Alto

Alto Wine Estate is the oldest red wine only estate in South Africa with a history dating back to 1919. The first wine was made in 1922 which would become the prototype for the much loved Alto Rouge red blend that we enjoy today. A wine that encapsulates our terroir of excellence aswell as our heritage and traditions. We are proud to celebrate the extraordinary milestone of the release of our 100th consecutive vintage of Alto Rouge in September 2024.

We produce a small and curated selection of wine including our Alto Rouge red blend, single varietal Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, Flagship Estate Blend and our limited edition M.P.H.S (the name is an acronym of our previous winemakers intials Manie Malan, Piet du Toit, Hempies du Toit and Schalk van der Westhuizen). We have only had 5 winemakers in over 100 years with two of them being father and son combinations, a feat unrivalled by many wine estates.

Alto is situated in the heart of the so ‘Golden Triangle’ in Stellenbosch, South Africa and the farm’s position on the warmer northern slopes of the Helderberg make it ideally suited to red wine production. And yet the diversity of the farm allows for enormous complexity in the vineyards. Planted largely on soils of decomposed granite, the vineyards range in altitude from 100 to 500 metres above sea level. While generous late- afternoon sunshine guarantees concentration and colour in the grapes, the cooling sea breezes blowing in off nearby False Bay lengthen the hanging time on the vine to ensure phenolic ripeness an