Our Vineyards

The Swartland area has emerged as one of the leading and most expressive wine producing regions in the Western Cape. The cooling Atlantic breezes lend natures hand in the vineyard, helping to sustain the low-yielding vines through the hot warm dry summers, and cold wet winters.

Charles Back initiated the exploration of the Swartland for its unique viticultural heritage and geological composition which allowed for dryland farming in extreme conditions. This has since inspired many other winemakers to sculpt their own expression of the region.

The Spice Route Winery’s Swartland vineyards are located on Klein Amoskuil farm, a few kilometres South of Malmesbury on the Western foothills of the Paardeberg Mountain where deep iron-rich clay and decomposed granite meet old Malmesbury shale soils.

DARLING :
A few years after planting on Klein Amoskuil farm, a virgin piece of land was acquired in the more maritime hills of Darling, part of the Swartland, only four kilometres off the cold Atlantic Ocean, which proved to have similar soil profiles to the exciting Klein Amoskuil vineyards. At the time, this land was classified as a sub-ward of the Swartland, and the idea was to bring a fresher element into the Spice Route wines.

As Darling’s reputation for cool climate Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah grew, the region became a viticultural entity in its own right, and we see those vineyards treated separately from the Swartland origin vineyards.