In the same hands since 1937: how a farm in the Robertson Valley became one of South Africa's largest wine companies
Anyone driving from Robertson towards Bonnievale will recognize the entrance from afar by the rows of scarlet cannas along the road. Behind them lies a farm that has been owned by the same family since 1937 and has followed a path in that time that few other wineries in South Africa can boast: from 500 cases of wine to a company that now manages around 1,400 hectares, yet is still run by four cousins who all share the same surname. Van Loveren is a new addition to the Kapweine range.
A farm called Goldmine
It all started with a piece of land that was originally called Goudmyn F. The name Goudmyn, Afrikaans for gold mine, came from a previous owner, whom the neighbors said paid for the land as if he had acquired a gold mine. Later, the farm was divided into sections, and in 1937, the father of Hennie Retief Senior bought section F for his son.
In 1939, Hennie married the teacher Jean van Zyl from the neighboring town of Ashton, and Jean was immediately bothered by the letter F. For her, it stood for "fools and failures." She convinced her husband to rename the farm. One initial suggestion was Roche Rouge, after the red ridge of the Elandsberg that rises behind the house. Jean prevailed with a different proposal: Christiena van Loveren, an ancestor of hers who had come to the Cape from Holland in 1699. Her bridal chest had been passed down through generations and remains on the farm to this day. Many years later, Jean admitted that the F could also stand for "friendship and flowers."
1980, the first own wine and a flood
Until the late 1970s, the family supplied their grapes, like almost everyone else in the valley. Then the first farmers in Robertson began bottling under their own name, and Jean's sons Nico and Wynand wanted to do the same. In 1980, the time had come; the brand was launched on their father's 67th birthday.
The beginning was unspectacular. 500 cases of Premier Grand Cru were bottled, and it took a full year for 400 of them to be sold. The family never sold the last 100 cases: in 1981, during the Laingsburg flood, the Kogmanskloof River ran directly through the cellar. The first tasting room was a rondavel converted from a milk shed. Anyone sitting in the bistro today will see nothing of that, but they still love to tell the story on the farm.
Four cousins, four roles
In the 1990s, the third generation joined: Nico's sons Bussell and Hennie, and Wynand's sons Phillip and Neil. Four cousins who still clearly divide the work among themselves today. Hennie and Neil are responsible for the vines, Bussell for the cellar, and Phillip for the commercial side and management.
This sounds more banal than it is. Family businesses rarely fail because of the wine, but often because of the question of who gets to decide. At Van Loveren, the model works through shared ownership and clearly separated responsibilities, without the need for one to overrule the other. From this constellation, a low-cost second brand was created in the year 2000, which developed into the best-selling bottled wine in South Africa and laid the foundation for everything that followed.
Growing without losing the family
Since then, Van Loveren has grown to a scale that is not apparent to a visitor. In 2025, the production facilities of Overhex were added, as well as majority stakes in Neil Ellis, Landskroon, and Survivor, alongside brands such as Zandvliet, Christina, Tangled Tree, or Rhino Run. Exports go to around 70 countries.
Phillip Retief describes the family as farmers at heart who have also become brand specialists over time. This is visible in decisions that were long considered unusual in South African viticulture: sweet wines in 1.5-liter bottles, a range in lightweight PET bottles, and a dedicated line with reduced alcohol content. In addition, there are development partnerships through which farm workers receive ownership of individual farms and become entrepreneurs themselves, secured by long-term supply contracts.
Twelve sites and the work on the red wines
Anyone producing this much wine has to face questions about quality. Van Loveren has been answering them since 2017 with a program specifically targeting red wines. From the entire vineyard area, the team has identified twelve particularly valuable sites, which have since been continuously developed. According to Neil Retief, their grapes raise the level of every cuvée they flow into. This was supplemented by the purchase of a top site, the fruit of which is intended to give the top wines additional profile.
The willingness to try new things in the vineyard is a tradition at Van Loveren. The estate was the first in Robertson to introduce a single-pole trellis system to improve grape quality.
Robertson: Limestone, heat, cool nights
The Robertson Valley lies about 160 kilometers east of Cape Town, framed by the Langeberg and Riviersonderend mountain ranges, and is part of the Breede River Valley region. The days are hot and dry, the nights are cool, and the difference between the two is the reason why the grapes retain their freshness here. There is little rain; the Breede River is the lifeblood of the valley.
The unique feature is the calcareous soils, a rarity in South African viticulture. They give the white wines in particular a chalky tension. Robertson has therefore historically grown as a white wine region and is considered the center of the Méthode Cap Classique in South Africa and the home of Muscadel. With the warming climate, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon have also become established in recent decades, which well explains why Van Loveren is investing in red wines right now.
A garden that tells a story
Jean Retief began laying out a garden around the house in 1939, and ever since, the family has planted trees for various occasions: births, weddings, but also historical events such as the end of the Second World War or the end of apartheid. A brochure is available on the farm that explains the individual trees and their stories. A garden as a family archive that you can walk through.
Welcoming guests was never a secondary matter for Van Loveren, but rather its own pillar, albeit with the requirement that it sustains itself. Today, tastings, garden tours, and a bistro are part of it. For their work on their own carbon footprint, the farm has received the Carbon Hero award from Blue North Sustainability as part of the Confronting Climate Change initiative.
New at Kapweine
Van Loveren brings a signature to the range that didn't exist before: wines from calcareous Robertson soil, made in an estate that is big enough for consistency and family-run enough for stubbornness. The spectrum ranges from uncomplicated everyday wines to bottlings from selected sites, and both come from the same cellar where the third generation has been working for over thirty years.
Anyone who previously knew South Africa primarily through Stellenbosch or the Swartland will find another side of the Cape here. One that tastes of limestone, heat, and cool nights, and one that a family has been telling for almost ninety years.
Van Loveren wines at Kapweine
If this story has made you want to get to know the family in your glass, you will find what you are looking for in the Kapweine range. For everyday red wine, the fruit-driven The Coffee Pot Pinotage and the slightly more robust African Java Pinotage are suitable. If you like it sparkling, opt for the Papillon Mimosa, and for anyone who wants to avoid alcohol without sacrificing enjoyment, there are two non-alcoholic sparkling wines from the same cellar: the Absolute Zero Brut and the Absolute Zero Nectar.
