Estate Living Digital Publication Issue 4 April 2015 | Page 6

P l ett W ine l an d s

WHATS PUTTING

6

The
Vines
Move over, Stellenbosch, for a new
and exciting bubby route has surfaced
and is hot on your heels. Possessing all
the foundations to create tasty wines,
Plettenberg Bay is in the midst of a quiet
wine revolution, stamping its Garden
Route footprint all over the international
wine map.
Peter Thorpe is the man with a vision
and is almost wholly responsible for this
uprising. Having grown up on a wine farm
in the Worcester area, Peter discovered a

piece of land in what is now fondly known
as the Crags named after the craggy
landscape, and planted his first vines,
Sauvignon Blanc, on his Bramon Wine
Estate in 2000. His dry brut uncorked a
number of firsts – not only was it a first
wine for the region, but it was also the first
bubbly to be made from Sauvignon Blanc
grapes and stimulated a new generation
of progressive wine farmers into action.
Where Peter ventured, others followed
suit and, fifteen years on, nearly 20