De Morgenzon’s Quartet

This week we're delighted to welcome the wines of South Africa's De Morgenzon to our portfolio. These wines offer truly amazing value for money and partly because of that we are not able to offer a promotional price as aggressive as we normally do. But we do know that these vintages will be sold out within the next couple of weeks and the new vintages will go up in price. We're also pleased to advise that our small allocation of the 2010 Greywacke Chardonnay is now in stock and that the Shaw & Smith Adelaide Hills Sauvignon is now on offer in addition to the M3 Chardonnay and Adelaide Hills Shiraz.

De Morgenzon is Dutch for "the morning sun," a fitting name for this boutique property high on the Stellenboschkloof, which is the first to be touched by the rising sun's rays. De Morgenzon's high altitude vineyards command sweeping views of Table Mountain and Cape Point, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. Embracing the philosophy that a biodiverse and ecologically sensitive environment produces infinitely better grapes, proprietors Wendy and Hylton Appelbaum have established De Morgenzon as a 91 hectare garden interspersed with 55 hectares of carefully tended vineyards, where abundant wildflowers flourish between the vines. The vineyards are currently farmed naturally, and the estate is in the process of converting to organic farming.

Classical music drifts over the vineyard to entertain the vines at De Morgenzon and encourage them to bear quality fruit. Perhaps that is no surprise since proprietors Wendy and Hylton Appelbaum own Classic FM radio. Apparently the vines respond best to classical baroque music. Research studies cited on the De Morgenzon website appear to show that playing classical music has a positive effect on root growth and plant genes. It makes some sense since a vine with a bigger surface area of leaves increases photosynthesis and, as a result, sugar and flavour accumulation in the grapes (Neal Martin, Tim Atkin).