Mont du Toit Kelder lies at the foot of the Hawequa mountain, Wellington, Western Cape, bordering Paarl, the centre of wine production in South Africa, some 65 km north-north-east of Cape Town.

Twenty eight hectares of vines grow on sunny, north and northwest facing slopes of weathered granite and Clovelly Hutton soils, with sandy loam in the lower areas. Only red varieties have so far been planted - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Shiraz, Alicante Bouschet, Mourvedre, Petit Verdot, Tinta Barocca.

Wine production at Mont du Toit is based on a traditional 'low-tech' approach. The entire Mont du Toit philosophy relies on the growing of the right grapes, keeping yields down, doing green harvesting (pruning away excessive grapes) at veraison and meticulously selecting only fully ripe fruit by hand during harvest time.

The hand picked grapes are collected in small crates and again undergo selection by hand on a mobile sorting table in the cellar.

After destemming the grapes are fed by gravity into the fermentation tanks where maceration takes place for extended periods, enhancing both colour and flavour. From the fermentation cellar the wine is fed by gravity into small, mainly French, oak barrels lying in a vaulted, red-bricked underground maturation cellar. A small basket press gently extracts the remaining juice.

Malolactic fermentation takes place in the barrels and the wine matures in them for up to 2 years, under carefully controlled temperatures.

Skillful blending of wines made from the various grape varieties achieves a harmonious complexity of flavours and aromas.

Mont du Toit's wine cellar is open for tasting Tuesday to Saturday, 10am - 5pm.