Waterford Estate | Winery Info
The Waterford Estate is a beautiful vineyard located in the Blaauwklippen Valley in the Stellenbosch Region of the Western Cape. Initially this vineyard was apart of the Stellenrust Farm prior to being purchased by the Ord Family in 1998. Made up of 120 hectares (around 60 hectares are planted) and 11 different varietals it has been managed and watched over since its inception by Kevin Arnold who is the managing partner and cellar master.
Since 2013 all winemaking responsibilities have been taken over by Mark le Roux and has been bringing all kinds of publicity to the Waterford Estate, such as being named the South African Young Winemaker of 2017 by Tim Atkin and 40 under 40 by Wine.co.za.
Waterford Estate was our second stop in Stellenbosch and one thing we definitely took a part in was the Waterford Experience. We started off our visit with the Reserve Tasting (costs R250.00 or around $21.50) which allows a visitor to taste a selection of vintage wines that show the aging potential of these wines. We tasted the 2010 Chardonnay, 2006 Shiraz, 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2006 Jem. Next up was the Wine Drive Safari (costs R850.00 or around $73.10) with Justin and Dan. The wine drive safari takes you on a three hour tour through the estate amongst the vines to taste through the estate wines with some light snacks, since it was quite windy we did our tasting near the porcupine walking trail. Once we got back to the estate we ended off our day with the wine and chocolate tasting. A lovely way to end our first day in Stellenbosch.
Waterford is the perfect place to spend an entire afternoon exploring and participating in one of the various Waterford Experiences; Portfolio Tasting, Wine & Chocolate Experience, The Jem Tasting, Wine Drive Safari, Porcupine Trail Wine Walk, Reserve Tasting and Library Collection Tasting.
The following bottlings made by Waterford Estate that we have reviewed:
- Waterford Estate Chardonnay
- Waterford Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
- Waterford Estate Grenache Noir
- Waterford Estate Méthode Cap Classique Brut
- Waterford Estate The Jem
- Waterford Estate The Library Collection: BW
- Waterford Estate The Library Collection: Grenache Blanc
- Waterford Estate Kevin Arnold Shiraz
Do you need an appointment? Yes, each of the Waterford Experiences need reservations. You can go to their website and fill in a booking request prior to your visit.
Who is their winemaker? Mark le Roux
Price Ranges: Releases prices at the Estate range from R120.00 to R2,500.00. In the USA they can be found for around $24.99 to $299.99.
Recommend: Recommended... Besides having great wines, the experience is wonderful. Staff is very knowledgeable and estate is beautiful.
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