Babylonstoren

Babylonstoren's history begins in 1692, when Governor Simon van der Stel granted the farm to burgher Pieter van der Byl. The name itself, Babylonstoren (Babylon's Tower), refers to a nearby koppie that early Dutch settlers thought resembled the Biblical tower. The property is one of the oldest continuously-farmed Cape properties, and the original Cape Dutch werf (homestead complex) survives at the heart of the estate today. For most of the twentieth century, Babylonstoren was a working agricultural farm, but its modern transformation began in 2007 when Karen Roos and her husband Koos Bekker acquired the property. Roos, formerly the editor of Elle Decoration South Africa, brought an interior-design and editorial sensibility to the redesign. Bekker, the long-standing chairman of Naspers (the South African media conglomerate that became one of the world's most valuable technology investors through its Tencent stake), provided the capital and the patient long-term horizon required to rebuild the estate at uncompromising standards. The couple's vision centred on the garden. Inspired by the seventeenth-century Company's Garden in Cape Town (originally laid out by Jan van Riebeeck to supply passing Dutch East India Company ships), they commissioned French architect Patrice Taravella to design a three-and-a-half-hectare formal garden of fruit, vegetables, herbs, and ornamentals, divided into more than three hundred geometric beds. Around the garden, they restored the historic Cape Dutch buildings and added a hotel, restaurants, spa, retail, and a fully modern wine cellar.

• Granted in 1692 to Pieter van der Byl by Governor Simon van der Stel; one of the Cape's oldest continuously-farmed properties
• Name refers to a nearby koppie early Dutch settlers compared to the Biblical Tower of Babel
• Acquired 2007 by Karen Roos (former Elle Decoration South Africa editor) and Koos Bekker (Naspers chairman)
• Garden designed by French architect Patrice Taravella, inspired by the Company's Garden of Cape Town

Babylonstoren sits in the Simondium area at the foot of the Simonsberg mountain, between Paarl and Franschhoek in the wider Paarl wine district. The Simonsberg is the dominant geographic feature in this corner of the Cape, with its slopes and granite-derived soils supporting some of the country's most celebrated estates on both the Stellenbosch and Paarl sides. The vineyards extend across the lower slopes of the Simonsberg, drawing on weathered-granite soils and the cooling influence that filters down from the higher elevations. Plantings span the major Cape varieties: Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay for the whites, Mourvedre and Viognier for southern Rhone-style and Mediterranean wines, and the full Bordeaux red varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec) for the Babel blend.

• Located in the Simondium area at the foot of the Simonsberg mountain, in the wider Paarl wine district
• Vineyards on weathered-granite soils with cooling influence from the Simonsberg's upper elevations
• Plantings span Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Viognier, Mourvedre, Shiraz, and the full Bordeaux red varieties
• Position between Paarl and Franschhoek places the estate within reach of the Cape's premium wine tourism corridor

The Babylonstoren wine programme spans accessible single varietals and the flagship Bordeaux blend. The Chenin Blanc is a light, crisp, unwooded expression with tropical fruit (guava, melon) and refreshing acidity. The Viognier shows dried peach and apricot aromas with a small percentage of French oak maturation for textural creaminess. The Chardonnay and Shiraz round out the single-varietal range, and the Mourvedre Rose is a distinctive savoury rose that reflects the estate's affinity for Rhone-style and Mediterranean varieties. The flagship is Babel, the Bordeaux-style blend named for the eponymous restaurant on the estate. Designed to celebrate the diversity of the Babylonstoren garden, Babel brings together all five Bordeaux red cultivars (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec), with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in dominant roles. The blend shows polished structured tannin, dark-fruit core (cassis, plum, dark cherry), and cedar-graphite notes from extended French oak. A second Bordeaux blend sits in the range as well, alongside Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz varietal releases.

• Chenin Blanc: light, crisp, unwooded with tropical fruit (guava, melon) and refreshing acidity
• Viognier: dried peach and apricot aromas, small percentage French oak for creaminess
• Mourvedre Rose: savoury distinctive rose reflecting affinity for Rhone-style varieties
• Babel Bordeaux blend (flagship): five-cultivar Bordeaux blend with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot dominant, named for the estate's signature restaurant

Babylonstoren is best understood not as a wine estate that happens to have a hotel, but as a comprehensive destination experience built around a working garden, with wine as one essential pillar among many. The estate hosts a hotel (set in restored Cape Dutch buildings), the Babel restaurant (the showpiece garden-to-table dining room serving dishes drawn from the day's garden harvest), the Greenhouse restaurant, a spa, a substantial retail operation selling estate-produced food and beauty products, and the wine cellar. Karen Roos's design vision and Koos Bekker's capital have made Babylonstoren one of the most internationally recognised South African estates of any kind, with regular features in Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, and The World's 50 Best Hotels lists. The model has been exported internationally: in 2013 the couple acquired The Newt in Somerset, England, which has since been developed along similar lines as a garden-centred destination with hotel, gardens, restaurants, and cyder (apple wine) production. Additional projects in France and elsewhere extend the template further.

• Multi-faceted destination: hotel, Babel and Greenhouse restaurants, spa, retail, working garden, wine cellar
• Internationally recognised in Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, and World's 50 Best Hotels lists
• Babel restaurant serves garden-to-table dishes drawn from the daily harvest of the formal garden
• Bekker-Roos model exported internationally: The Newt in Somerset (England, acquired 2013) and additional projects

Babylonstoren is a singular case in South African wine. It is at once one of the country's oldest continuously-farmed Cape Dutch properties (1692 land grant) and one of its most assertively modern hospitality and lifestyle destinations (since 2007). For visitors and students of South African wine, it represents the model of a vertically integrated estate experience in which the garden, the kitchen, the cellar, and the visitor accommodation all operate as one connected programme. The wine programme itself is serious and capable: Babel is a credible Cape Bordeaux blend that holds its own among Paarl and Simonsberg-Paarl peers, and the white and Rhone-style wines reflect the diversity that defines the modern Cape. But the larger contribution is the demonstration that a South African estate can compete at the highest international tier of lifestyle hospitality and that wine, food, garden, and design can be presented as a coherent whole. The Newt project in Somerset and the wider Bekker-Roos portfolio show this model has international export potential beyond the Cape itself.

• One of the Cape's oldest continuously-farmed Dutch land grants (1692), restored as a destination estate since 2007
• Model for vertically integrated estate experience: garden, cellar, restaurants, hotel, retail all operating as one programme
• Babel Bordeaux blend is a credible Paarl Bordeaux-style red, with Chenin Blanc, Viognier, and Mourvedre Rose anchoring the white and rose programme
• International model exported to The Newt (Somerset, England, 2013) and additional Bekker-Roos projects