Eisen & Viljoen

Normandie Est. 1693

Normandie Est. 1693 is one of the original twenty nine French Huguenot-settled farms in the Franschhoek region of the Cape Winelands. Our privileged location on the mid slopes of the majestic Groot Drakenstein Mountain peak is twenty-eight kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean. Set in a unique microclimate of hot days and cool nights sixteen of our forty eight hectares are planted to vine with Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot and Petit Verdot grape varieties. Our aim is to honor and progress our more than 300-year-old private estate and to produce iconic wines of exceptional quality by hand that match and represent the immense physical beauty and natural gifts of their origins. Our vineyards are surrounded by fresh springwater streams running down from the mountains irrigating the clay layer in the sub soil and creating a perfect medium that acts as a buffer during the summer heat to protect the vines. Well drained colluvium (a mix of sand sandstone quartz stones and rocks) lies above the clay layer and is ideal for flourishing vines. The topsoil is made up of the unique weathered Table Mountain sandstone. The well-drained soil on the farm enables our vines to have exactly the sought after moderate vigour that is the basis for our exceptional wines. After terroir meticulous viticulture is the most important aspect in producing a superlative wine. Our vines are trellised and spur pruned solely by hand. Summer canopy management is carefully executed and personally maintained by our expert viticulture team. Our commitment to the handmade minimum interference methodology of winemaking begins with bunch and berry selection in the vineyards a few times from berry set to véraison (the onset of ripening) and finally at harvest. At Normandie Est. 1693 the harmonious combination of our unique terroir our uncompromising expertise in viticulture and our passionate handmade wine-making gives birth to iconic wines of exceptional quality.