In 1659, the first grapes were pressed in South Africa. A few years later, in 1685, Lourens Campher was granted a piece of land to farm at the foot of the Simonsberb Mountain in Stellenbosch. 325 years later, the oak trees he planted and home he built still stand on this grand old wine estate. The SimonsbergWard of Stellenbosch is akin to the Rutherford appellation in Napa; arguably the best of the best. From this spectacular terroir, and with great honor paid to the history of the place, the Melck family makes distinctive wines for the connoisseur. Intensely dedicated to living and farming in ways respectful of nature and their fellow citizens, Muratie Estate has set up a trust for education, training, and management programs for the estate workers and their families. They also use natural pesticides ranging from wasps to ducks and even wild lynx, and are part of the Biodiversity Wine Initiative. The owner is Rijk Melck, the winemaker is Francois Conradie.