The history of Stellenzicht dates back to 1692, when it was part of a much bigger property granted to the first owner, Barendt Hendrikse, by Governor Simon van der Stel in an area that would later become known as the Stellenbosch district. He named the property Rustenburg although there was already a farm with the same name, but spelled Rustenberg.

One can well imagine the confusion the similarity in the names created. According to local legend, two subsequent owners met one evening in a pub in Stellenbosch. When both were rather deep in their cups, they agreed to flip a coin to decide who would have the right to the name. The owner of Rustenberg (which still exists today) called it right and Rustenburg was renamed Stellenzicht (literally meaning “View of Stellen”(bosch). The farm was bought in 1981 by the international banker and financier Hans-Joachim Schreiber. In 1999, the year following Guy Webber’s appointment as winemaker at Stellenzicht, Schreiber entered into a joint venture with Distillers Corporation which today forms part of Distell. The joint venture, called Lusan, owns five wine estates – in addition to Stellenzicht, Le Bonheur, Uitkyk, Alto and Neethlingshof.

Winemaker

Guy Webber was born in De Aar in 1965. His parents moved to Bloemfontein where he attended Grey College. It was here that Guy developed an interest in agriculture when he started harvesting grapes from his parents’ backyard and serving his friends freshly-squeezed grape juice when they visited on Saturday mornings. Soon he noticed the start of the natural process of grape fermentation and was captivated for life. When his parents moved again, this time to Pretoria, he enrolled at Pretoria High School for Boys from where he matriculated in 1983.

He obtained a diploma, first class, in viticulture and horticulture as well as one in cellar technology at the Elsenburg College of Agriculture in 1988. He joined Gilbey’s in Stellenbosch as a trainee technical assistant and then spent six years honing his skills as winemaker at several cellars in the Winelands.

In 1998, Guy joined Stellenzicht Vineyards as winemaker and has enjoyed considerable success ever since. Considered one of South Africa’s Pinotage masters with a personal tally of five ABSA Top 10 scores, Guy is passionate about this varietal and considers it his absolute favourite. “It bears well, colours well and gives good fruit. It’s a strong, masculine varietal that challenges the winemaker to balance power with elegance.” This is an ideal Guy pursues in every wine he makes.