Paul Clüver Wines

The Clüver family acquired De Rust on the inland mountain plateau above Grabouw in 1896 and farmed it for nearly a century as a livestock operation and an export apple orchard. The pivot to wine came in the mid-1980s when viticulturists from Stellenbosch Farmers Winery, scouting cool sites across the Western Cape, identified Elgin as potentially the country's most exciting unplanted region. Dr. Paul Clüver, a practising neurosurgeon at the time, listened to their case and agreed to a joint venture, planting the valley's first commercial vineyards on De Rust in 1987. The maiden wine, a 1990 Riesling, was vinified at Nederburg in Paarl because the estate had no cellar of its own yet. The early plantings proved the climate hypothesis correct, and the Clüvers built their own cellar on De Rust in 1996, with the family taking complete ownership of the wine project shortly after. That single decision in 1987 made Paul Clüver Wines the estate that effectively created the Elgin Wine of Origin and set the template for the cool-climate, terroir-driven white and Pinot Noir styles that now define the region.

• Clüver family acquired De Rust in 1896; ran the property as apples and livestock for nearly a century
• Dr. Paul Clüver planted the valley's first commercial vineyards in 1987 in a joint venture with Stellenbosch Farmers Winery
• Maiden 1990 Riesling was made at Nederburg in Paarl before the De Rust cellar opened in 1996
• Dr. Clüver named South Africa's Farmer of the Year in 1995 in recognition of the pioneering Elgin project

Paul Clüver Wines is governed and run by the second generation of the family that committed to the Elgin project. Paul Clüver Junior, eldest son of Dr. Paul and Songvei Clüver, serves as managing director, with four of the five Clüver siblings actively involved in the business across viticulture, marketing, hospitality, and conservation. Andries Burger, the founding cellarmaster who made the first estate vintage in 1996, married into the family and has remained at the helm of the cellar for the entire history of the estate winery, an unusually long tenure that has produced exceptional vintage-to-vintage consistency. The family's commitment to community runs alongside the wine. The De Rust Futura Academy, a primary and secondary school established on the farm in 1957 by Gertrud Clüver, now educates more than 1,300 pupils from the surrounding community and operates as an independent non-profit funded substantially by the wine business.

• Paul Clüver Junior is managing director; four of five second-generation Clüver siblings work in the business
• Andries Burger has been cellarmaster from 1996 to the present; he married into the Clüver family
• De Rust Futura Academy school on the farm educates over 1,300 pupils, funded substantially by the wine business
• Family transition from Dr. Paul and Songvei Clüver (first generation of the wine project) to the current second generation is complete

De Rust spans more than 2,200 hectares of mountain bowl roughly 70 kilometres southeast of Cape Town, with 72 hectares under vine and the remainder split between apple and pear orchards, indigenous fynbos, and protected forest. The vineyards sit between 280 and 435 metres above sea level on Bokkeveld shale soils with clay subsoils, with the Riesling blocks planted into iron-rich ferricrete. Elgin is the coolest Wine of Origin in South Africa, sitting on an inland plateau that catches Atlantic Ocean breezes and persistent morning mists rolling in from False Bay. Average annual rainfall is around 700 millimetres, falling almost entirely in winter, with cool wet winters and mild summers producing pronounced diurnal temperature variation that extends the growing season. Harvest at Paul Clüver typically begins in late January with Sauvignon Blanc and finishes with Riesling deep into March, weeks behind harvest in Stellenbosch.

• De Rust totals over 2,200 hectares with 72 hectares under vine; apples, pears, fynbos, and protected forest cover the balance
• Vineyards at 280 to 435 metres on Bokkeveld shale with clay subsoils; Riesling blocks on ferricrete
• Elgin is the coolest Wine of Origin in South Africa; average annual rainfall around 700mm
• Harvest from late January through March, weeks later than Stellenbosch and other warmer South African districts

Paul Clüver is widely regarded as South Africa's leading Riesling producer, with a portfolio that spans dry, off-dry, and noble late harvest styles all from the same Elgin ferricrete blocks. The Estate Riesling is fermented with extended skin contact for textural complexity, while the Village Riesling presents the variety in a lighter, immediate style for everyday drinking. The Noble Late Harvest Riesling has become a particular benchmark, achieving 96 points from Tim Atkin in both the 2022 and 2024 South Africa Special Reports for the 2021 vintage. Andries Burger and Paul Clüver Junior are both publicly obsessed with Riesling as a variety, and the estate has long invested in it as a strategic differentiator at a time when most South African producers focused on Bordeaux and Rhône reds. Gewürztraminer rounds out the aromatic white portfolio in small volumes, an unusual offering in the South African landscape.

• Widely regarded as South Africa's leading Riesling producer with dry, off-dry, and Noble Late Harvest styles
• Noble Late Harvest Riesling 2021 scored 96 points from Tim Atkin in both the 2022 and 2024 South Africa Special Reports
• Estate Riesling shows skin-contact textural complexity; Village Riesling presents a lighter, immediate style
• Gewürztraminer included in the portfolio in small volumes, an unusual aromatic white for South Africa

Pinot Noir has been a priority at Paul Clüver since 1989, and the approach to both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is openly Burgundian in inspiration. The Estate Pinot Noir comes from the 280 to 435 metre Bokkeveld shale blocks, with hand-sorting, partial whole-bunch inclusion, and 12 months in French oak with a modest percentage of new barrels. The Estate Chardonnay is sourced from the oldest Chardonnay vines in Elgin, planted at the start of the project, with whole-bunch pressing and indigenous yeast fermentation followed by 11 months on lees in French oak. The pair represents the heart of the portfolio and the clearest statement of Elgin as a cool-climate Burgundian terroir. A separate collaboration with Martin Prieur of Domaine Jacques Prieur in Meursault produces a limited Chardonnay called Colline du Matin, which Tim Atkin named one of his Chardonnays of the Year for the 2019 vintage at 95 points.

• Pinot Noir has been a priority at Paul Clüver since 1989; approach to Pinot and Chardonnay is openly Burgundian
• Estate Pinot Noir: hand-sorted, partial whole-bunch, 12 months in French oak with modest new oak
• Estate Chardonnay sourced from the oldest Chardonnay vines in Elgin; whole-bunch pressed, indigenous yeast, 11 months on lees
• Colline du Matin Chardonnay made in collaboration with Martin Prieur of Domaine Jacques Prieur in Meursault; 2019 vintage 95 points Tim Atkin

The Seven Flags Pinot Noir and Chardonnay sit at the top of the Paul Clüver portfolio and have established the estate's international reputation. The name refers to seven flags representing the cultures and family lineages that have shaped De Rust through its history. For the Seven Flags Pinot Noir, every berry is hand-sorted individually, fermentation begins spontaneously in wooden vats, and the wine matures for 12 months in French oak with 37.5 percent new barrels, with the final Seven Flags selection assembled only after blind assessment of every Pinot Noir barrel in the cellar. The Seven Flags Chardonnay comes exclusively from the oldest south-facing Chardonnay blocks, indigenous yeast ferments entirely in barrel, and malolactic conversion is blocked to preserve natural acidity. The Seven Flags Pinot Noir 2021 scored 96 points from Tim Atkin in 2024, and the Seven Flags Chardonnay 2016 was named Best Chardonnay in Show at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2017.

• Seven Flags Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are the flagship wines; name refers to seven cultures and family lineages of De Rust
• Seven Flags Pinot Noir: hand-sorted berries, spontaneous fermentation, 12 months French oak with 37.5% new, blind barrel selection
• Seven Flags Chardonnay: oldest Elgin Chardonnay vines, indigenous yeast, malolactic conversion blocked for acidity preservation
• Seven Flags Chardonnay 2016 was Best Chardonnay in Show at Decanter World Wine Awards 2017; Seven Flags Pinot Noir 2021 scored 96 points Tim Atkin 2024

Conservation is central to the De Rust identity and has been advanced by Dr. Paul Clüver for decades. In the mid-1990s, he helped establish the Groenlandberg Conservancy involving all neighbouring landowners, which registered more than 30,000 hectares in 1998 to coordinate wildfire control and protect indigenous fynbos biodiversity. In the early 2000s he became the first Western Cape landowner to sign a perpetuity contract with CapeNature's Stewardship Programme, legally binding part of De Rust to permanent conservation. More than half of the 2,200-hectare De Rust farm now holds formal conservation status within the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, southern Africa's first declared biosphere reserve and part of the UNESCO global network. Dr. Clüver received the WWF South Africa Living Planet Award in 2022 for his pioneering conservation and regenerative agriculture work. Vineyard farming uses diverse cover crops from grasses to legumes to build soil health, and the estate is IPW (Integrated Production of Wine) sustainability certified.

• More than half of the 2,200-hectare De Rust holds formal conservation status within the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve
• Dr. Clüver was the first Western Cape landowner to sign a perpetuity contract with CapeNature's Stewardship Programme
• Groenlandberg Conservancy, founded in the mid-1990s, registered over 30,000 hectares of coordinated conservation in 1998
• Dr. Clüver received the WWF South Africa Living Planet Award in 2022; estate IPW sustainability certified

Dr. Paul Clüver co-founded Thandi Wines in 1995 alongside farmworker shareholders and South African industry partners, creating the country's first agricultural Black Economic Empowerment project in the wine sector. Thandi means joy or love in Xhosa, and the brand structure transferred majority ownership to farmworkers from the Clüver, Lebanon, and Tygerhoek farms. In 2003, Thandi became the first wine brand in the world to receive Fairtrade accreditation, a global first that anticipated by years the broader industry shift toward ethical sourcing certifications. The estate also funds and operates the De Rust Futura Academy school on the farm, which educates over 1,300 pupils from the surrounding community. The combination of conservation leadership, community education investment, and pioneering empowerment ownership structures makes Paul Clüver Wines an unusually integrated example of how a family wine business can advance multiple agendas without sacrificing wine quality.

• Dr. Clüver co-founded Thandi Wines in 1995, South Africa's first agricultural Black Economic Empowerment project in wine
• Thandi became the first wine brand in the world to receive Fairtrade accreditation in 2003
• Farmworker shareholders from Clüver, Lebanon, and Tygerhoek farms hold majority ownership in Thandi
• De Rust Futura Academy school on the farm educates over 1,300 community pupils, funded substantially by the wine business