The history of Annandale Wine Estate traces back to the founding of
South Africa. Annandale is the oldest farm in the Helderberg Valley. In
November 1679, less than one month of arriving at the Cape, Governor
Simon van der Stel left Cape Town on horseback to explore the Dutch East
India Company’s outpost near the Hottentots Holland Mountains and,
amazed by the beauty of his surroundings, founded the eponymously named
town of Stellenbosch, South Africa’s second oldest town.
Annandale
was first settled three years later, although it would be another six
years before Governor van der Stel granted title to Jan Wismaar,
Annandale’s first land owner. Reflective of such heritage, a manor house
built in the middle of the 1700’s and a cellar which predates 1700
survives to this day onAnnandale Wine Estate.
At the height of its production in the early 20th century,Annandale supported over 500,000 vines on about 100 hectares of land.
After the Second World War, part of the Annandale property became a
shelter for abandoned and abused horses and home to a riding school
before being returned to its roots with its purchase by Hempies du Toit
in 1996.
A river gently meanders through Annandale Wine Estate flanked by trees planted in the late 1600s in the era of Cape Governor Simon van der Stel who mandated that any tree cut for homestead purposes needed to be replanted.