What Makes a Wine Estate Worth Living On
There is a particular kind of property listing that has appeared steadily over the last fifteen years in South Africa, in California, in the Mosel, in Tuscany, in Sussex. The question this article tries to answer honestly is: what is actually being offered when you buy into one of these places, and what should you ask before you do?
Living with Fynbos
Most luxury property in the Western Cape sits within or adjacent to fynbos habitat. This is true of estates in Hermanus, Stellenbosch, Constantia, Franschhoek, and the broader Cape Winelands. When you buy a plot in one of these areas, you are buying within the floral kingdom whether you have been told about it or not.
The Swallow’s Year
Every bottle of Benguela Cove sold in the UK has, in a sense, made the same journey our founder describes below. Penny Streeter OBE owns two wine estates at opposite ends of the earth, Benguela Cove on South Africa's Walker Bay and Leonardslee in West Sussex, and here she explains what moving between them teaches a winemaker. This is the story behind what we call the Follow the Swallow journey.