Why aristea?
Born from the ashes and found only in Madagascar and the Cape, the Aristea flower flourishes on land ravaged by fire, opening for just one day each year. It also symbolises the struggle, passion and dedication required to produce every new vintage of our special collection of handmade wines. Wines that express a sense of place, crafted with skill and adventure by friends united in a single purpose: to capture the elegance and spirit of South Africa.
The Painting And THe Artist
Vicki Thomas is a leading botanical artist who from the moment she painted her first flower in watercolour in 1980, knew it would be a lifelong passion. We are most sincerely grateful to her for our beautiful botanical painting of the Aristea flower, a species that grows in her garden in Betty’s Bay in South Africa, and adorns all our labels.
Prelimary sketches and final painting, by Vicki Thomas.
The People
MARTIN KRAJEWSKI
Martin grew up on a small farm and made his first elderberry wine at the age of 14 and although the results were not quite as expected, the dream was born. He first invested in Château de Sours in 1996, joining the board in 2003 and becoming proprietor in 2004 before selling the property in 2015 to Jack Ma of Alibaba. He was also a founding partner of Songlines Estates in Australia in 2003 working with John Duval until 2011 when the business was successfully sold. In 2006 he purchased Clos Cantenac in St Emilion and in 2016 Château Séraphine in Pomerol.
Florent Dumeau
Florent studied oenology at Bordeaux
University and has since worked for many leading properties around the world, including Boschendal and Rupert Rothschild in South Africa, Gallo in USA, Penfolds in Australia, Planeta in Italy, La CVNE in Spain amongst many others. Formerly the Technical Director of SARCO Laboratories in Bordeaux, he has extensive experience of winemaking and vineyard management, as well as considerable expertise in France, Italy, Greece, Hungary, South Africa, Turkey, China and Serbia.
MATT KRONE
Matthew is a passionate 12th generation winemaker, wine consultant and wine marketer. His family have been successful and innovative winemakers in South Africa for over 300 years. He produces his own range of premium quality wines as well as consulting for various prestigious South African wineries and wine merchants. Over the past 17 years he has specialized in the production of bottle fermented sparkling wines (Methode Cap Classique). His motto in life is to always undertake each task with passion, purpose and integrity.
OUR AMBITIONS & BELIEFS
We started this wonderful adventure with just one thought in mind:
TO PRODUCE EXCEPTIONAL WINES THAT ENCAPSULATE THE WILD SPIRIT AND RAW BEAUTY OF THIS WONDERFUL LAND AND THAT MAKE PEOPLE SMILE.
To realise those ambitions, we work carefully with the top wine farms in the region to source and access their finest fruit and we remain uncompromising in our attention to detail, employing only the best practices in our winemaking.
We also promise to carefully observe and respect the traditional rigour and history of the Western Cape on our long journey and to adapt our work in such a way that it blends seamlessly with local craftsmanship and techniques, bringing a modern and creative approach to the production of our great wines.