Exclusive wines from South Africa
Discover the captivating world of South African wines from the picturesque Tulbagh Valley in the valleygrapes online shop. A large selection of white wines and red wines from South Africa are available exclusively from valleygrapes.
Cooperative with the winemakers
The money should go where the work is done - at the wineries - and you can understand how the wine is made.
Committed to South Africa
We have a close relationship with the people of the Tulbagh Valley and support projects in the areas of education, upbringing and nutrition.
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Wine growing in South Africa
History and origins
The cradle of South African wine dates back to the arrival of the Dutch in the 17th century. Jan van Riebeeck , a Dutch sailor, laid the foundation for viticulture in South Africa when he opened a supply station on the Cape in 1652. The oldest wineries , such as Groot Constantia and Vergelegen , were founded in the 17th century and are still important to the country's wine tradition today. Tulbagh , with its rich heritage, has contributed significantly to the development of South African viticulture. Historic wineries such as Drostdy-Hof and Theuniskraal reflect the pioneering days of viticulture in this region. February 2, 1659 is generally considered to be the birthday of South African wine, when Jan van Riebeeck documented the production of the first wine in the Cape in his diary with the following quote: "Today, praise to God, wine was made for the first time from Cape grapes." On this special day you will always be able to buy special wine offers from South Africa in the valleygrapes online shop .
South Africa wine country and economic importance
The South African wine landscape is characterized by diverse grape varieties . Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay for white wines and Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz for red wines are the leading varieties. The industry has focused on a strategy with several pillars. In the production and distribution of the wines, we rely on high-quality bottled wines that are internationally recognized and on the so-called “bulk” wine. The bulk wine is filled into large steel tanks, exported to the target countries, bottled there and found on the shelves of large food retailers and discounters. Another important source of income for South African winegrowers is tourism , which is very local and is very important for smaller farms. A total of 270,000 people are employed in the industry, of which only 80,000 work directly on the wine farms or in the wine cellar. As the world's eighth largest wine producer, South Africa produced 10.3 million hl of wine in 2022. This will be in South Africa produced more wine than Germany, but slightly less than the New World countries of Chile, Argentina and Australia. More than 50% of South African wine is destined for export and the two largest importing countries are Great Britain and Germany.
Wine regions in South Africa
The wine regions in South Africa are classified in a simplified hierarchy in the following order: geographical unit, region, district and district. The largest wine-producing geographical unit in South Africa is the Western Cape with five regions : Breede River Valley, Cape South Coast, Coastal Region , Klein Karoo and Olifants River. The most famous is undoubtedly the Coastal Region, which includes the renowned wine routes and districts of Stellenbosch , Franschhoek and Cape Town . The very well-known area of Constantia in Cape Town is in turn a district of the Cape Town District. Tulbagh is a district that, like Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, is part of the Coastal Region. The wines within the Coastal Region differ significantly due to the very different climatic conditions, soils and cultivation methods, even though they are geographically close to each other.
Tulbagh and its wine region
Tulbagh was founded in 1700 as a place called Roodezand and was given its current name in 1795 after Ryk Tulbagh. Tulbagh is 800 meters above sea level and has around 10,000 inhabitants. The town of Tulbagh is for his Beautiful Cape Dutch architecture and has 32 national monuments in one street. The valley surrounding Tulbagh is surrounded on three sides by the Groot Winterhoek, Witzenberg and Obiekwaberg mountain ranges and is entirely agricultural. In addition to the ubiquitous vineyards in the Tulbagh district, there are many orchards and wheat fields. The soils in the valley are extremely variable. The area is characterized by extreme differences in day and night temperatures. Mountainous terrain creates numerous different mesoclimates that can be used to great advantage. Unique to the valley's geographical makeup is the 'cold trap', a phenomenon created by the enclosing horseshoe-shaped mountains, with Tulbagh lying north of the 'bowl'. In this bowl, once a prehistoric lake, the cold air of the previous night lies undisturbed. The result is relatively cool average daily temperatures. With today High-tech water management and advanced viticulture practices are slowly realizing the true potential of this area. There are currently around 12 wineries in this remote valley producing renowned wines, including Shiraz , Chenin Blanc and the "South African champagne" called Méthode Cap Classique.
What does valleygrapes stand for?
valleygrapes brings you the Tulbagh Valley lifestyle and the opportunity to buy wines from South Africa in our online shop. We only sell online and exclusively wines from Tulbagh . Some winemakers and some wines are only available exclusively from valleygrapes . The region has grown close to our hearts and trusting cooperation with the winegrowers is important to us and we focus on the following values.
About Us
“ Few of us have chosen our clubs , they have simply been presented to us” – Nick Hornby
As a football fan, this famous quote from Nick Hornby has accompanied me half my life and is often interpreted in German to mean "that you don't choose your football club, you are chosen by it."
Mobility was my passion
I have spent most of my professional life successfully and passionately in the mobility industry. I have worked in senior roles at great companies such as Europcar, car2go, WeShare and unu. My field of activity included different business models with cars, bicycles, mopeds and scooters or were purely platform-based. But it was time to do something completely new.
valleygrapes came to me even though I wasn't looking for it
At the end of 2022 I wanted to recover from my last engagement in the mobility world and clear my head for new things and I traveled to South Africa with part of my family. Many of you know from your own experience how great this country and its people are and it wasn't our first time there either.
This time we took the opportunity to visit Almé Jordaan's family, who is studying and training in the USA with our daughter Jette. The Jordaan family is the third generation to run the beautiful Theuniskraal winery in the Tulbagh Valley, which we were very impressed and fascinated by.
This positive impression was reinforced by a delicious wine tasting, where Andries Jordaan took us on an exciting journey through the history of the winery and the Tulbagh Valley. We were able to enjoy many wines and were immediately thrilled by the taste and variety of these wines.
Theuniskraal and Andries Jordaan were the inspiration for valleygrapes
The tasting ended with the trend-setting sentence from Andries, “Thomas, in the past I exported more to Europe and I would like to do so in the future again.” My answer came intuitively, spontaneously and very surprisingly for my family when I said that I had a lot of time at the moment, that I knew a few people from the beverage, catering and event sectors and that I would “find out more”.
valleygrapes is the virtual place for all Tulbagh wines in Europe
The result of this rather coincidental visit is the founding of two GmbHs, the creation of the “valleygrapes” brand, the implementation of a logistics concept from South Africa to Europe and the opening of an online shop in November 2023. valleygrapes only sells wines from the wineries are produced in the Tulbagh Valley. Today valleygrapes has around 50 wines from 7 wineries in its portfolio. The goal is to offer all 140 wines from all 14 wineries in the future.
The journey is just beginning and I would like to take you with me
Customers are already experiencing the great potential of these distinctive wines and I believe that it is time for you too to experience the sun and lifestyle of the Tulbagh Valley - simply from home.