Hamilton Russell Vineyards

Hamilton Russell Vineyards

hamiltonrussellvineyards.com


Change seems to be Anthony Hamilton Russell’s watchword. Since taking over from his father and company founder Tim in the early nineties he has changed the vines, the method of farming, and in conjunction with some stellar winemakers – the quality. Employees become so besotted with the valley and the opportunities that they leave to set up their own wineries, including Newton Johnson, Hannes Storm and Ataraxia; all seeded by Hamilton Russell. Current winemaker is Emul Ross, who used to work with another old friend of Uncorked - Gottfried Mocke, late of Chamonix.

The estate comprises 170 hectares, of which 52 are vineyards; plenty of the rest is Cape fynbos, which enables their bees to produce plenty of honey. In 2015 as part of a continuing commitment to their shallow soils and the rest of the estate the converted to organics, including the use of ‘good’ fungus to combat the bad ones rather than covering the land with copper. South Africa is a leader in the advanced research for techniques like this.

Over the last almost 30 years they have replanted nearly all the vineyard land. This was necessary because much of the vine stock sanctioned by KWV under the old Apartheid regime was virussed. It was desirable because those vines were also high-yielding and they’ve been replaced with much higher quality vines. They are planted in low fertility, shallow soils in stony, clay-rich and shale-based soils that also have a high iron content, great for healthy plants.

Because the estate is close to the sea, the meso-climate includes the effect of the cold Antarctic Benguela Current, which modifies the warmth of the Cape climate and makes this a cool area to grow Burgundian wines. In his 2018 South Africa Report, Tim Atkin MW elevated Hamilton Russell to First Growth status. (CW 25/03/19)

There are currently no wines for this area.