Producer Spotlight - Delheim Wines

Spellbinding Stellenbosch

The spectacular Stellenbosch scenery makes a striking backdrop for many a Cape winery. And Delheim, with the stunningly beautiful Simonsberg towering above their vines, are smack bang in the scenic premier league. They’re a well-run family operation and one of those places that makes South Africa’s vineyards such a draw for wine tourists.

The Early Days
There’s more to it than the scenery though. The foundations were laid in the 1950s, 60s and 70s by the determination and sheer hard work of self-taught winemaker Michael ‘Spatz’ Sperling and his wife Vera. Keen to put themselves on the map they were one of the first out of the blocks in wine tourism. They were there at the start in 1971 when the Stellenbosch Wine Route had only three members (today there’s more than 200) and by making sure their wines were up to scratch as well, things have paid off for them pretty handsomely and they’ve built for themselves an enviable reputation.

Becoming Established
Spatz’s efforts in promoting the region and its wines made him into one of the best-known figures in the country’s wine industry. And although he passed away in 2017 at the age of 87, Vera is still very much on the scene as the matriarch of the family and continues to live on the farm. The next generation, Victor and Nora Sperling, are now at the helm and they continue in Spatz’s footsteps. They look after around 170 hectares of vines on the slopes of the Simonsberg and nearby Klapmutskop which offer a variety of terroirs allowing them to make an impressive array of wines – among them South Africa’s first rosé made from Pinotage which arrived on the scene in 1976.

Spatz Sperling’s story - that of a German émigré who arrived in the South Africa in the 1950’s with just £10 in his pocket and built a substantial wine estate while contributing much to the country’s wine industry as a whole – is an inspiration as are the wines which we can thoroughly recommend.

Our selection of Delheim’s wines are a good cross-section of their range and for an authentic flavour of the classic Stellenbosch style they’re well worth checking out. And since there’s 10% off during September what more encouragement to give them a whirl?