OUR STORY

A legacy dating back to 1905
(1905 - 1973)

Overgaauw Wine Estate was founded in 1905 by Abraham van Velden on the farm that was originally part of a larger property, owned by his maternal ancestors since 1783. Why he named his farm Overgaauw? His great grand father, the first Van Velden to arrived in South Africa from Holland, was married to Elizabeth Overgaauw.

Abraham built his cellar in 1909 in which he produced bulk wine, a practice that continued until 1970. In 1945 his son, David, took over the management of the farm and not long after this in 1949 he planted five different port varietals namely; Tinta Barocca, Tinta Francisca, Cornifesto, Souzão and Tinta Roriz and similar to the tradition in Portugal the grapes were harvested and crushed together, a first in South Africa.

The decision to start bottling wine under the Overgaauw label, lead him on a fact finding mission to France in 1969, accompanied by Frans Malan of Simonsig, he visited châteaux Lafite and Mouton Rothschild. This exposure to the French classical winemaking techniques inspired them both to pioneer the ageing of red wine in small oak barrels at the Cape. Not resting on their laurels the first barriques acquired from Château Latour arrived soon after their return.

With the inception of the Wine and Spirit Board in 1973, Overgaauw became one of the first farms to register as an Estate allowing all bottled wines, produced from grapes grown on the farm to carry the words 'Estate Wine' on the label.

This was also the year in which David handed over the running of the estate to his only son, Braam, the present owner, who, after graduating from Stellenbosch University with a B Com degree, spent a year at the Geisenheim Institute of Wine in Germany, where he studied viticulture, which became his passion and viniculture.

At the time, 90% of the farm was planted to white varietals.  By the late 1970s, Braam was mapping the soils on the farm to better match varietals to terroir which has led to a continuous upgrading of the vineyards resulting in close on 60% of the vineyards now being planted to red varietals.

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Innovative Wine Making of the 3rd Generation
(1973 - 2007)

An innovator from the start, Braam was an early champion of the Claret-style blend. He launched a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Cinsaut blend, named Tria Corda, in 1979. In 1982 he adopted a more classic approach by replacing the Cinsaut with Cabernet Franc, creating a 'true' Bordeaux assemblage. The three components of the blend have remained unchanged, albeit in different percentages depending on the vintage.

Braam was the first South African winemaker to bottle a varietal Merlot in 1982. In the mid 80's he was among the first local producers to plant Chardonnay and he also continued to produce and bottle Sylvaner, introduced by his father in 1971. Overgaauw still remains the only cellar in South Africa to bottle Sylvaner.

Winemaker Chris Joubert joined the team in 1991, allowing Braam to devote more of his time to his first love, the vineyards. Chris contributed hugely to the success of Overgaauw's wines in his role as winemaker for 16 years. Braam's son David took over as winemaker in April 2007, after having been Chris's assistant since 2002.

Enter the fourth generation (2007 -)

Braams' son David took over the role as winemaker from Chris Joubert on 1 April 2007 after he followed in his fathers footsteps as a University of Stellenbosch B Com graduate and is the fourth-generation Van Velden to make wine at Overgaauw. Before joining Overgaauw in 2004 as assistant winemaker, David worked at Clos de Jacobins in St Emilion for a harvest in 2003, where he was mentored by Hubert du Boüard de Laforest, co-owner of Château Angelus.

The Four 4th Generation siblings:

2007 was a quite a life changing year for David; he became wine maker in April and on 8 December he and Nicole Groenewald tied the knot at a wedding feast held on the estate, and now it's become their turn to live in Overgaauw's Shepherd's Cottage. They share the cottage (see; Shepherd's Cottage Wines) with Porto a Hungarian Wisla and a ginger cat named Fred.

David's eldest sister, Suzanne de Kock is involved at the Cellar Door and the winery's marketing and administration, Suzanne and her husband Johann and son Daniël live in a cottage on the neighbouring By den Weg farm, which was the home of Abraham van Velden's grandparents.

His second sister Janet du Bois, a remedial teacher and her husband Charl, the Overgaauw General Manager, live on the farm with their two sons, Nicolaas and Niël.

David’s youngest brother Niël spent a year in the UK working at Bibendum Wines and is currently a sales representative with Vinimark/Wineworx, he and his wife Rina also live at Overgaauw.

When asked: "Which one of your wines is your favourite?" David replied: "You can just as well ask me which one of my children I love the most..." David van Velden sr.

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