Neethlingshof Estate
Our story
Neethlingshof lies in the very heart of the Cape’s Winelands. Flanked by the Bottelary Hills and Papegaaiberg Mountain near Stellenbosch and overlooking False Bay, this beautiful, historic farm offers not only breathtaking scenery, but also a taste of traditional Cape culture blended with influences from both Africa and Europe.
How we started
The history of Neethlingshof Estate spans more than 300 years. In 1692, Willem Barend Lubbe, a German settler, began farming the site he had been granted by Governor of the Cape Simon van der Stel on the Bottelary Hills overlooking False Bay. He named the farm De Wolwedans, “The Dance of Wolves”, having mistaken for wolves the packs of jackals roaming the countryside.
Craftmanship
At Neethlingshof winemakers worked unhurriedly at perfecting their craft. For more than a century the Estate has been synonymous with the best wine-making traditions of the Western Cape.
Biodiversity
Since 2003 Neethlingshof has been following an active biodiversity orientated strategy in its farming practices. We are moving away from a mono culture of vines and in the process we are giving back to nature some of what we took from her in the past.
Neethlingshof Estate
Our Timeline
Willem Barend Lubbe Granted Land
In 1692 Willem Barend Lubbe, a German settler, began farming the site he had been granted by Simon van der Stel on the Bottelary Hills overlooking False Bay. He named the farm De Wolwedans, which means “The Dance of Wolves”, because he mistook the packs of jackals which roamed the countryside in those early days of European settlement for wolves.
Charles & Maria Magdalena Marais buy De Wolwedans
After Lubbe sold the De Wolwedans in 1717 the farm changed hands multiple times until 1788 when Charles Marais and his 18 year old wife, Maria Magdalena Marais, bought the farm. They immediately started improving the property by expanding the vineyards, building the cellars and planting tobacco.
Wine Cellar Built
The Marais family finished the wine cellar in 1802 to enable wine production to start.
Manor House Completed by Maria Marais
Maria and Charles had five children of whom two unfortunately died in infancy. They started to build the manor house but Charles died during 1813, just more than one year before the house was completed in 1814. The finishing of the house (where The Restaurant is currently housed) was personally supervised by Maria and the building was completed in 1814, with Maria adding the date as well as the 6 flower images with her own hands.
Johannes Henoch Neethling becomes joint owner
Maria’s daughter Anna Margaretha married Johannes Henoch Neethling in 1825 and he was made joint owner along with Maria’s youngest son, Petrus Johannes Marais. Soon afterwards Petrus sold his portion of the farm to Johannes Henoch Neethling making him the sole owner, and De Wolwedans was changed to Neethlings’s Hof.
Jakobus Phillipus Louw takes ownership
Neethling’s youngest daughter inherited Neethling’s Hof and after she married Jakobus Phillipus Louw in 1870 he formally took ownership of the farm. The farm stayed in the Louw family for ± 90 years during which time the spelling was changed to Neethlingshof.
Jan Momberg buys the farm
In 1963 Jan Momberg bought the farm.
Hans Joachim Schreiber buys Neethlingshof
Jan Momberg sold Neethlingshof to Hans Joachim Schreiber, a Geman banker, in 1985. Schreiber immediately embarked on a total renovation programme restoring the buildings and replanting the vineyards.
Lusan Premium Wines Created
In July 1999 Distillers Corporation joined forces with Schreiber to form Lusan Premium Wines. Lusan was responsible for the farming activities and production of wine from three farms previously owned by Distillers, namely Le Bonheur, Uitkyk and Alto, together with the four farms owned by Schreiber (Neethlingshof, Stellenzicht, Olives and Hillandale) which traded under the brand names of Neethlingshof Estate and Stellenzicht Vineyards.
Schreiber Family Buys Neethlingshof Estate
The joint venture with Distell came to an end and Neethlingshof is now once again 100% owned by the Schreiber family.
Les Grands Chais de France Buys Neethlingshof
Neethlingshof has been sold to Iwayini, the South African subsidiary of GCF (Grands Chais de France), a company owned and run by the Helfrich family.