Raats Family Wines

Bruwer Raats grew up steeped in the wine world. After graduating from Elsenburg Agricultural College in 1995, he took the cellar master position at Delaire Graff at age 26, becoming the youngest cellar master in South Africa at that time. In 2000, he struck out on his own with a clear and unfashionable proposition: build a Stellenbosch producer dedicated to Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc alone, two varieties he believed were widely under-realised on Cape soils. The land he could afford was in the Polkadraai Hills, then a less-prized western flank of the Stellenbosch district. The granite-based soils that other producers had overlooked turned out to be exactly right for the project. The first vintages quickly established that Polkadraai Hills could produce mineral, structured Chenin and savoury, fine-tannin Cabernet Franc at a level no one had previously attempted on this scale in South Africa. The core principle, excellence through specialisation, still drives every cellar decision. Where most Stellenbosch estates make a broad spread of varieties, Raats stays focused on its two grapes and explores them across multiple expressions, soils, and vine ages.

• Founded 2000 with the deliberately narrow focus of Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc
• Bruwer Raats: Elsenburg graduate (1995); youngest cellar master in South Africa at Delaire Graff before founding the estate
• Decomposed-granite Polkadraai Hills soils proved ideal for both Chenin and Cabernet Franc despite the ward's then-overlooked status
• Philosophy of 'excellence through specialisation' anchors every range and cellar decision

The Polkadraai Hills sit on the western edge of Stellenbosch facing False Bay, roughly 12 kilometres from the Atlantic coastline. Decomposed-granite soils dominate the slopes, providing free drainage, low natural fertility, and the mineral spine that runs through the house style. Maritime cooling from False Bay tempers summer heat and extends the ripening window relative to inland Stellenbosch sites, supporting freshness and aromatic precision. The Eden block, planted behind Bruwer's home, is a high-density experimental site at 8,000 vines per hectare. The density forces each vine to compete for limited resources, concentrating phenolic and aromatic intensity in the resulting Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. The Cabernet Franc plot covers just 0.2 hectares, producing tiny volumes of one of South Africa's most singular reds.

• Polkadraai Hills ward on the western edge of Stellenbosch, with False Bay maritime influence
• Decomposed-granite soils provide drainage, low fertility, and a mineral house signature
• Eden High Density Single Vineyard planted at 8,000 vines per hectare on granite directly behind the family home
• Eden Cabernet Franc block: 0.2 hectares, one of South Africa's most concentrated single-vineyard sites

The Raats range reads as a sustained meditation on two grapes. On the Chenin Blanc side, Original Chenin Blanc is the entry expression, fresh and unwooded. Family Old Vine Chenin Blanc moves up to barrel-fermented texture from older bush-vine fruit. Eden High Density Single Vineyard Chenin Blanc sits at the apex, a concentrated, mineral, ageable wine from the eight-thousand-vines-per-hectare home block. The Cabernet Franc range mirrors this structure. Original Cabernet Franc is the approachable younger sibling. Dolomite Cabernet Franc steps up in concentration and structure. Eden High Density Single Vineyard Cabernet Franc anchors the apex, fermented from the tiny 0.2-hectare high-density block and considered one of South Africa's benchmark expressions of the variety. The MR de Compostella, a separate collaborative project between Bruwer and Mzokhona Mvemve, sits alongside the core range. First made in 2004, it is a Bordeaux blend whose composition shifts each vintage based on blind tasting scores. Component wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot) are barrel-aged separately for 12 months, then blended and matured another 12 months for a 24-month total. The 2020 blend was 30 percent Cabernet Franc, 28 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 21 percent Malbec, 16 percent Merlot, and 5 percent Petit Verdot.

• Chenin Blanc tiers: Original (unwooded), Family Old Vine (barrel-fermented from old bush vines), Eden High Density Single Vineyard (apex)
• Cabernet Franc tiers: Original, Dolomite, Eden High Density Single Vineyard (one of South Africa's benchmark Cab Franc expressions)
• MR de Compostella: Mvemve Raats collaborative Bordeaux blend since 2004; 24 months total in barrel (12 months as varietal wines, 12 months as blend)
• House signature: granite minerality, savoury fine-tannin Cabernet Franc, textural-but-precise Chenin Blanc

Raats is now firmly established as one of South Africa's reference producers, particularly for Cabernet Franc, a variety it has done more than any other estate to elevate in the Cape conversation. In 2018, the producer earned five out of seven possible five-star ratings in the John Platter South African Wine Guide in a single year, a feat no other South African winemaker had previously achieved. International critics including Tim Atkin MW, Neal Martin, and Greg Sherwood MW have repeatedly placed the Eden range and MR de Compostella among the country's highest-scoring red and white wines. The Cabernet Franc programme is widely cited as the international reference for the variety in the Southern Hemisphere, alongside top examples from Bordeaux's Right Bank.

• 2018 Platter's Wine Guide: five of seven possible five-star ratings in a single year, a South African record
• Eden High Density Single Vineyard and MR de Compostella regularly score among the country's highest red and white wines from major critics
• Widely cited as the international reference for Southern Hemisphere Cabernet Franc
• Bruwer Raats has built a reputation as one of South Africa's most rigorous and focused winemakers

Raats Family Wines is the rare modern producer to anchor an international reputation on grape specialisation rather than breadth. By committing entirely to Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc, Bruwer Raats has built a portfolio that explores two varieties with unusual depth, from entry-level expressions to vineyard-singular benchmarks. For students of South African wine, Raats is essential context for three reasons. It is the proof case that the Polkadraai Hills ward can produce wines at the same critical level as the more celebrated Simonsberg-Stellenbosch and Helderberg sub-areas. It is the country's clearest reference for serious Cabernet Franc, a variety still underplayed elsewhere in the New World. And the high-density Eden block is a concrete example of how vine spacing and density can radically reshape what a Stellenbosch site is capable of expressing.

• Proof that specialisation in two varieties can drive a top-tier international reputation
• Established Polkadraai Hills as a serious quality ward alongside Simonsberg-Stellenbosch and Helderberg
• South Africa's leading Cabernet Franc reference, with the Eden block as the apex expression
• High-density planting at Eden demonstrates how vine spacing reshapes site expression