"For the second consecutive year Spier was the country's top achiever at the prestigious Concours Mondial des Bruxelles competition."

Winemakers

Our Cellar Master believes that the quality of the wine starts in the vineyard. He grew up on a table-grape farm, and this instilled a deep appreciation of the value of good fruit.

Frans studied viticulture as well as winemaking, and also employs a full-time viticulturist as part of the winemaking team at Spier. Together they ensure that the vineyards are meticulously managed to produce quality fruit that is picked at optimum ripeness for Spier’s wines.

From vineyard to cellar, the grapes are handled with utmost care.  They are picked by hand, and immediately cooled when they arrive at the cellar. The grapes are then hand-sorted and, in spite of strict vineyard practices, up to 10% do not make it past the sorting tables. Special attention is paid to the pressing and crushing process – an area the Cellar Master believes is critical to the quality of the wine. The juice from each vineyard block is placed in separate tanks so the team can monitor its performance year-on-year. 

Spier’s cellar has ISO 22000 certification, is Fair Trade accredited, organically certified and follows the Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) criteria.

Our cellar

Spier's state-of-the-art cellar and team of dedicated and creative winemakers are producing award-winning wines renowned for their premium quality. 

Spier is one of the few South African wineries to be certified under ISO 22000—a standard developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation. A rigorous method of process control, ISO indicates Spier’s commitment to the highest standards.

Winegrowing & Vineyards

The grapes for our wines are grown in some of the best wine-producing areas in the Cape. Home vineyards on the foothills of the Helderberg Mountain are planted with classic cultivars 80 to 360 metres above sea level in deep, weathered granite soils. Strict vineyard management ensures the highest quality grapes while keeping a balance with the natural surrounds.

Cover crops are used to prevent soil compaction and increase aeration and water drainage in winter. The vines are trellised to spread the canopy for peak sunlight exposure and to offer protection from prevailing winds. Unproductive shoots are removed (a process called suckering) to promote air circulation, naturally preventing fungal disease.

The Spier Way of Winemaking

Spier's access to a broad spread of vineyards, spanning some of the Cape's best wine producing areas, gives the winemaking team significant choice in selecting the best of the region's grapes.

Notwithstanding meticulous vineyard management and handpicking, up to 10% of premium quality grapes do not make it past the sorting tables at the Spier cellar.

A databasing system has enabled the winemaking team to identify the vineyards that consistently yield the best of the grapes. These are used for the flagship blend Frans K. Smit, which has been ten years in the making, is only produced in small volume and only in excellent vintages.

Custom-designed palettes protect the grapes as they arrive at the cellar, with a cooling system immediately chilling the freshly picked fruit. Special attention is paid to the pressing and crushing process—an area the Cellar Master believes is critical to the quality of the wine.

The juice is fermented in stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels, with flagship reds fermenting in open-top fermenters. The premium reds and some whites undergo malolactic fermentation, to make the acids softer in the wine.

White wines are fermented cold to protect their elegant flavours, with some wines residing on the primary lees (yeast cells that have fallen to the bottom of the tank). This imparts a richly nutty flavour, adding to character and complexity. French oak barrels are used to mature selected wines, adding again to their structure and elegance. At all stages, however, the team seeks to preserve the exceptional natural flavours found in the Spier grapes, by means of a ‘minimal intervention’ winemaking policy.

Red wines are fermented warmer, and on the skins for optimal tannin extraction, maximising the structure and mid-palate of the wines. The latter is seen as the defining factor of a great red wine; along with colour concentration—the main criteria used in deciding when to pick the grapes at harvest time. The wines mature in barrel for anything up to 27 months, the longest residence being with the Frans K Smit.

Each Spier wine is produced by blending the various barrels or tanks, with continual tastings conducted by the Spier winemaking team. Wines that were intended for the flagship range may not make the selection, being used instead in superlative blends or single cultivar wines.