Jean Daneel wines
Jean Daneel received his wine education in France and Germany and still believes in old wine making traditions – where a lot of patience and perfection comes into play. He then took a number of years to hone his craft while working as the winemaker at Buitenverwagting, where he received several trophies that included the Diners Club award for the best Merlot. Morgenhof was his next project, where he won the Wine Magazine Chenin challenge for the first time. Once perfected he set off to make his dreams a reality.
In 1997 he started his own cellar from a renovated stable in Franschhoek. Jean started producing wines under his own name from grapes he bought in from various wine regions. In 2003 he won the Wine Magazine Challenge for a second time with his Jean Daneel Signature Chenin. But with his eldest son, who wanted to follow in his footsteps, it was time to get his own vineyard.
In 2004 he found a small property on the river bank of Napier, which is located in the Agulhas area, and started to build his winery. It is here that Jean creates well balanced and structured wines together with his son Jean-Pierre. It will still be a couple of years before the vineyards will yield; until such time Jean sources the best grapes from personally selected vineyards. Some within the Overberg area, with its cooler climate, while others from the Stellenbosch and Durbanville areas. By working with grapes that originate from different soils and climates, more complexity is obtained in the wine.
In 2006 the first wine was made in the new cellar, and was also the year he planted his first vineyard. Four cultivars were planted, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Shiraz. Since then he has received 5 stars for his Signature Chenin 2003. It was also awarded “Wine of the Year”, out of more than 5000 wines, by the 2005 John Platter Wine Guide. In 2008 he won the Wine Magazine Chenin Blanc Challenge again with his new release, Directors Signature Chenin Blanc 2006. It is also to be noted that the Jean Daneel Signature Chenin Blanc 2006 received a gold medal at the Swiss International Airline Wine Competition.
At the end of the day the focus still remains on quality, rather than quantity, with a total production of approximately 4000 cases per year.
Contact Information
Contact name: Jean-Pierre Daneel
Tel number: +27 (0)28 423 3724
Fax number: +27 (0)28 423 3789
Mobile number: +27(0) 76 105 6225
Email Address: [email protected]
Web address: www.jdwines.co.za
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