{"id":860677,"date":"2026-05-23T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=860677"},"modified":"2026-05-22T15:50:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:50:39","slug":"133-year-old-family-sheep-farm-in-south-africa-now-one-of-the-worlds-top-wine-brands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/860677\/133-year-old-family-sheep-farm-in-south-africa-now-one-of-the-worlds-top-wine-brands\/","title":{"rendered":"133-year-old family sheep farm in South Africa now one of the world\u2019s top wine brands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For well over 100 years, the Nieuwoudt family has farmed one of the most remote parts of South Africa, turning it into an internationally acclaimed wine brand, Cederberg Wines.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What began as a sheep and tobacco farm in the Cederberg mountains has become one of the country\u2019s top wine estates, with bottles now exported to several countries around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nieuwoudt family first arrived in South Africa in the early 1700s, before descendants moved into the Cederberg region in 1767.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1893, the present branch of the family settled on the farm Dwarsrivier, where six generations have now lived and worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 5,500-hectare farm lies within the Cederberg Wilderness Area. However, only 74 hectares are planted with vines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to owner and winemaker David Nieuwoudt, the farm\u2019s isolation initially made the idea of wine farming seem absurd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo the first Nieuwoudts actually came up in the Cederberg mountains in 1767. My grandfather farmed with tobacco and sheep for about 70 years,\u201d he said in an interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The family later diversified into fruit farming during the 1950s after recognising that the area\u2019s altitude and cold winters suited apples and pears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting around 1,100 metres above sea level, the farm experiences large swings between daytime and night-time temperatures, something Nieuwoudt believes became crucial to the quality of the wines later produced there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move into wine came almost by accident. One version of the story says a friend working for the farm suggested the family plant table grapes after seeing how well fruit performed in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first table grape vines were planted in 1965, followed by wine grapes in 1973. The experiment proved successful enough for the family to continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt that stage, everybody thought this man was absolutely crazy,\u201d Nieuwoudt said of his grandfather\u2019s decision to plant wine grapes in such a remote area. \u201cBut with amazing success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The beginning of a world-class wine farm <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
David Nieuwoudt, owner and winemaker of the Cederberg wine estate<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The first red wine vintage, produced in 1977, was small but impressed wine experts, who reportedly described it as being of \u201csuperior standards\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades, wine remained just one part of the family\u2019s broader farming operations, alongside fruit, vegetables, tobacco and livestock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That changed during the 1990s after South Africa\u2019s political transition and the lifting of sanctions opened global markets to local producers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nieuwoudt, who studied viticulture and oenology at Elsenburg Agricultural College, returned to the farm in 1996 after working at the Lievland Wine Estate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He officially took over the winemaking operations from his uncle, Oom Flippie Nieuwoudt, in 1997. \u201cWe decided basically to change everything 100% from fruit to vineyards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within three years, a Cederberg Chardonnay earned a 4.5-star rating in the 1999 edition of Platter\u2019s South African Wine Guide, helping establish the estate\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, the winery has collected numerous accolades, including gold for its Shiraz at the 2021 Syrah du Monde competition, which recognises some of the world\u2019s best Syrah wines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nieuwoudt believes the farm\u2019s unusual environment gives it a major advantage. The vineyards are surrounded by wilderness and protected from many diseases that commonly affect vineyards elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the region\u2019s cool nights and long ripening season allow grapes to develop slowly and fully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe pick the latest in South Africa due to the elevation. The grapes are really physiologically ripe,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the estate\u2019s flagship wines is the Five Generations range, which Nieuwoudt described as the winery\u2019s most expensive offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wines are produced from vineyards linked to the first blocks of Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon planted by his grandfather in 1972, which cost over R900 for a bottle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur most expensive wine is basically the Five Generations range. I\u2019ve always produced two amazing single-vineyard wines from these vineyards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the Cabernet Sauvignon in particular reflects the unique conditions of the Cederberg. \u201cIt\u2019s such a true expression of Cederberg, of soil, with physiological ripeness, with richness and balance,\u201d Nieuwoudt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the estate\u2019s international success, Nieuwoudt said the farm remains deeply rooted in family and community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 25 permanent families live on the property, while several workers\u2019 families have also been on the farm for generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s family-run, and they\u2019re like family as well. Some of them are there for four generations as well,\u201d Nieuwoudt said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Cederberg Wines \u2013 Photos <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For over a century, the Nieuwoudt family has farmed one of the most remote parts of South Africa, turning it into an internationally acclaimed wine brand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":860763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[25440,853,25441],"class_list":["post-860677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-cederberg","tag-south-africa","tag-wine-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860677"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":860773,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860677\/revisions\/860773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}