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L’Avenir lives: Madelyn Lambrechts With a warm and welcoming smile and infectious laugh, Madelyn Lambrechts is an invaluable part of L’Avenir’s hospitality team and cellardoor experience. True to L’Avenir’s heritage and specialisation, she absolutely adores Pinotage, which is totally reflected in her brilliant ability to sell our Single Block flagship. Madelyn started working at the L’Avenir Country Lodge in 2005, when she joined the housekeeping team. Her sparkling personality and knack for working with people Read more…

L’Avenir Lives: Leigh Diedericks From a maintenance man to the main man. That is the inspiring story of L’Avenir’s farm manager and community leader, Leigh Diedericks. Our L’Avenir Hands-on Garden is a tangible example of Leigh’s leadership and legacy at L’Avenir. Curiosity has been the golden thread in Leigh’s career at the Estate. He started working as the Estate’s maintenance man in 1993, one year after the farm was officially named L’Avenir by former owner, Read more…

A toast to the past and present of Chenin Let us rise… There is something magical about drinking a wine in the vineyard that produced the grapes that it was made from. L’Avenir’s Single Block Chenin Blanc vineyard – affectionately known as “the Old Lady” – particularly has a special appeal that has touched many who made footprints in her soil. There’s a rule that when you drink a wine that is older than you, Read more…

L’Avenir community a priority during Covid-19 lockdown L’Avenir has partnered with Pebbles Project to ensure that its people are safe, healthy and nourished during this uncertain time. The L’Avenir farm worker community is receiving special meal parcels during the South African Covid-19 lockdown. The food parcels are delivered by Pebbles Project to the families at L’Avenir, ensuring that 56 adults and children receive nutritious meals. Furthermore, the families still have access to proper health services Read more…

L’Avenir Lockdown diaries. Day 22: Biting the hand that keeps your glass full In what will be remembered as a notorious own goal, the South African government has again halted wine exports. With great disbelief, the wine industry received the news that restrictions on wine have been tightened, through a total ban on the transport of alcohol. This means that wine cannot be transported to ports, resulting in another major setback for one of South Read more…

Sports gear for L’Avenir’s sport stars of the future The learners at L’Avenir’s Pebbles Afterschool Care Centre recently received sporting gear that was donated by Sanzaar rugby referees and supporters of the L’Avenir Sports Development Initiative, at a pre-season Sanzaar event. L’Avenir Wine Estate partnered with Sanzaar and Mitsubishi South Africa to raise funds and gear for sports development in Stellenbosch, through the Hands-on Sports Initiative at its Pebbles Project Afterschool Centre. In order to Read more…

L’Avenir Lockdown Diaries - Day 7 The seven-year itch is a psychological term that suggests that happiness in a relationship declines after around year seven of a marriage. On the 7th day of lockdown, I am getting the sense that the novelty is starting to wear off and that boredom and frustration are settling in. On a personal note, my garden is looking fabulous. All the plants that we bought to plant as part of our domestic sanity programme have Read more…

L'Avenir Lockdown Diaries - Day 4 Lockdown. It’s a hard and scary word. The national lockdown, announced by President Ramaphosa last week, was widely praised as a brave and noble decision, but has nonetheless pushed South African families, businesses and industries into unchartered waters. From a wine industry perspective, exports as well as local sales stopped as abruptly as group hugs. It’s no wonder that wine sales shot through the roof three days before the Read more…

Pandemic and Pinotage - Corona diaries in the cellar Just when we thought four consecutive years of drought was rough … A behemoth of a challenge has confronted the wine industry. The coronavirus has rocked the world and no region, sector or grouping will be spared of its direct or indirect consequences. At L’Avenir, the entire team prides itself on a family-like essence. It’s in our nature to welcome visitors with open arms. We don’t Read more…

L’Avenir takes precautionary measures to prevent Covid-19 infections In line with strict measures implemented by President Cyril Ramaphosa to limit the potential spread of Covid-19, L’Avenir Wine Estate has temporarily closed its Cellardoor facilities for tastings and estate visits. This precautionary measure was implemented this week. “We stand in solidarity with the Stellenbosch wine industry and its people. Our people and visitors are the heartbeat of this business and extraordinary steps needed to be taken Read more…