Success in life and business is often achieved not by staying in your lane, but by people deciding to make radical life changes and leaps of faith, often amid crises or times of turbulence.
Remhoogte Estate in Stellenbosch is a case in point.
From a small beginning of producing five barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon in 1995, the estate’s wines now attract high ratings in wine guides and competitions, and the on-site restaurant, Vuur, is one of only two SA establishments ranked in the World’s 101 Best Steak Restaurants for 2025.
At the height of uncertainty around SA’s transition to democracy in 1994, founder Murray Boustred, who worked at the time in construction, building game lodges in the Lowveld and the like, decided to uproot his family, wife Juliet and two young sons, from Joburg and bought Remhoogte farm in the Simonsberg area of Stellenbosch.
The name (a combination of the Afrikaans words for a vehicle brake and heights), perhaps an indication of the farm’s elevated site, reaching up to 350m above sea level, and the careful work with the brakes needed to navigate the steep Simonsberg slopes.
Those are also characteristics that Remhoogte believes distinguishes its wines — an interplay of diverse soil types and steep slopes facing in different directions, creating diverse microclimates; along with vineyards ranging in age up to 36 years, and grape varieties carefully paired to the best suited sites.
Despite growth from those initial five barrels to about 12,000 bottles a year, Remhoogte’s focus remains on keeping things relatively small, family owned and operated, all living and working on the farm.
Since taking the reins in the mid-2000s, brothers Chris Boustred as cellarmaster and Rob as sales and marketing director, have retained the Reserve and Premium ranges first made by their dad, refreshing the labels with a modern look, featuring ink and watercolour illustrations by their artist mom.
They’ve also introduced the contemporary Free to be Range, making room for experiments in winemaking techniques such as wild ferments, carbonic maceration and orange wine, and bringing in cultivars unusual to Stellenbosch, such as Weisser Riesling, grown on a neighbouring property.
Family has been highlighted too, with the estate’s flagship Bordeaux-style red, named Sir Thomas Cullinan Reserve, after Murray’s great-grandfather, the diamond magnate who founded the Premier Mine where the famed Cullinan Diamond was discovered in 1905.
Through it all, Rob says, there is emphasis on estate wine as key distinction.
“All our wines are grown, made and bottled on the farm, so vintages will vary due to weather variations of a particular year, but the soils and slopes remain the same.
“We believe strongly in the estate concept, wines that tell a story of place and vintage.”
A highlight of a recent local tasting with Rob was the Aspect Merlot 2020 (Platter’s 4.5*, R250 online/ex-cellar), its name reflecting the high-level, steep, cool south-facing slope of the vineyard on Remhoogte, offering an ideal aspect (meaning the gradient and direction slope) for Merlot.
This is a proper, serious Bordeaux-style Merlot — structured, bold, with deep, concentrated ripe fruitiness of dark inky berries, ripe plums, with chalky mineral acid backbone, unfolding layers of complexity.
Very drinkable right now, but holding promise of further development.
Chronicle Estate Blend 2022 (4*, R175) is literally a chronicle of Remhoogte in time and place — a blend of grapes from the 17 red vineyards, from eight different soil types and vines of varying ages, a wine that “we feel best tells the story of the whole property”, Rob says.
Delicious drinking — juicy, fresh and bright red fruits mingling with florals, a touch of vanilla, subtle savouriness, a soft plush texture with firm backbone.
Chenin Blanc is the focus of Remhoogte’s white wines, with the First Light Chenin Blanc 2025 reflecting that the chenin blanc vineyard is the first to receive the morning rays over the Simonsberg.
The symbolism rings true — it’s a “sunny” wine, fresh and lively with lime and passionfruit notes, crisp acidity, and well priced at R140 for a 4*-rated wine.
A special mention for the Free to Be Weisser Riesling — made to emphasise its abundant fruitiness rather than the wax and paraffin one might expect from a Riesling, rosy perfume leads into fresh zesty fruit, a sweetness of ripe fruit not sugary-sweetness, gentle wax texture, a limestone acidity.
A delicious surprise well worth seeking out.
Remhoogte Estate wines are fairly widely available locally, or shop online at https://remhoogte.co.za/shop/
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