The farm Nederburg was originally granted to Philippus Bernardus Wolvaart on 1 November 1791. It is likely that the land was named after the visiting Dutch East India Company commissioner, Sebastiaan Cornelius Nederburgh, to “sweeten” him in advance of his visit to the Cape settlement. He was on his way to investigate appalling mismanagement, escalating expenses, intractable burghers and corruption in high places.
The Nederburg homestead has all the finest attributes of Cape Dutch architecture: yellowwood beams, teak doors and shutters, a thatched roof and floors laid with Batavian clay tiles. The house is H-shaped, with the date 1800, as well as the name Nederburg inscribed on the classical gable. Wolvaart’s wife, Margaretha, never saw the house as it was only completed two years after her death.
In 1810 the farm was transferred to Willem Petrus Retief, for 5 times more than Wolvaart paid for it. His family lived on Nederburg for 71 years, before the farm was sold to Petrus Jacobus Hauptfleisch.In 1890 and 1891 phylloxera devastated almost every vineyard in the Drakenstein valley. Hauptfleisch, who was already in severe financial straits, was declared insolvent. He continued to live at Nederburg for 14 more years.
At some stage in the 19th century the carved wooden screen dividing the “voorkamer” from the “agterkamer” was replaced by a wall. The wood from the screen was used to install shelves in the pantry. The most elegant and valuable article of furniture in the house is the stinkwood and yellowwood wall-cupboard, originally built into the back wall of the “agterkamer”, facing the front door.
Nederburg's equally impressive cellar where award-wining wines are made.
In 1902 Nederburg changed hands once more. Henry Latham Currey, previously private secretary to Cecil John Rhodes, bought the farm. Being a member of Parliament, he never stayed there, but bought the farm as a holiday home for his children. He paid Hauptfleisch £5000 in cash. In 1908 he became Minister without Portfolio in John X Merriman’s cabinet. His first task was to retrench large numbers of men from the Civil Service in an attempt to rescue the Cape from financial disaster after the South African War. He was besieged in his office and his own home by incensed people deprived of their livelihood and sought refuge in the peace and tranquility of Nederburg.
Unlike many houses in Stellenbosch and Paarl, the homestead of Nederburg was never “Victorianized”. Currey salvaged the remnants of the original teak screen from the pantry shelves and rebuilt it in its rightful place between the “voor”- and “agterkamer”.
In 1918 Nederburg was sold to Maurice Pare, who had no experience of agriculture when he bought the run-down and neglected farm. He was determined and hardworking and had a powerful interest in wine production. He renovated the cellar and installed 9 concrete fermentation tanks. Despite his hard work and serious hopes of producing really good wines, Nederburg did not prosper and in the face of mounting competition from the KWV, Pare had to sell the farm at the end of 1923.
Nederburg was bought by Colonel Bob Lyall, a 47 year-old soldier in the Indian political service. He brought the efficiency and discipline that he had learnt in the army to his farming and kept meticulous records. Nederburg’s first recorded prize was won by his wine in 1926. He put up the brass dolphin knockers, still to be seen on the doors today. Despite his meticulous efforts, the Great Depression and bad harvests forced Lyall to abandon farming and return to England.
Nederburg was initially rented to his foreman, Willie Basson, until it was sold to Johann Georg Graue in 1937. The arrival of the Graues heralded a new era in Nederburg’s history. A double-storied wing was added to the homestead. The front windows were doubled in size and the teak screen was removed once more. The main entrance was now east-facing and the yellowwood and stinkwood wall-cupboard was removed from its original niche and set in the wall facing the entrance. The encircling front stoep was interrupted by extentions to the north and south side of the house.
Nederburg’s ultimate success as a producer of superb wines was the result of Johann Graue’s genius of vine selection, advanced farming methods and the perfection of the cold fermentation technique. Since 1944 and at every wine show in the years that followed, Nederburg’s wines were awarded a steadily increasing number of trophies. During 1944 and 1945 a new cellar and a new store were built.
Johann’s son Arnold was to become a master oenologist, studying at the best schools in Europe. The success of Nederburg’s wines in the Cape as well as in Europe stimulated increased public interest and soon demand was exceeding supply.
And where better to taste Nederburg's wonderful wines than their new tasting toom and bar.
In 1953 while his parents were visiting Germany, Arnold was tragically killed in an air collision. There was no doubt that Johann had no heart for wine-making since Arnold’s death, but he battled on and sent his fellow director, Werner Tielscher, to Germany to find a suitable young wine-maker.
In 1956 Günter Brözel was appointed as cellar assistant.In 1956 Nederburg merged with Monis Wineries. This led to a decade of enormous expansion. By 1959 Nederburg had become South Africa’s most renowned wine producer. Stellenbosch Farmers Winery acquired ownership in 1966. Günter Brözel continued to make superb wines and win numerous prizes.
In 1990 Nederburg became the first farm in South Africa to be declared a conservation area by the National Monuments Council. The homestead was declared a national monument and is utilized to entertain Nederburg’s many visitors, as well as to host the annual Nederburg chamber music series.
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