fruit were de-stemmed, gently crushed and went into tanks for two to three days. Fermentation on the skins peaked between 30˚ and 32 º Celsius and lasted from seven to ten days. Our healthy grapes enabled a long post-fermentation maceration that took place over twenty five to thirty days. Malolactic fermentation took place in 225-litre French Oak barrels. These varied from 1st to 3rd fills ensuring mild wood integration. The wines went through a number of gentle rackings before being returned to the barrels to age for 12 to 18 months. The wine was lightly filtered.

Featured in Decanter 2020 Bordeaux-style blends 45 Great Buys for Bordeaux Lovers.“Rich, dark, concentrated and complex. Good evolution here, with notes of dark fruits and spice, and a cleansing acidity to keep the palate fresh. Still quite firm and austere on the palate, this has the potential to age for several more years. Good complexity. Although it’s a Bordeaux blend in terms of the mix of grapes, this is in a very different style compared to wines made in the southwest of France.” Awarded 94 points by Decanter, November 2023: '' A Cabernet- dominant five-way Bordeaux blend, there's plenty of trademark Paarl plum and cassis fruit in here. But coming as it does from 'under the mountain', there's also much more acid lift behind the plush fruit than you'd expect. Silky but with graphite seam, it's drinking nicely now, but still tastes younger than its years and has a long life ahead of it.''