Warwick First Lady Pinotage, Western Cape 2023

Warwick Estate has been at the forefront of the Cape’s wine scene since the 1960s, when Norma Ratcliffe bought the Stellenbosch estate with her husband, Stan. Together they revived a winemaking tradition which went back as far as 1770. Until 2018 stewardship was in the dynamic hands of their son Mike Ratcliffe, who oversaw a new era of expansion and innovation. There is now a fine tasting room on site as well as a range of gourmet picnic opportunities and the chance for a Land Rover vineyard tour with stunning views over the Simonsberg and town of Stellenbosch nearby.

Between 1771 and 1902, the farm was called De Goede Sukses, literally translated as The Good Success. Following the end of the Anglo-Boer War in 1902 the commanding officer of the Warwickshire Regiment, Colonel William Alexander Gordon, bought the farm and renamed it Warwick in tribute to his old regiment. In 1964 Stan and Norma bought the estate and after Stan’s death, Norma guided Warwick to acclaim with her flagship wine, Trilogy.

First produced in 1986, Trilogy is a three-varietal Bordeaux-style blend. Cabernet sauvignon-led until the fine 2015 vintage when cabernet franc took over for the first time, its influence in the blend having been growing in preceding vintages under cellarmaster Nic van Aarde, who gained both experience and love of the grape both as a stagiare at Château Angélus in Bordeaux and closer to home at Mulderbosch. Nic shared his love of cabernet franc with Norma Ratcliffe, who also honed her winemaking skills in Bordeaux, and Warwick was among the first to bottle it as a single varietal as far back as 1988, with consistent acclaim.

The wine portfolio also includes the Blue Lady Cabernet Sauvignon (set to grow in importance now that Trilogy is cabernet franc-led, and thanks to Warwick's commitment to the Stellenbosch and Simonsberg Cabernet Sauvignon initiative) and White Lady Chardonnay. Professor Black was for many years a sauvignon blanc but from the 2017 vintage has been reintroduced as a Bordeaux-style sauvignon semillon blend, using fruit sourced from Elgin and Darling. Other wines include The First Lady Chardonnay and Cabernet, vinous tributes to the estate's matriarch, Norma Ratcliffe, who became the first female to be invited to join the august Cape Winemakers Guild of leading South African winemakers.

2018 was a momentous year for the Ratcliffe family and for Warwick Estate. Norma decided it was time to retire, and together she and Mike took the decision to sell the business to a partnership of American and Indian investors, who also bought the large Uitkyk farm from neighbours Kanonkop, just across the road. It is still early days but Warwick under a brand new team is setting its sights on growing both production and brand recognition.