EST. 1975
Fine Wine Country
Hemel-en-Aarde is widely regarded as one of the most exciting wine areas in South Africa and one of the most beautiful. To many, it has a strong local and international reputation for exceptional, restrained, classically styled South African Pinot noir and Chardonnay. Falling within the Walker Bay “District", it is comprised of three contiguous "Wine Wards" located behind the historic seaside resort town of Hermanus, surrounded by nature reserves, overlooking the cool South Atlantic Walker Bay.
Hemel-en-Aarde means Heaven and Earth in old Dutch and Afrikaans and according to a visiting Moravian missionary, Brother Schmidt in 1899, “Rightly has it got its name because so high are the hills which closely embrace the valley all round, that they seem to touch the sky and you cannot see anything but heaven and earth”.
"What is clear is that the wines from the Hemel-en-Aarde valley can be more than a match for Burgundy, with a level of vivacity and profoundness that’s rarely seen."
— LAY & WHEELER FINE WINE MERCHANTS
Hemel-en-Aarde Wine Focus
Hemel-en-Aarde has earned its reputation as South Africa’s leading cool-climate home of Pinot noir and Chardonnay. Shaped by proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, ancient soils and a diversity of elevations, our three appellations offer distinct yet interconnected expressions of these two noble cultivars.
Pinot noir and Chardonnay have found a natural home here. Across the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, they reveal nuance, structure, elegance and a strong sense of place.
Discover more on how terroir, site and the hands of our growers shape the character of these wines — and how Hemel-en-Aarde continues to define their South African expression.
