Bellevue Wine Estate
South Africa
About
Bellevue Wine Estate is located in the prestigious Stellenbosch wine growing region of South Africa and was established in 1701. Bellevue has a large variety of noble cultivars, producing award winning wines as well as having a restaurant, function facilities and a tasting room.
The first Pinotage plantings made their way on to Bellevue soil in the early 1950’s and utmost care is taken of this 1953 Pinotage block which is still in production. This is one of the oldest commercially farmed Pinotage vineyards in the world and remains the pride and joy of Bellevue.
Certifications
Winemaker
Wilhelm Kritzinger
Wilhelm joined the Bellevue team for the 2002 harvest as a temporary cellar assistant to learn more about winemaking, but eventually stayed on as Bellevue’s winemaker! His previous studies in Food Science supplied him with a firm base for this career change. Wilhelm is a very dedicated winemaker and always pays close attention to the smallest detail in the winemaking process. Cellar hygiene plays an important part in his winemaking philosophy; this fact can clearly be noticed in the healthy chemical analyses of our wines.
Apart from winemaking, he also enjoys cooking and food and wine pairing. Wilhelm is a very keen angler and during long weekends or holidays, you will find him somewhere along the South African coastline with a fishing rod in his hands!
Viticulturist
Dirkie Morkel
Dirkie Morkel is the viticulturist. Bellevue Wine Estate has been owned by the Morkel family since 1861. The first Morkel to set foot in South Africa, was Philip Morkel from German descent. Dirk Cloete Morkel, a descendant of Philip Morkel purchased Bellevue Wine Estate in 1861 primarily for livestock and planted a few vines. It was PK Morkel, grandson of Dirk Morkel who did groundbreaking work in terms of establishing vines for wine production and was the pioneer in the conversion of Bellevue to a Wine Estate. The Morkels, especially under the leadership of current Dirkie Morkel, have developed the old farm into a state of the art wine farm with a large production cellar, a large variety of noble cultivars, award winning wines, heritage site and tourist attraction.
