Alheit Vineyards Monument Sémillon 2024

This cuvée comes from La Colline, a farm in Franschhoek, in the Western Cape. The vineyard was planted in 1936 on a south-facing slope, between 310 and 350 metres above sea level, overlooking the valley. The soils are mostly granitic and rich in quartz, and several colour mutations of Sémillon grow together there, from emerald green to pink, a feature of the old vineyards of the Cape.

All the shades of grapes are harvested together, sorted by hand, then whole-bunch pressed. The juice settles overnight with no additions whatsoever, then ferments spontaneously in old barrels for around a month. The wine stays on its primary lees in barrel for 18 months, before being bottled unfined.

This wine reveals notes of mandarin, orange peel, bitter almond, fresh herbs, lanolin, beeswax, peach and white flowers. Citrus and waxy notes make up a rich, intriguing bouquet. The palate is broad and enveloping, built in layers, with a discreet freshness that keeps it lively right through to a long finish.

The first vines were planted in South Africa by Dutch settlers in the 1650s, although wine production did not really begin to take off until the arrival of French Protestants, in the 1680s, with their skills and their knowledge of viticulture. Stellenbosch is also a historic wine region, with the first vineyards being planted there in the 1690s.



Today South Africa is one of the most important wine producing countries in the southern hemisphere. With over 300 years of winemaking history, it is often described as a bridge between the Old and New Worlds. The majority of wines are produced using New World winemaking techniques, but they often have more in common stylistically with their Old World counterparts. Since the end of apartheid, South African wine has received international attention and acclaim for its wide variety of styles.



South Africa's wine industry is spread across the lush and rugged landscape of the Western Cape. Here, the abundance of mountains, valleys and plateaus allows winemakers to produce a wide variety of styles. Vineyards can also be found in the Orange River region of the Northern Cape, where the flat, arid landscape is dominated by the Kalahari Desert. Most of South Africa's wine regions have a Mediterranean climate, strongly influenced by the meeting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.



The country's signature grape variety is Pinotage, an indigenous cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut that is rarely found in quantity in other wine-producing countries. Shiraz (Syrah) is also widely planted, as are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (often combined in a Bordeaux blend). South African Chardonnay, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc have become popular internationally in recent years.