Wightman & Sons

Wightman & Sons are based at the foot of the Paardeberg Mountain in the Swartland region of the Western Cape. Andrew Wightman and his son Brandon bought a farm called Môrelig, Afrikaans for "morning light", in 2011. They didn't have a background in wine, their plan was to pull out the vineyards and farm with cattle, but neighbours persuaded them to keep the vines. In Andrew's words: "Our knowledge is self-taught, with most of the information coming from the folk who have worked on the farm for years. It’s not rocket science and mostly common sense". Of course it helps when your neighbour used to be Craig Hawkins, who inspired them on the winemaking journey. Their vineyards cover 24 hectares of non-irrigated bush vines, grown in decomposed granite soils. Vines range from 6 to 56 years old, the oldest block of Chenin Blanc was planted in 1965. Andrew describes their farming as sustainable rather than organic, they're not certified yet. "We farm organically because it has always being a philosophy we believe in. We have seen a huge transformation since farming 100% organically". Their wines are made with minimal intervention: fermenting with wild yeasts, ageing in neutral oak. Their philosophy is to keep it simple concentrating on expressing the terroir of their soils.