Like Greek goddesses, women dressed in flowing materials adorned with the most whimsical crowns contrasted with fierce femme fatales in structured architectural fashion pieces that looked like a work of modern art; all the while, the men, who were just as beautifully colorful as the women, sauntered to their lady of choice with an air of nonchalance that only a true Frenchman could pull off with success. One pocket of the room was chaotic and boisterous with what it seemed, could it be possible, yes, that movie star who is known to take up all the oxygen in the room and dominates all who bask in her glory, while other areas, tucked away with mysterious young women emanating a quiet power with a statuesque beauty as they gaze off into some other universe.

For a young man who had seen nothing but farms his whole life, this unbelievable dream-like existence left him in awe. Hannes Myburgh, a multi-generational South African farmer, was gobsmacked by this otherworldly paradise as he attended legendary fashion show parties in the 1970s. He came to Paris without money, living in a dilapidated building crammed with other young people from around the world. During this time, Hannes had many jobs, one of them being a clapper at fashion shows. He notes that back in those days, they would hire someone dressed in fashionable clothes to plant in the audience of fashion shows who would then be responsible for clapping when certain outfits came out on models, increasing the chance of those outfits being bought.

At one of these fantastical parties, he met someone associated with the outstanding estate Château Lafite Rothschild in Bordeaux, known as the epitome of grace and elegance. Because of the encounter, he ended up working a harvest at Lafite Rothschild, learning the ways they achieve such excellence in the vineyards and winery, then returned to his family farm, which had grown grapes and made wine since the early 1700s, with a new insight to their path forward.

Meerlust Estate

Hannes Myburgh is the 8th-generation owner of Meerlust Estate, a winery and vineyard estate owned by the Myburgh family since 1756. They have played a considerable part in bringing recognition to high-quality wines in South Africa, especially the Stellenbosch region where they reside. The estate is only three miles from False Bay, which influences a cooling effect with winds counterbalancing hot summers, allowing for a longer growing season, enabling grapes to find an ideal balance between fruit ripeness, plenty of acidity and ripe tannins – creating a silky texture. The sub-soils are clay-based, retaining water to give the vines much-needed water when there is a drought, mixed with ancient alluvial deposits and deeper down, granite gravel coming from granite mountains created by volcanic activity over 160 million years ago.

They became internationally known for their Cabernet Sauvignon-based and Chardonnay wines in the 1990s in key, sophisticated markets like London, where there was a more substantial interest in all things South African as apartheid ended in 1990, allowing sanctions to be lifted.

High-quality practices were already being led by Hannes, as once he saw what wine could be at Lafite Rothschild and realized that his estate had many of the key factors that made it possible for great wine, he very much pushed for a higher bar, despite already being one of the best in South Africa. Yet, despite Hannes' contribution to the success of his family's estate, he also gives much credit to Chris Williams, who became the assistant winemaker in 1995 and cellar master in 2004, as he brought out a precise, individualistic expression of each plot. Chris left Meerlust at the end of 2019 to start his own winery, The Foundry, and Hannes was quick to recommend his superb wines. Today, the winemaker at Meerlust is Altus Treurnicht, who was handpicked by Chris Williams and worked under him as an assistant winemaker until Chris passed the baton to him.

Lifting Up Community

There has always been a tremendous amount of guilt weighing on Hannes for being a white person in South Africa, so he decided to implement programs such as making sure all of the children of his workers get an education, as well as helping many of his workers as well as other Black South Africans to start their own business.

A company named Compagniesdrift was established in 2009 by the Myburgh Family Trust as one of its Foundations' continual projects to enable Black South African farm workers to become financially independent, allowing their future children and grandchildren to benefit from multi-generational wealth. At first, the company was jointly owned by the Meerlust Family Trust and the Meerlust Workers' Trust, which included 72 people, of which 35 work for Meerlust and the rest work for other farms. The company involves a piece of land previously owned by Meerlust and a big storage facility for the cellaring of their Meerlust wines, for which they have always paid a fee, as there is a lack of storage facilities to cellar wines. As of July 2019, the company is 100% owned by the Meerlust Workers' Trust, and their leadership, which is composed mainly of women, has done an amazing job as they currently store wines for 80 different estates and handle restoring and labeling as well. They have even started making their own wines, which have just been listed by two major department stores in South Africa.

Hannes noted with a warm smile in regards to the Meerlust Workers' Trust wines, "They are not being exported yet, but we're gonna get there."

It is remarkable to think back to Hannes' time in Paris, about how a farm boy's experience in the fashion show party scene was able to afford him an opportunity to work for one of the greatest fine wine families in the world. Once asked if his father was proud of such an achievement, he quickly said he had never told his father. "No, I didn't tell him, as he would have been horrified," said Hannes, as his father was a real old-fashioned farmer, and life was about backbreaking work and nothing else.

But Hannes' eyes sparkle with delight when he speaks about his Paris days - and when it comes to talking about the extraordinary success of the Meerlust Workers' Trust, he radiates with joy.


The Meerlust soils are varying composites of clay and granite, yet there are black laterite deposits known locally as "koffie klip," which give a distinctive quality to their wines.

Also, the Chardonnay and Bordeaux-blend range in price from $42 to $44, respectively, and are of incredible value as ultra-premium South African wines have not become trendy in the U.S., not yet, anyway. So for those looking for outstanding wines that really, and I mean really, over-deliver for the price, picking up one or both of these Meerlust wines and seeking out other great South African producers is a fantastic way to go.

2023 Meerlust Estate, Chardonnay, Stellenbosch, South Africa: 100% Chardonnay. A Chardonnay that is at once classic yet also exotic with aromas that open slowly like an enchanting flower with notes of hazelnut and mango cardamom bread pudding that is lifted by a zingy lemon zest note that has crisp acidity with juicy white peach flavors with an intense background of minerality finishing with a refreshing note of sea spray.

2021 Meerlust Estate, Rubicon, Stellenbosch, South Africa: 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. This Bordeaux blend emanates a captivating dance between Old World sophistication and New World excitement with complex notes of smoldering earth, cigar box and graphite balanced by rich flavors of black cherry cobbler and plum tart drizzled with raspberry sauce that has round, supportive tannins and bright acidity with a long finish that has an overall graceful quality.