Heading into the hills south-east outside the town of Stellenbosch, the road winds up the Devon Valley, a pastoral spread of oak trees, gentle slopes, horses and stunning views. Vines, yes, although despite its pleasing aesthetics reminiscent of outtakes from an Evelyn Waugh novel, Devon Valley has never truly shot out the lights in its role as an officially demarcated Stellenbosch wine ward.
Local cellar Clos Malverne built its name on good Pinotage, and Louisvale regularly features as a top Cap Classique producer. The sparkling wine behemoth JC le Roux called Devon Valley home with an imposing and well-frequented visitor centre and cellar space, but since the brand exchanged Méthode Cap Classique for Méthode Carbon Dioxide, the brand allure has been lost.
I am thus keen not to mess around and to state that, from this personal vantage point, there is a winery making some of the best red wines in all of Stellenbosch, and this is Le Grand Domaine. The boutique project of Swiss wine maestro Bernard Fontannaz, better known for his formidably massive project Origin Wines, Le Grand Domaine began in 2015, vineyards were planted a year later, and by 2022 it was making Cabernet Sauvignon that is as good and as distinctive and as beguiling as anything Stellenbosch can offer.
One could say that if Fontannaz’s plan was to make things at Le Grand Domaine happen quickly, it has worked. There is the confident, unmissable packaging reminiscent of a Montparnasse cabaret showroom in the 1930s. Entering awards from the get-go, Le Grand Domaine has amassed enough silverware to boost sales for Brasso, winning heaps of gongs, including two Top 10 Pinotage trophies and the IWC biggie for Best Cabernet Sauvignon in the World, plus an FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10.
Marketing-wise, these awards have been splashed about all over the show, and a partnership with the vivacious, ever-charming Irish chef Liam Tomlin in a Stellenbosch restaurant has provided a lively platform to showcase the Le Grand Domaine wines.
From afar, the presence and advent of this winery have been rapid and eye-catching. But an opportunity last week to enter Devon Valley, head along to its very end to where Le Grand Domaine sits atop a hill looking south-east, stirred this realisation of a place making truly great wine.
Le Grand Domaine is planted to 10.7 ha of vines, south-east and south-west facing: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. These are used in the wine range, with other grapes purchased from outside – the Le Grand Domaine range is Stellenbosch only, while the winery’s The Pledge line uses fruit from anywhere deemed good enough.
Former Simonsig grande dame Debbie Thompson heads up winemaking, together with Mosima Mabelebele and Yolande Laubscher. The cellar is gravity-fed and, by the look of things, the ladies get a lot of cool stuff to play with. Two types of amphorae, smart foudre and a couple of Georgian qvevri outside, waiting to be deployed next year.
But seeing that Debbie admitted to Cabernet being king at Le Grand Domaine, as well as my fervent support of the Stellenbosch Cabernet Collective, Cabernet Sauvignon was the wine I had come to check out.
The vineyards lie beneath the winery, gazing out towards False Bay some 30 km to the south. Soils are decomposed shale with a substantial 20% clay component. The vineyards’ aspect sees the vines bristling in the spring-summer southerly breezes during the growing and ripening season, and sunlight radiation is full-on. And whether it is the location of the vines, or the quality of the plant material, the Cabernet Sauvignon from Le Grand Domaine shows the somewhat understated joy and beauty that is evident in young vineyards.
Focussing on the Le Grand Domaine Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, experiencing the confidence and easy brilliance of this wine made from six-year-old vines reminded me of the late, great Jan Boland Coetzee who believed in the potential that lies in youthful Cabernet Sauvignon plants. His legendary Kanonkop Cabernet Sauvignon 1973, the estate’s maiden Cabernet which is still in splendid condition today, was made from vines planted in 1969.
Making the Le Grand Domaine Cabernet Sauvignon is calm and methodical: crush and destem, two days of cold soak before inoculation, fermentation peaking at 28°C with regular pump-overs kept under control. Colour and tannin were drawn out steadily, then extended maceration before a gentle press. Malolactic conversion finished across tank and barrel. Thirteen months in 100% French oak followed, with 16% first fill, 61% second fill and 23% third fill.
One of the finer things about writing about a great wine is that it comes easily, seeing that the wine in question parks itself in the memory bank, ready to be called upon at the smack of a keyboard. Le Grand Domaine Cabernet Sauvignon 2022: sun and fruit evident in the offering of juiced berry-fruit of the dark kind, all gliding over the palate, sumptuous and delicious, allowing the senses to wallow and drift in this luxurious offering from nature.
The Cabernet Sauvignon grape’s deeper, thoughtful features are, too, present in this wine. A sliver of broken graphite and an edge of pine needle. A blooming patch of purple fynbos in the wine’s perfume, as well as on the palate. The sensual, seductive grasp of a glove laced with finely embroidered tannins. A sculpted mouthfeel and tuning-fork-precise balance on the palate.
In closing, I shall revert to my native tongue, Afrikaans, stating that this wine is totally “befok”.
On the Pinotage side, Le Grand Domaine sources grapes from a block out Bottelary Hills way, planted in 1995. The wine from vintage 2022 scored an Absa Top 10 in 2025, while the one from 2024 won another trophy this year.
I only got to taste 2024, a wine that saw a 70% new wood component after some stern manual punch-downs during four days of fermentation. Different grape, different terroir and different handling in the cellar, but the Pinotage shows the same kind of stylistic magnificence as the Cabernet Sauvignon.
In the glass, a deep garnet core. The nose leans into sweet plum and mulberry. With air, black cherry comes through, laced with just the right amount of perfumed oak spice. Tannin is rich, but flows without grabbing you. Dark fruit lingers, and underneath there is that dry fynbos note that roots it firmly in the Cape. It is not new style or old style or any style other than very, very good Pinotage.
Newly arrived it may be, but Le Grand Domaine truly is King of the Hill.
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