Newstead's Winery, Plettenberg Bay

It’s Friday afternoon in the middle of February and the official Plett season has long since dwindled. Which makes it surprising to walk through the tasting room of Newstead winery and see groups of well-groomed locals and foreigners all enjoying Sue Lund’s legendary picnic lunches along with 
husband Doug’s award-winning wine.  “We really want people to come and experience what we have here,” says Doug, as a table of Russians lift light-coloured glasses to an aqua sky framed with Newstead’s neatly trimmed vines.

“We want them to experience our life and for it not to be this heavily commercialised thing. Obviously it needs to work and pay, but it’s important to keep the things we love front and centre and to keep loving them.” The couple, along with their three children, settled in Plettenberg Bay in 2006. They planted five hectares under vine, and Doug, who was a sugar farmer in Natal, began to learn about the winemaking process.

“The fundamentals of agriculture are the same. You plant something and it needs to grow! Having said that, vines are a completely different animal and for me I can’t look at something new and completely understand it straight off. I’ve got to chew over it, live it, and go through it.  “When I was making my first wine, a month before I brought it out, I just hit this almighty panic. I had taken four years to build this thing and done everything I was meant to, and I thought, this is what it all hinges on.

If this wine is not what it’s meant to be, what do we do?” The wine was what it was meant to be and so much more. The Lunds won silver for their first vintage Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc at the Michelangelo awards. Their first MCC Blanc de Blanc won double gold – something almost unheard of. Especially as they only produced 3 000 bottles and distribution is solely through the cellar door, the Plett Wine and Bubbly Festival and ArtLogic’s Sanlam Handmade Contemporary Fair. 

The waiting list for the second vintage is long. “It’s crazy to have a waiting list for a wine,” says Sue as she flips through sheets of paper. But the clarity and soul of the Newstead wine has attracted fans throughout the country. Add to that the charm of the Lunds. They’re all involved in what they call “the lifestyle”. They live and breathe the farm; their house is literally alongside the tasting room, both buildings sharing a tasteful aesthetic. 

Last year they added The Bubble Bar, which accommodates 15 and has a woodburning pizza oven. It was important, as with the rest of the space, that the structure melts into the landscape. It’s here that the Secret Solstice Party is thrown on December 21 each year. As Doug is a keen polo player, they also host polo parties – the opening and closing of the season. For Doug, the question is growth. The new vintage output is up to 40 000 bottles in total.

The MCC has grown from just 3 000 to 10 000, with the remaining varietals Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and a Rosé MCC making up the bulk. He’s just planted a hectare of specialised Pinot Noir rootstock, from which he plans to create a “very special red”. There’s the issue of expanding distribution and export, but obviously the rate of growth needs to be monitored. “It’s another process trying to decide how big you want to go,” he says. “We don’t want to lose what we’re doing. We don’t want to become this animal that is out of control.” newsteadwines.com