From the atlas
Anthonij Rupert Wines
At A Glance
- Estate: L'Ormarins, Franschhoek, Western Cape
- Labels: Anthonij Rupert Wines (flagship reds), Cape of Good Hope (single-vineyard), L'Ormarins (Cap Classique sparkling)
- Grapes: Petit Verdot, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon; Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for sparkling
- House style: Cape Bordeaux varieties with extended French oak ageing and unfiltered bottling
- First vintage: 2009
- Founded: 1694 (current brand launched 2009)
The Producer
L'Ormarins is a farm in Franschhoek valley that has changed hands once in three centuries and changed direction once in a generation. Jean Roi, a French Huguenot exile, occupied the land in 1694 and named it for his hometown of Lourmarin in Provence. The name held. When Dr. Anton Rupert bought the property in 1968, the Manor House dated to 1811 and the cellar to 1799; both were restored in 1984 and classified as national monuments.
Dr. Anton's son Anthonij took the wine programme in hand, and by 1989 L'Ormarins had won every major South African wine competition. When Anthonij died in 2001, his brother Johann took control and made a concrete decision: he would build a new gravity-fed cellar with a revolving ceiling and an underground barrel hall, dedicated to Anthonij's memory. It opened in 2004. The first vintage under the Anthonij Rupert Wines label followed in 2009.
Three labels now run from one address. Anthonij Rupert Wines carries the flagship reds. Cape of Good Hope is a single-vineyard range sourcing fruit from coastal Western Cape sites outside Franschhoek, including Walker Bay and Elgin. L'Ormarins produces the Cap Classique sparkling wine. Each label has a separate job; none overlaps.
Place
Franschhoek, whose name translates as French Corner, is a valley in the Western Cape mountains settled by Huguenot exiles from the 1680s onwards. The valley is enclosed on three sides by granite and sandstone ranges that funnel cool air from both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean sides of the Cape Peninsula. That cooling effect lengthens the growing season and preserves acidity in the fruit, which matters for the long-aged style the flagship reds aim for.
The Cape of Good Hope line looks further: Walker Bay and Elgin are cooler still, maritime-influenced addresses where Chardonnay ripens slowly and holds its acidity without the weight that warmer inland sites can produce. The L'Ormarins Brut Classique takes a similar logic into sparkling wine, needing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with enough natural acidity to hold its shape through secondary fermentation in bottle.
Soil And Site
The L'Ormarins estate sits on decomposed granite and weathered shale soils typical of Franschhoek's valley floor and lower slopes. Granite drains quickly and returns low natural fertility, which limits vine vigour and concentrates flavour in the fruit. The inky density and black-fruit character of the Petit Verdot fits a site that pushes the grape toward concentration rather than early yield. The Cape of Good Hope Chardonnay, sourced from coastal sites, grows on different geology, the Elgin and Walker Bay apple-farming country where thin, acidic soils over weathered sandstone keep the vine working through a long, cool season.
Story
L'Ormarins existed for 274 years before Anthonij Rupert walked into the cellar. Dr. Anton Rupert bought a historic property and gave it a modern wine ambition; his son Anthonij took that ambition into the competition circuit and brought back results. By 1989, every major local trophy had come to Franschhoek.
Anthonij died in 2001. The estate could have continued under the existing L'Ormarins label with a gradual upgrade. Johann Rupert chose differently. He invested in an entirely new production facility, gravity-fed to move wine without pumping, with a revolving ceiling over the fermentation hall and an underground barrel cellar for long ageing in oak. The cellar was not a renovation of what Anthonij had used. It was a monument to how he had used it.
The brand carried his name forward from 2009 and adopted a philosophy that matched the infrastructure: long oak ageing, extended bottle time before release, no filtration on the reds. The Merlot 2018 left the cellar after 24 months in barrel and three further years in bottle. That is a significant commitment for a South African table wine, and it shapes what arrives in the glass.
Vineyards And Cellar
The gravity-fed cellar moves wine by elevation rather than pump pressure, which means less mechanical stress on the skins, seeds, and pulp at every stage from crusher to barrel. The approach suits a style built on tannin and concentration: the Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon carry the kind of phenolic mass that benefits from undisturbed handling.
Barrel ageing runs on French oak, with new-oak percentages high enough to be a deliberate flavour decision. The Merlot 2018 spent 24 months in 50% new French barriques before being bottled without filtration. The bottle then aged a further three years before reaching the market. Unfiltered wine retains more of the tannin and fruit sediment that develops with age; it also requires more time in bottle to integrate. The release timeline built that time in before the wine left the estate.
For the Brut Classique, the Cap Classique method means secondary fermentation in bottle, lees contact through the ageing period, and disgorgement before release. The mousse is a product of that patient second fermentation rather than tank carbonation.
Wines
The listed Anthonij Rupert Wines range works in three Bordeaux varieties. Petit Verdot is the most singular: inky and dense, with blue and black fruit, fruitcake aromatics, a thread of charcuterie, bold spice, and a spicy oak grip that the variety carries naturally. Dry tannins hold the long finish. It is the variety least planted in Bordeaux itself and most willing to go its own way in the Cape, which gives the Anthonij Rupert version a character distinct from the Merlot or the Cabernet.
Merlot 2018 runs on bold purple plums and black cherries with fresh acidity balancing oak-derived spice. Layered purple and black berry fruits build through the mid-palate; the finish extends. Bottled unfiltered after 24 months in 50% new French barrique, then three years in bottle, it arrives with more development than most Cape Merlot at the point of sale.
Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 opens on tea leaf, violets, and dark Christmas cake. The palate is plush and layered, muscular beneath its fruit, with oak and fruit well merged after the ageing period.
Cape of Good Hope Serruria Chardonnay 2019 has orange blossom and stone fruit on the nose, vanilla and biscuit nuance, and a fresh, vibrant palate with nectarine, citrus, and creamy vanilla oak.
L'Ormarins Brut Classique NV blends Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The nose carries cracker biscuit, yeast, brioche, and sourdough toast with bright citrus. Vigorous effervescence and creamy lees richness on the palate, finishing with a briny maritime note.
In The Glass
The flagship reds share a profile built for time. They open slowly, with aroma stacked in layers rather than thrown forward: the Cabernet lifts violets and tea leaf before the Christmas cake and black cherry come through; the Merlot holds back its strata of purple and black berry fruit until given air; the Petit Verdot leads with fruitcake and spice before the inky fruit weight settles in. All three carry oak prominently but integrated, the wood working with the fruit mass rather than over it.
Acidity holds the Merlot upright through a long finish. Tannins in the Petit Verdot are dry and gripping, the natural tannic character of the variety amplified by the density of the fruit. The Cabernet sits between the two: plush at the centre of the palate, with underlying muscle from the tannin frame.
The Brut Classique sits in a different register entirely. The mousse is vigorous, the palate creamy from lees contact, the finish clean and bright with citrus cut. The Chardonnay brings the freshness; the Pinot Noir fills the mid-palate. The Cape of Good Hope Serruria Chardonnay 2019 carries citrus and stone fruit with vanilla and biscuit nuance and creamy vanilla oak.
A Bottle To Understand It
Anthonij Rupert Petit Verdot is the bottle to start with. Petit Verdot is a supporting variety in most Bordeaux blends, planted in small amounts for its colour and tannin contribution; at L'Ormarins it stands alone. The producer's 2016 shows inky and dense fruit, with fruitcake and charcuterie on the nose and a bold spice character from both the variety and the oak. Systembolaget carries the 2017 vintage. Dry tannin grips the long finish. The wine shows what the cellar is aiming at: serious, slow-developing, built for the table rather than the glass. Open it an hour before you sit down.
Anecdote
Anthonij Rupert had steered L'Ormarins to win every major South African wine competition by 1989. When he died in 2001, his brother Johann took over the estate and made a decision that went well beyond a tribute label. In 2004, Johann commissioned a new production building from scratch: a gravity-fed cellar with a revolving ceiling over the fermentation hall and an underground barrel cellar below it, built as a physical memorial to Anthonij's role in the estate's wine direction. Five years passed between the cellar opening and the first bottle. The Anthonij Rupert Wines 2009 vintage was the inaugural release.
Final Word
Anthonij Rupert Wines is a Franschhoek estate with three centuries of land history and one generation of serious red wine ambition. The gravity-fed cellar, the long oak ageing, the unfiltered bottling and the extended bottle time before release are all choices that point in the same direction: wines made to develop, not to impress quickly. The Petit Verdot is the clearest statement of what the house is doing.
Sources
- https://lormarinswines.com/about/
- https://anthonijrupert.com/wine/petit-verdot/
- https://anthonijrupert.com/wine/merlot/
- https://anthonijrupert.com/wine/cabernet-sauvignon/
- https://capeofgoodhopewines.com/wine/serruria-chardonnay/
- https://lormarinswines.com/brand/brut-classique-nv/