Simonsig

The Malan family

The estate's history page marks the Malan heritage 'since 1942': in the period from 1942 to 1964 Frans Malan bought the land from his in-laws and expanded the farm, building a cellar for cold fermentation.¹ The first wine under the Simonsig label, a Chenin Blanc (Steen), was released in the late 1960s.¹ In 1971 Frans Malan co-founded the Stellenbosch Wine Route.¹ His three sons, Johan, Francois and Pieter, joined the business in the 1980s and 1990s; the farm describes itself as family-owned in the third generation.¹

Kaapse Vonkel

The estate says a trip to Champagne led Frans Malan to make sparkling wine, and that with Kaapse Vonkel in 1971 Simonsig became South Africa's first producer of traditional-method sparkling wine.² The Cap Classique Producers Association gives the 1971 harvest and a release in 1973, and marked fifty years of the category in 2021.^3,5

The 'first' is a claim made by the producer and repeated by the producers' association; the two give different years for the release.

Vineyards

The estate covers 210 hectares in the northern part of Stellenbosch, at 50 to 280 m, on sandstone, granite and shale, with some koffieklip and red Hutton soils.⁴ Its Kaapse Vonkel Brut Rosé is a blend of Pinot Noir, Pinotage and Pinot Meunier.² See also South Africa.