History
Nelson Estate is a small, family owned vineyard situated in the Paarl region of South Africa.
Talented young winemaker Lisha Nelson, daughter of founder Alan Nelson, ensures that the utmost care goes into producing every bottle of these award winning, great value wines.
South Africa has suffered with a negative image for wine producing for many years. This all stems from years of political turmoil in the country, no export and poor quality, mass produced wines made, largely, from the Pinotage grape. Fortunately, some producers are now making this reputation a thing of the past – Nelson Estate is one of them.
The estate is situated in the ‘Agter Paarl’ region of South Africa; a region with a long wine-making history which was first planted with vines by the French Huguenots when they arrived in South Africa in 1688.
It sits on the seaward side of the Paarl Mountain, meaning that the vineyards benefit from the close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean which brings cool night breezes and misty mornings. These factors give relief to the vines against the high temperatures of the afternoon sun and are responsible for the lovely freshness of all Nelson wines.
These points were all taken into consideration when Alan Nelson decided to pursue his childhood dream and buy an old, disused farm in 1987. He and his family restored the farm, replacing 50 hectares of old vines over the next 7 years and building a state of the art winery. Their first vintage was in 1995 and their first award was won the following year. The precedent was set: since this time, Nelsons Estate has continued to produce high quality, award winning wines.
The Vineyards
The vineyards located inAgter Paarl, a sub-region of Paarl. The close proximity to the ocean gives this area its own special microclimate; there is more rainfall here than in other wine producing regions of South Africa, which means that while surrounding areas can be dry and dusty, the land here is covered with lush green vineyards. Temperatures also fluctuate throughout the day, giving the vines some well needed relief from the hot sun. Soils are a mixture of granite from the Paarl and Paardeberg mountain ranges, and clay; both soils work together to give great balance to the wine.
The granite is excellent for drainage and gives a mineral edge to the wines, while the clay sub-soil retains water deep down, encouraging vigour in the vines. Vineyard techniqueis sustainable; the vineyards are treated with as little intervention as possible. Harvesttakes place in April/May each year when the grapes have reached full ripeness.
