Alto's
history dates back to 1693, when it was part of
a larger farm named Groenrivier ("Green River").
In 1919 the then owner of Groenrivier,
Hennie Malan, divided the farm vertically in order
to sell half of the land to his brother-in-law.
The development of Malan's share was a co-operative
venture between himself and his son, Manie. In
the next few years they set about converting this
partial wilderness into a wine farm, to which
they gave the Latin name, Alto, a reference both
to the altitude of the vineyards and their own
aspirations. They built a homestead and a cellar,
and planted the lower slopes with vines.
Malan's choice of red varieties
was based on a shrewd assessment of the nature
of his land. When Piet du Toit bought Alto in
1959, neither he nor the experts he called in
for analysis and advice could fault the planting
or the wine created by the Malans. When Piet retired
in 1983, his son, Hempies, a well-known rugby
Springbok, succeeded him. Hempies du Toit continued
the fine red wine-making traditions of his predecessors
until May 2000 when Neethlingshof's winemaker
Schalk van der Westhuizen took over. The Alto
Shiraz 2001 was awarded a gold medal at Decanter
World Wine Awards 2005 as well as winning the
Trophy for the best SA Rhone varietal over 10
pounds.