Tesselaarsdal Wines
テセラールスダル・ワインズ
A trailblazing South African label rooted in Berene Sauls's own family heritage.
About Tesselaarsdal Wines
Tesselaarsdal Wines was founded in 2015 by Berene Sauls, who joined Hamilton Russell Vineyards in 2001 as a 19-year-old au pair before moving into office roles covering wine exports, labelling and warehouse logistics over some fifteen years there. She named her own label after Tesselaarsdal, the historic Overberg farming hamlet where she was born, whose land was bequeathed in 1832 by the widow of Johannes Tesselaar to freed slaves — among them her own ancestors. Sauls is widely recognised as one of South Africa's wine trailblazers for building an estate on that heritage. The wines are a focused pair: a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir, both sourced from unirrigated, low-yielding vineyards on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, including fruit from La Vierge Vineyards. The Pinot Noir is fermented with a portion of whole bunches, sometimes foot-trodden, and aged around nine and a half months in French oak barrels; the Chardonnay is split between amphora and François Frères French oak, built on old vines for a taut, mineral style. In 2019 Sauls acquired 16 hectares of land in Tesselaarsdal itself, with plans to plant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay there and eventually estate-grow the wines that carry her family's name.
Who Is This For?
For drinkers who want cool-climate South African Pinot Noir and Chardonnay of real pedigree, and who appreciate a producer whose story is as compelling as the wine in the glass.
Wines of Tesselaarsdal Wines
No cuvées registered yet.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who founded Tesselaarsdal Wines and when?
- Berene Sauls founded Tesselaarsdal Wines in 2015, after around fifteen years working at Hamilton Russell Vineyards in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley.
- Where does the name Tesselaarsdal come from?
- It is named after the historic Overberg hamlet of Tesselaarsdal, where land was bequeathed in 1832 to freed slaves — Berene Sauls's own ancestors — by the widow of Johannes Tesselaar.
- What wines does Tesselaarsdal make?
- Tesselaarsdal produces just two wines: a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir, both sourced from unirrigated vineyards on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, including fruit from La Vierge Vineyards.
- Does Tesselaarsdal own its own vineyards?
- Historically the wines were made from purchased fruit, but in 2019 Berene Sauls acquired 16 hectares of land in Tesselaarsdal itself to eventually plant and estate-grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay there.
- What makes Tesselaarsdal wines distinctive?
- Low-intervention winemaking — partial whole-bunch fermentation and foot-treading for the Pinot Noir, and a split amphora/French oak regime for the Chardonnay — combined with fruit from mature, unirrigated Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge vines gives the wines a pure, mineral, cool-climate character.