Ayama

First settled in 1685 by Martin Pouisson, a French Hugenot refugee from religious persecution, the title deeds were granted in 1707. Pouisson named the farm “Slent”. The meaning of the name is unknown, but we think that it is possibly an old form of “slant” or “aslant” , as the farm lies on the lower slopes of Perdeberg Mountain (Horse mountain, so named for the large herds of zebra that once roamed its hillsides and valleys).

Once a much larger property, subdivisions for younger sons or daughters’ dowries have reduced the farm’s size to 170 hectares (420 acres). “The soul of South Africa lies there”, wrote Sailor Malan, famous WW2 Battle of Britain RAF fighter “ace”, who lived on Slent for 9 years as a child. The farm lies on the gentle southern slopes of the mountain, with panoramic views across 50km of valley to Lion’s Head, Signal Hill and Table Mountain (recently voted one of the “Seven Natural Wonders of the World”) to the west. The southern aspect on a clear day includes the whole Peninsula chain to Cape Point, across False Bay to Rooi Els andthe Hottentots’ Holland mountains, Johnkershoek, Franschhoek, Groot Drakenstein and Simonsberg mountains; to the east the Klein Drakenstein, Wemmershoek and Hawequa ranges. The views are unsurpassed and always beautiful.

Slent has been formally conserved since 1993, when it was awarded recognition as a part of the Natural Heritage programme, updated to Conservancy status in 1999

The Voor Paardeberg Wine of Origin Ward is a unique wine producing area with its own character and it was recently added to the exclusive wine areas of the Western Cape. The Voor Paardeberg is one of the newest wine appellations being declared for producing distinctive wines of a significant quality. This small wine region runs along and embraces the south eastern slopes of the Voor Paardeberg inselberg from the R45 to the north and the R44 to the south. This rocky granite outcrop is located roughly 15km to the north west of Paarl.

Paarl is known as a warm area for wine-growing; here on the Paardeberg a southerly wind prevails throughout the year, helping to cool the vineyards.As a result the summer daytime temperatures are approximately five degrees cooler than the average Paarl region. This rocky outcrop has soils of pure granite, rich in potassium, which offer high grape quality potential, lower on the slopes the granite formations are mixed with varying percentages of clay and shale. Generally the vines are trellised to restrict excessive growth and offer protection against the prevailing winds

The exceptional terroir of the Voor Paardeberg ward and the grapes cultivated in the area has been the source of various international wine awards. It is the location of this ward that makes it so unique. The mountain slopes of the Paardeberg, together with the soil composition and prevailing winds, create a specific quality in the grapes. The wines produced here have the potential to become part of the elite wines of the country. Voor Paardeberg is situated between the winegrowing areas of Paarl, Wellington and the Swartland, with a definite own identity and terroir due to the open side towards the West Coast. The climate of Voor Paardeberg has a huge influence on the natural taste of their wines.

This hot and dry climate favours red varieties; however some interesting white wines are produced. Shiraz is the most prominent red variety; however also grown here is Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Mouvedre. As for white wines, very good examples of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc can be found. New plantings are found of Viognier and small plantings of Sauvignon Blanc, Nouvelle and Semillon. The style of our wines compares more to the Rhone style than the Bordeaux style wines. We concentrate on the production of red wine, although historically more emphasis was placed on the production of white wines.