Slaley Wine Estate

WELCOME TO SLALEY

Visit us on our beautiful wine estate today, where we feature our extensive wine tasting experience, delicious food on the deck, live music over weekends with fun for the whole family.


HISTORY OF SLALEY

The origin of the name Slaley cannot be understood without reference to the Hunting Family.

Charles Hunting was a ship and landowner and started the first Hunting Company in 1874. After his death, his second son, Charles Samuel took over and expanded the shipping activities and built Slaley Hall near the village of Slaley outside Newcastle.

Turning the company over to his two sons, it was the younger, Gerald Lindsay, my grandfather, who lived most of his life at Slaley Hall. During WW1 Gerald Lindsay was badly wounded at Ypres and was discharged out of the army but joined the Royal Flying Corps where he served till after the end of the war.

This was the start of a long family association with aircraft operating and manufacture. Their various stakes in shipping, aerospace and land estates bear testimony to the individual tastes and passions of family members. Land, sea and air are perennial themes; reflected in our labels.

After WWII Gerald Lindsay had to sell Slaley Hall but subsequently named all of his new homes Slaley. When Martin Hunting settled in the Cape, he bought Slaley, (formerly known as Simonsig) in 1957, Ernita in 1961, Klein Natte Vallei in 1970, Bonne Esperance in 1976, Summerhill in 1987, Aandgloed in 91, and La Paris in 96.

The Cellar was built in 1995 from which date we terminated our long-standing association with Nederburg and started producing our own wines. At present we produce some 10 000 cases of wine. This will be increased to around 30 000 cases in the future should time and budget allow.

Our main focus is on the production of quality red wines with a limited amount of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.


HISTORY OF BROKEN STONE

The story behind the Broken Stone label is that when my father first acquired the farm in 1957, he was clearing some bush at a boundary, and uncovered a large stone which had fallen over, and which did not appear to belong there.

After re-erecting it and clearing off the dirt he found the inscription WCG 1751 on it. Many years later it came to the attention of Professor Vos, Historical Archaeologist of the University of Stellenbosch, who did some scratching and decided that the CG stood for Christoffel Groenewald, the first owner of the farm, that the W was added some time later after his death as it is somewhat crowded and in a different font and stood for Weduwee (widow), and that the date was probably the date that the stones were erected as they did not correspond exactly to the date that the farm was first promulgated.

Three more stones were found over the years. One had been broken off and removed to a neighbouring farm,. And one had been defaced. The two survivors were brought to the cellar for safekeeping.

With this range it is intended to make wines for earlier accessibility and of a more modern style.


CONTACT US

Email: info@slaley.co.za or venue@slaley.co.za
Tel: +27 (0)21 865 2123
Fax: +27 (0)86 5292 347

After Hours:
Tel: Noel Rowe +27 (0)76 3492 866

Postal Address
PO Box 119
Koelenhof
Stellenbosch, 7605
South Africa

Office Hours
Tuesday to Friday: 9h00 – 16h00
(Excl. Mondays, 24 & 25 Des, 1 Jan, Good Friday)