Kleinood wines – a small treasure in the Cape

In this article, we introduce you to the Kleinood vineyard. Gérard Villiers produces one of the world’s best Syrah wines here.

Gérard and Libby De Villiers bought the 22-hectare estate on the Blaauwklippenpad outside Stellenbosch in 2000. They named the wine estate Kleinood, Afrikaans for “something small and precious”. Small because the vineyard only covers 12 hectares of farmland. Precious, because unmistakable wines of the highest quality are produced.

Exclusive Viognier, Shiraz, Rosé and Mouvèdre

The yields in these first-class vineyard sites in the Helderberg Mountains are very low, the vines are all harvested by hand and the berries are manually selected on a sorting belt. The wine is matured in 500-liter French oak barrels. The result is astonishingly sensual perfection. The Kleinood winery is located in an exclusive wine region with over 120 vineyards, all of which benefit from the optimal climatic conditions.

Fruit farm turned into a natural paradise

When the new owners took over the estate, there was an old fruit farm on the land that had been run down. The vineyard is nestled in a dreamlike natural setting, surrounded by majestic mountains and a river flows through the estate. Gérard and Libby De Villiers have worked hard to create a dreamy garden paradise where people, animals and plants feel at home. Next to the olive trees grow wild peaches and large, old oak trees, which provide welcome shade in the hot summer months.