Drum roll please… Be the first to browse through our new website which exudes the elegant Aaldering feel that you know from enjoying our wines. We’ve captured the beauty of our vineyards, winery and lodges for you. Socialize with us by connecting with the Aaldering Team, find us on LinkedIn, leave your comments on this newsletter and let us in on your finest wine moments on Twitter and Facebook, now also integrated on our website.

One year after designing the Cape Dutch Style Lodges to enrich the Aaldering estate, the lodges have been inaugurated with a first night stay of Marianne & Fons Aaldering. “We get to enjoy many beautiful moments at the winery, but this new experience topped it all. The serenity of the vineyards at sunset after a lively day in the cellars, and enjoying a bottle of our Pinotage Blanc on the lodges’ private terrace, was an experience beyond what we always dreamed of…”.

You too can indulge yourself with a relaxing stay at the Aaldering estate. We’re now open for bookings and love to welcome you to our luxury winery lodges in the versatile Cape winelands!

To all the wine aficionados around the world Christmas is synonymous with browsing through our personal wine cellar to pick that seductive wine which is now at its best and shopping for wonderful new wines to treat our guests with. We have the Aaldering bottles, in all of its 8 varieties, polished up for you to enjoy during this festive season and we are happy to support you with any advice on wine and food pairings as well as our variety of Aaldering gift packages.

The 2014 vintage is looking good. We experienced sufficient cold winter weather and higher than average rainfall, which guaranteed good conditions for bud burst and our dams and soil water content are at full capacity, which bodes well for the spring and summer season going forward. Bud burst during spring was initially even; however an extremely cold September resulted in bud burst generally 7 to 10 days later for some varieties. More unfavorable and cold weather recently resulted in less fruit set, therefore less grapes volume wise. Hence 2014 vintage is likely to be a smaller one volume wise than 2013, but with our team naturally combating these conditions with the correct treatment, we can assure you that we have a good quality 2014 crop at hand!

In the cellar the next action is that of preparing the 2011 Shiraz and Pinotage for bottling, as well as taking the 2013 Shiraz and Pinotage to barrel for its maturation. All in all we keep ourselves busy in the vineyards and cellar to be making each Aaldering vintage better. I’m happy to inform you that also the latest scores given by Neal Martin for e-robertparker have confirmed this too. Our Shiraz and Pinotage have received straight 90 points scores, a result we are much honored with!

During a series of Masterclasses Meat & Wine we pair the best cuts of Holland’s top quality meat supplier Nice to Meat with the premium range of Aaldering wines. Chefs and Sommeliers of Holland’s top gastronomy restaurants were pampered with 7 courses during the informal yet educative lunch. So what is paired with our Aaldering barrel-fermented Pinotage Rosé you would ask? A delicious fusion beef-sashimi with light wasabi and soy sauce…

Are you a Chef or Sommelier and would you like to attend a Masterclass Meat and Wine? We look forward to welcome you. Please contact femke@aaldering.co.za.

With thanks to the efforts of our new colleague Johnna Zeng in China we are very excited to now be exporting the first container of Aaldering wines there. The partnership with our Guangzhou-based importer was officialized this month during the Hong Kong Wine Trade Fair where the international wine industry gathered to give another impulse to the dynamic and developing Asian wine market.

After the busy wine fair, where amongst others top Sommelier and WOSA Sommelier Cup finalist Jordi Chan tasted our wines, an intimate wine dinner was held to celebrate the cooperation on the remarkable banks of Hong Kong.

Americans love their steak and South Africans love to braai, hence the ultimate cross-over was organized by WOSA in a number of US cities. Our Californian importer Bruno Laclotte from Hillside Wines & Spirits presented our Shiraz, Pinotage and Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot to over 400 wine lovers. The South African Chef annex Braai-Master Hugo Uys served tasty preparations of beef and ostrich to match with the beautiful wines, in sunny Los Angeles. Our wines are available at Wine House, Wally’s, and Bristol Farms, the best specialized wine stores of California.