Hamilton Russell

Tim Hamilton Russell was chairman of one of South Africa's leading advertising companies when he purchased a run down property in 1975 that was to become one of the finest wine farms in the country. In an industry not renowned for its progressive politics, he was a passionate advocate of minimum wages for black workers and was a prime mover in the abolition of the Dop system of paying wages in wine.

The estate is located only 3 kilometres from the Atlantic ocean and the cool breezes that come in off the ocean make this the coolest region for wine production in South Africa. Hamilton Russell wines are now only made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay,grown on low vigour, stony, clay-rich Bokkeveld shale slopes. Present proprietor Anthony Hamilton Russell and winemaker Kevin Grant produce exemplary wines that are restrained yet complex and, most importantly, express their respective origins and terroirs.