Bernhard Bredell is one of the most exciting young winemakers on the scene with only a handful of vintages behind his back under the Scions of Sinai label. A familial history spanning as far as 160 years back in the Helderberg “sub-region” of Stellenbosch he hopes to reclaim his family roots, producing wine from vineyards planted by his ancestors. He operates in a small cellar on Klein Helderberg farm built in 1850 by his great-grandfather, where he is breathing new life into the old walls.

“I believe winemaking can become obsolete when your vineyards are balanced within their own terroir and they express their site authentically with purity in the grapes, that way it becomes much more a guidance process in the cellar for me, rather than a making process. Being gentle, respecting the specific conditions of the vineyards and having patience in the winery unlocks a special terroir purity for me. The vineyards have done all the challenging work already and posses their own uniqueness in the final grapes, the winemaking should just curate the best of that all the way into the bottle.”