Topiary wines was originally a fruit farm called la Tramontane until 2005, when previous owner Roy Andrews (and with a winemaking/viticultural team of Chris Albrecht, Malcolm Pemberton and Mark Carmichael Green) built a cellar and a tasting room, and launched Topiary. \n\nIn August 2014, acclaimed Burgundy producer Philippe Colin (also one of the guardians of the famous Colin-Deleger vineyard in Chassagne Montrachet) and his business partner became enchanted with the 64 hectare farm, and purchased the estate. Philippe is the winemaking partner, and his business partner, Serge Jaczynski, is a sommelier from Southern France who counts Michelin 3 star restaurants and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie among his clients. \n\nThe landscape surrounding this boutique winery is dominated by the dramatic Klein Drakenstein mountains. Topiary occupies a gently sloping lower mountain slope in the Wemmershoek Mountain‘s foothills, among the fynbos and fauna of Franschhoek Wetlands, bordered on the north and south by low sandstone ridges. The estate greatly benefits from the surrounding mountain ranges (Hottentots Holland and Simonsberg) which form a wind-generating funnel that cools the vineyards, and results in even ripening and a pronounced elegance in the wines. All the soils on the estate are sandy - products of Table Mountain sandstone and quartzite (Clovelley, Cartref, Glenrosa, Fernwood, Witfontein and La Motte). A thorough soil analysis was conducted in 1998 before planting 20 hectares of vineyards, and the data was used to select the perfect varieties (Shiraz, Cabernet and Chardonnay) and clones for each individual block. \n
