Spioenkop Wines | Elgin

Koen Roose became the founder, owner, winemaker and viticulturist all in one when he purchased Spioenkop in 2000. A former engineering student, he instead followed his passion for wine and became a qualified sommelier. Having worked vintages in Burgundy and South Africa, he nurtured his dream of creating a vineyard in the cool climate region of Elgin. Planted in 2007, the dream became reality, with Koen following a philosophy of dry farming, with low intervention and free from artificial fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides.

The farm is named after the Battle of Spioenkop in 1900, during the Anglo-Boer War. As a history enthusiast, Roose kept the name, and fittingly, Spioenkop is now creating its own history producing award-winning wines and has been awarded First Growth status by Tim Atkin MW in 2020 and 2021. His top wines all come from the vineyards on the farm and are produced under the Spioenkop label, and those destined for earlier drinking are bottled under the 1900 label (the year of the battle of Spioenkop).

The 1900 range consists of an excellent Sauvignon Blanc, very much in a Loire style; the superb Queen Manthatisi, which is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc; a Pinot Noir, which is Koen’s passion project on the farm and a Stellenbosch Pinotage that is fruiter and punchier than it’s Spioenkop sibling.

SPIOENKOP WINES