The cheery red and white candy-striped lighthouse in Green Point with its foghorn, affectionately known as “Moaning Minnie”, is well-known for guiding ships along the misty Cape coast. These misty, cool climate conditions develop the Merlot’s unique character, displaying notes of mint and red cherry.

Inspired by Cape Town’s radiant energy and creative demeanour, the Durbanville Hills’ premium offering – The Collector’s Reserve – is a unique range specially crafted by the winemakers using only the finest grapes from Cape Town’s best vineyards. To truly connect the Winelands and City, prominent landmarks in Cape Town have been specially selected and have been captured by vibrant Capetonian artist – Theo Vorster – to impart his vision of these landmarks onto each bottle. This range has been designed as a collector’s item for both wine and art lovers alike.

Selection in the vineyard was made using a program called “Fruitlook”, using multi-spectral satellite imagery to give a normalised difference vegetation index. The images were used to identify differences in the vineyard canopy and asses the quality to find the best spots, and therefore where the best grapes could be found. All harvesting was done by hand and transported a short distance to the cellars where vinification happened in ultra-modern equipment. The wine was then matured in a combination of new and second fill extra tight-grained French oak barrels for 14 months.