Appellation
The appellation of Mischa Estate lies in the sought-after South African wine region of the Wellington, situated at the foot of the Groenberg on the banks of the Kromme Rivier (Dutch for Bend River) and forms the centre of the Cape Winelands with its picturesque environment and numerous wineries.
Wellington is a town in the Western Cape Winelands, a 45-minute drive from Cape Town, in South Africa with a population of approximately 62,000. Wellington’s economy is centred on agriculture such as wine, table grapes, deciduous fruit, and a brandy industry.
Location
Mischa Estate is situated on the slopes on the “Groenberg”, translated as “Green Mountain”, in the smallest, newest and most secluded appellation of the South African wine industry.
Our Estate has a unique landscape of folds, altitude differences and aspects in almost every direction, creating a diverse mesoclimate which results in:
• Exposure to cool evening and night sea breezes creating favourable day-night temperature amplitudes,
• A unique mesoclimate influenced by the proximity to Groenberg, which adds to the uniqueness and diversity of our vineyards, grapes and wines.
Environment
By stimulating biodiversity and implementing the best vineyard practices wisely, while respecting the physiological dynamics in the grapevine, we create conditions in the vineyard that reduce the need for disease and pest control, while obtaining grape quality focused microclimates and growth/crop balances that complement our old vines of three generations. These terroir units and the character of our seasoned vines are expressed in our wines.
To add to our respect for the environment, fauna and flora, we are constantly improving soil health using:
- Diverse, natural cover crops in the vineyards,
- Alternative, environmentally friendly weed control methods.
According to a professional soil survey, the soil types Tukulu, Westleigh, Oakleaf, Longlands, Klapmuts, and Vilafontes are all present on the Estate.
Terroir
Our Estate boasts a unique variety of soil types, predominantly derived over millions of years from granite, shale and sandstone with some areas comprised of very high gravel/rock percentage.
The predominantly gravelly structure of the largely decomposed granite soils on Mischa Estate provides excellent drainage, yet good nutrient and water holding capacity, restricts water and fertiliser supplements, and facilitates more natural growth conditions, complementing the drought resistant rootstocks of our vineyards.
Our unique terroirs provide us with a distinct purity of fruit expression which is characteristic of all our wines.