Bellevue Estate - Premium Weingut in Stellenbosch, Südafrika

The Bellevue Estate Winery in the renowned Stellenbosch wine growing region of South Africa, under owner Dirkie Morkel and oenologist Wilhelm Kritzinger, produces the award-winning and highly endowed portfolio, with a focus on South Africa's most innovative grape variety, Pinotage.

With careful and integrated cultivation methods, Bellevue has succeeded in boasting some of South Africa's oldest vineyards, many of which are well over 40 years old. This is a heritage in its own right! Combined with the ripe age of the vines and the fact that many blocks are bush vines, this results in lower yields, while the vines produce grapes with a concentrated flavour and a pure, elegant fruit character.

Bellevue's vineyards include varieties such as Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc, Cinsaut, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Pinotage, Merlot, Chardonnay, Muscat d'Alexandrie, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

The Bellevue Winery has been owned by the Morkel family since 1861. The first Morkel to set foot in South Africa was Philip Morkel from Germany. Dirk Cloete Morkel, a descendant of Philip Morkel, acquired the Bellevue Winery in 1861, mainly for livestock farming, but also planted some vines. It was PK Morkel, grandson of Dirk Morkel, who did pioneering work in establishing vines for wine production and pioneered the transformation of Bellevue into a winery. The Morkels, especially under the leadership of the present Dirkie Morkel, have developed the old farm into a state-of-the-art wine farm with a large production cellar, a comprehensive selection of fine varieties, award-winning wines, cultural heritage and tourist attractions.

The Pinotage grape variety and its pioneering history play a very special role at Bellevue. PK Morkel, together with Paul Sauer from Kanonkop, was one of the first farmers to plant Pinotage on a commercial scale in 1953. His courageous step paid off, as Bellevue's Pinotage was awarded the Genl Smuts Trophy at the South African National Young Wine Show in 1959 as the best young wine.

To pay tribute to PK Morkel's vision and courage, Bellevue takes the greatest care with the 1953 Pinotage block, which is still in full production. It remains the pride and joy of Bellevue and a very special wine is made from this block, named after the year "The 1953". The strict IPW and Wieta guidelines are still followed and Bellevue's gentle oldies still have a long future ahead of them. The oldest blocks include Cinsaut from 1952, Pinotage from 1953 and Chenin Blanc from 1976.

"Good wine begins in the vineyard" has always been the philosophy regarding wine quality at Bellevue. With minimal intervention in the vinification process, the winemaker's job is to preserve the pure fruit contained in the grapes and, through prudent use of oak wood, to produce wines that are elegant, balanced and unique in their class.