B Is For Breytenbach, Brenaissance And Boran
Tom and Haley Breytenbach started their Brenaissance journey when he asked her to marry him. They decided to get married on the farm, situated in the beautiful Devon Valley area, they bought in 2011 and first on the agenda were a wedding chapel and wedding venue for their 250 guests.
The Estate has quite a few options including The Rose Conservatory, The River Deck, The Brenaissance Hall, The Couryard, The White Photo Studio and of course the landscaped gardens, plum orchards and vineyards. Café Blanc de Noir with its open plan, chic interior filled with home touches is the perfect place to relax. A safe play area for kids is visible to parents and the menu reflects their philosophy of grown in the valley, made in the valley and enjoyed in the valley.
In addition to the 30ha for vines and 30ha for export plums, the rest of the 116ha estate is home to Toms’ pride and joy, his stud of Boran cattle. He fell in love with the breed in Reitz in the Free State and bought some at an auction. His prize bull, Brigadier, will weigh in at a ton when fully grown and because cattle bring in quite an income, it only made sense to diversify.
Tom and Haley did their homework when it came to deciding which grapes for which wines they wanted to concentrate on and in the end, came up with 7 different wines. The wines are made by winemakers who were selected for their strengths; Longridge’s Jasper Raats made the Lady H Sauvignon Blanc 2011 and Knight of White Chardonnay 2010, Charl Coetzee when at Clos Malverne the Jack of Diamonds Shiraz 2009, Billy Marklew of Marklew Family Wines the Queen of Hearts Merlot, Marklew and Eikendal’s Nico Grobler were involved in the Bordeaux-style red blend Full House 2010 and Nico Grobler is responsible for the King of Clubs Cabernet Sauvignon 2009.
About 35 000 bottles are produced over the 7 varietals and Tom and Haley would like to keep it at this for the near future – more of a boutique style than a fully fledged wine farm with a cellar.
Whilst Tom and Haley are very new to the wine industry, they have already decided which direction to move in and the combination of business skill, enthusiasm and passion for this venture will guarantee its success.
Let’s raise a glass of Knight of White Chardonnay 2010 to Tom and Haley of Brenaissance and wish them well.
