Since 1912, the Jonker family has called Weltevrede home. Klaas Jonker, the man behind the estate’s founding, was a visionary who planted the region’s first vines. His son Japie Jonker received Weltevrede in the 1930s, and he started growing wine there in 1933. To meet the increasing grape production, Japie increased the size of the Weltevrede winery. The original vines that the estate’s founder planted can still be found at Weltevrede today. The fruit of these vines, a representation of a blessed family history firmly entrenched in the origins of Weltevrede, has been enjoyed by five generations of Jonkers.
Nearly just as much as the soil itself, Weltevrede loves the family experience and the close-knit sharing of the soil’s feel. Each vine, each delectable grape berry, and each succeeding wine are built on this anchor of Weltevrede, which is rooted in time itself. The soils of the Weltevrede vineyards are drastically diverse, despite being adjacent to one another and having sharp changes from one to the next. On Weltevrede, there are 72 distinct vineyards, some of which are smaller than half a hectare.
They can be broadly categorised into three separate soil types, or terroirs, including alluvial soil, rust-colored limestone, and shattered shale rock.
“It’s a great privilege to win the architecture and landscape award at Weltevrede… I believe part of the success was the fact that we had this amazing small team of people working together who are local, who are very rigid in our area, so they understood the context very well…To win something like this gives us approval that it’s innovative, it’s new…”
– Philip Jonker – 4th Generation Owner and Winemaker, Weltevrede
For full list of winners and more information download the e-booklet HERE | Best Of Wine Tourism Awards 2023 Cape and the Western Cape