Established 1941, Riebeek Valley Wine Co is authentically W.O. Swartland.
We have a passion for this unique landscape and for the people of the Riebeek Valley.
Through close collaboration with our community, our wine team distill the expressive nature of the Swartland wine region. While we are passionate about our own wine ranges, Riebeek Valley Wine Co. is also a leading Boutique Wine Services Company. We provide an extensive range of products and services to the South African and global wine industry. Through collaboration with winemakers, distributors and retailers, we provide wines of exceptional quality and distinct Swartland expression to consumers around the world.
With individual Swartland producers throughout the Riebeek Valley and our team of wine experts, Riebeek Valley Wine Co. is well-positioned to drive growth in the wine industry. We are committed to preserving the heritage we have in our Swartland vineyards by focusing exclusively on: Wine of Origin Swartland; continuously improving quality production; and sustainable partnerships. We are committed to supply our clients with the highest-quality, highly specialised products and services, according to their individual needs.
Welcome to the Riebeek Valley Family – Guardians of the Swartland, Custodians of Quality…
Our Values
Home Grown
We focus exclusively on Wine of Origin Swartland. Swartland because we believe it’s the unique conditions present in the Swartland and the Riebeek Valley that provide us with ingredients necessary to create products of exceptional quality.
Collaborative
The Collective Knowledge and Experience of our producers, winemakers, viticulturists, employees, clients and all other stakeholders drive our passion, our innovation, our growth and enables the creation of our exceptional products and services.
Consious
We ensure that we care for and respect all the factors that influence the products and services we create; be it the environment, our people, our clients, our community and the greater wine industry. This is how we are able to make sure our products and services are sustainable and relevant from vineyard to glass.
Wine Of Origin Swartland
The Swartland is a rugged place of untamed beauty and unique, distinctive terroir.
The terroir of the Riebeek Valley is mainly affected by a Mediterranean climate and diverse, prehistoric Sandstone and Shale soils from the majestic Kasteelberg Mountain. Both significantly influence the style and quality of our wines.
Our vineyards are situated at heights that vary from 60m to 300m above sea level, against the slopes and foothills of the Kasteelberg Mountain. Because of the topography, the soils offer rich diversity, including: Oakleaf and Dundee alluvial soil from the sediment of die Berg River and Glenrosa soils from underlying shale along the Kasteelberg Mountain. Rainfall occurs during winter months with enough cold units to ensure a proper rest phase for the vines before bud-break in early September. The summers are intensely hot and dry with some cooling westerly winds that are ideal conditions for producing fine white and red wines. A low bearing region with limited irrigation, our key vineyards are still farmed as either dry land farms, or with some supplementary irrigation to help the crop to optimum ripeness.
The soils and dry land conditions have proved ideal for bush vine (un-trellised) vineyards. The dry land conditions result in small berries with layered flavour, near perfect colour and soft tannin structures that deliver fruit-driven, expressive wines. The Riebeek Valley supports a great diversity of varietals that flourish here but it is our exceptional Chenin Blanc, Shiraz & Pinotage that shows the best of what the Swartland terroir can do. Making wine you can be proud of, is largely dependent on the vineyard source. Communication and trust go into farming excellent grapes. Riebeek Valley Wine Co. work closely with our producers to cultivate long-term, mutually beneficial relationships that focus on research, training and transfer on knowledge, that ultimately produce great wines.
Meet the Wine Team
Our expert wine team, including a full-time viticulturist, collaborates with our Riebeek Valley producers to sustainably develop varietals and sites that best translates the Swartland terroir.
Our Commitment to Ethical Practices
Riebeek Valley Wine Co. is passionate about the ideals of the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW), a South African initiative that aims to decrease chemical intervention and improve waste management throughout the industry. It’s also why we’re a member of the WWF’s Biodiversity in Wine Initiative (BWI), which underlines our commitment to protecting our remaining endemic ‘renosterbos’ and adopting better farming practices to ensure healthier natural systems. We are WIETA accredited and we require that all our producers are also certified. WIETA accreditation helps us focus our energies toward ethical trade, fair labour policies and the highest level of occupational health and safety compliance. While we regularly review and update our HACCP and ISO9001 rating, our BRC rating is covered by our shareholding in Paarl Valley Bottling Co. where we bottle all our own wines.
Because we value the people in our community, Partnership Vineyards is the fruit of the Riebeek Valley Wine Co. empowerment project. Our farm & cellar workers are shareholders of these vineyards.