Stellekaya

This family-owned boutique red wine cellar in the historic town of Stellenbosch in the Cape wine-lands and is the passion of Dave & Jane Lello.

The winery is located in an old brandy cellar that was converted into a wine cellar in 2002. The whole brandy distillery is being transformed into a Wine Village called "Bosman's Crossing" by Dave.

Its goal is to produce premium quality red wines from selected vineyards in the Stellenbosch region. A traditional and natural process has been selected which ensures that the wines need little or no mechanical pumping, and that the maximum fruit and flavour are extracted early in the fermentation process. All the wines complete fermentation in wood and are aged in French oak for a minimum of 18 months.

The range of wines will include five red varietal wines and three red blends. Each wine will not exceed a production of 20,000 bottles in any one vintage. Markets are being established in Europe and USA for the wines and it is planned that 60% of production will be allocated for export.

The name "Stellekaya" means "home of the stars" which is a fusion of the Italian word for stars and the Xhosa name for home. The family name "Lello" has Italian origins.

To complete the theme of the stars, each wine will be named after a constellation. Artwork from a star atlas drawn by world known astronomer Jan Hevelius from Gdansk has been used for the artwork on the labels.

The project started in 1999, and wine was made on small scale on a farm on Blaauwklippen Road just outside Stellenbosch. After 2 experimental seasons, a decision was made to establish the commercial winery in the town's historical brandy manufacturing precinct. The first crush in our completed cellar was in 2003.

An old bulk brandy store has been restored and the old bulk tanks have been converted into mini maturation cellars. Each maturation cellar holds 40 barrels (9,000 litres) and is individually climatically controlled.

The winery was designed to produce about 120,000 bottles of red wine each year and uses techniques that are as old as winemaking itself. Here you will experience traditional open fermenters and basket presses. The wine is taken after maceration into French barriques as soon as possible where it spends more than 18 months.

The traditional process is labour intensive but this ensures the quality and make sure that local workers are involved as they have been for centuries past.

A great wine is one that accurately reflects the "Terroir" that it grows in. The "golden triangle" in the Stellenbosch region, is bounded by the Helderberg, The Stellenboschberg and the R44 road joining Stellenbosch and Somerset West and is regarded as some of the best red soils in the Boland.

The vision is to plant and grow low-bearing Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese grapes on a 24 Ha site that is south facing and high up on the side of the Stellenboschberg along Blaauwklippen Road. All plantings will be trellised and grown at a density of about 3,000 vines per Ha.

The cool breezes off False Bay are much the same as those off the Mediterranean in Bolgheri, Tuscany where some of the best "Super Tuscan" wines are made. It is home to Antinori, who has made stellar wines such as Tignanello and his cousin Marchese Rochetta the wine Sassicaia.

Currently grapes are sourced from a number of carefully selected vineyards on the slopes of the Helderberg and Stellenbosch berg.