Buy Manley wines from South Africa

Manley Wine Estate is a boutique wine farm in South Africa offering unique country-style bed and breakfast accommodation, wine tasting facilities, a 150 guest function building, a consecrated chapel for weddings, as well as conference facilities and many different event areas.

Parts of the Manley Wine Estate date back to the 1860s. The thatched main house of the mansion, unlike most buildings in Tulbagh, does not follow classic Cape Dutch design, but rather reflects French Huguenot houses of the late 19th century

The current property was later founded by David Manley Jordan, who not only farmed in the Free State but also spent fifteen years on a sailing yacht. He then decided to settle in Tulbagh with his wife Esther, where they purchased the property in June 1996 and ran dairy cows, sheep and later a few horses, while Esther ran a small guest house. Within a few years they had modernized the guesthouse's facilities, built a dam and begun planting vines. The first two crops were harvested and sold to three private wineries, after which David decided to make his own wine.

In August 2020, Manley Wine Estate and Private Cellar were acquired by Markus Ehehalt, a German engineer with a great passion for wine and love for the Tulbagh region. Markus received formal wine training in Germany to delve deeper into the demanding world of wine production. His vision is to transform Manley Wine Estate into a prestigious South African boutique winery and guest farm, a small oasis in the Tulbagh countryside.

The subsoil of the farm consists of slate soil and as a result the yield of the harvest is slightly lower than in other wineries in the region. The result is smaller berries, but they tend to have a thicker skin and a higher concentration of flavor. The sorting process is threefold: It begins in the vineyard, where the undeveloped grapes and berries in the “green harvest” are cut down. Later, the small, green berries and those that have been eaten by birds are sorted out so that only the highest quality grapes remain.

The grapes are usually harvested between February and April and the berries are hand pressed to achieve the best quality, but this results in a low yield per ton. Fermentation takes place between 16 and 27 degrees Celsius in open tanks with four pump overs per day. The wines mature for around 15 to 22 months in French oak barrels, more recently also Swabian oak barrels, and the wines are released for sale around two years after the harvest.

• Grape varieties: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier
• Cultivated area: 2 ha
• Production in tonnage: 50

• Owner: Markus Ehehalt
• Winemaker: Joshua von Blommestein
• Email: booking@manleywinelodge.co.za
• Phone: +27 (023) 007 0009