About Us

Seymour Pritchard bought the 10-hectare farm Malvern Heights in 1969 from Colonel JW Billingham, who had named the farm after the rolling hills around Malvern in his native England. When winemaking came into Seymour’s sights in the mid-1980’s France was still at the centre of the wine universe so he “Frenchised” the name to Clos Malverne.

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Massage in a bottle

A new health spa opened recently at Devon Valley producer Cbs Malverne. Neil Pendock spoke to GM Zaine Pritchard

How important is wine tourism to your business?
For us it is a situation of being in control and being able to manage the one aspect of our business. We cannot control any of the external costs or markets but we can manage our own, so it has become important from that aspect. This has given us the solid foundation to build the brand on our own terms. Tourists also need to know there is the jewel where the focus is quality of wine and the true essence of family business. No distractions, they must walk away feeling special and treated.

Is Stellenbosch close to saturation from a wine-tourism perspective?
Things are demanding as everybody is busy with the ?direct marketing approach? and it?s tough competing with mainstream players in and around Stellenbosch. But I feel it is good for Stellenbosch to be established as a true tourist destination and not just a ?let?s-go-by on our way to the French Town? town, as many see it. We really need to provide the package: the restaurants, galleries and wineries, which all need to be completely service-driven and focused. We need to work on our strengths and provide the tourists with the ?big African smile?.

With alcohol beleg the next target for social eugineers, how Important is wine for a healthy lifestyle?
That?s something we have heated debates about. We truly believe that wine must complement the food and the company and all must live in harmony. A "big full" wine is great, but often I find that the one overshadows the other. Elegance can stifi be done at lower levels of alcohol. It is like going to Newlands (a great experience) versus going to some tiny street caf? with French jazz. It?s simply a matter of different strokes: we prefer the French jazz European consumers prefer this as well and this is our focus, so it makes our decisions simpler. Europeans have a great wine culture and have in general a more sophisticated and refined pallet. Over the years we have done very well in Europe with several awards at Mondial de Bruxelles for our pinotage and this year we won the Great Gold Medal. So we must be doing something right with this fantastic SA grape cultivar, pinotage, considering this is also the cultivar we make the most blends from.

Gallery

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Clos Malverne achieves a Grand Gold Medal

for its Pinotage Reserve 2007 at the Concours Mondial, Bruxelles

Only wines with a tasting score of at least 96pts out of 100pts can achieve a Grand Gold Medal, with only 2 South African wines achieving the award this year from over 6 000 entries world-wide.

Clos Malverne’s original wine was Pinotage. Way back then they paid particular attention to Pinotage. No matter what other great wines they have made they have always made a speciality out of Pinotage. It has not gone unnoticed with the collection of all manner of awards and accolades over time. In recent year South Africa has made numerous wines that have been considered world class and been awarded accordingly. However, one of the criticisms has been the over abundance of alcohol in many of our better wines. Seymour Pritchard and his winemaker, Charl Coetzee, worked towards making wines with lower alcohols, greater elegance while not sacrificing quality, character, aromas and flavour. Their recent productions have shown that.

Now he has been proved correct with the award of the Grand Gold at Concours Mondial of Bruxelles, judged this year in Valencia Spain. So the 2007 now lines up with the 2003 which was also awarded Gold at the 2006 Concours Mondial Bruxelles. These achievements are all the more gratifying in that there were no South Africans on the panels that judged these wines. There is no doubt that Clos Malverne is a leading producer of fine Pinotage wines and their quest for finer more elegant style is being well received.

Amongst the many accolades Clos Malverne has collected over time, there has been the Jan Smuts trophy for the best wine on the Young Wine Show in 2001.

The Spa @ Clos Malverne Come and enjoy relaxing treatments in the peaceful Devon Valley surroundings. Read More... Treatment Menu Open Weekdays 9am-6pm Saturdays 9am-5pm Contact Tel: 021 - 865 2022 Cell: 078 306 0082 Fax: 021 - 865 2325 Email: thespa@live.co.za Receive FREE wine tasting with treatment booking.