Of Salt, Soil, and Spirit: A Decade of Excellence at the Edge of the Ocean

There's something profoundly moving about wine that carries the weight of history in every glass. As South Africa celebrates an extraordinary 367 years of winemaking - a heritage that began in 1659 when Jan van Riebeeck pressed the Cape's first grapes - we find ourselves raising a glass to another milestone: Benguela Cove's 10th anniversary. It's a decade that represents not merely ten vintages, but the culmination of centuries of stories written into a single, remarkable stretch of land along Walker Bay, the Atlantic Coast between Cape Town and Hermanus. 

The Legacy of the Lagoon: From Grains and Livestock to Vines  

The land now home to Benguela Cove has witnessed the full sweep of South African history. In the mid-1700s, Dutch colonial authorities granted it as Afdaksrivier – “Lean-to Roof River" - a vital loan farm offering freshwater sanctuary to weary travellers traversing the Cape. The estate once encompassed the entire Walker Bay shoreline, a vast expanse of possibility waiting for each generation to write its chapter. 

Around 1903, the Delport family assumed stewardship of this historic ground. For the better part of the 20th century, they farmed it traditionally, raising livestock and grain whilst the quiet rhythms of rural life played out against the lagoon's shimmering backdrop. Then came the war. 

When Flying Boats Ruled the Lagoon 

In 1943, the peaceful Delport farm transformed into a strategic military outpost. The Royal Air Force (RAF) Squadron 262 established an Advanced Operating Base here, and suddenly Walker Bay became a runway for something extraordinary: Catalina flying boats. These magnificent aircrafts, capable of 20-hour patrols, hunted German U-boats threatening Allied shipping around the Cape. The "Black Cats," as they were known, could take off and land on water - and this remote lagoon became their sanctuary. 

The airmen didn't simply use the land; they became part of its fabric. When floods destroyed the Onrus bridge in 1944, cutting off Hermanus from Cape Town, the RAF crew built a temporary crossing. Several of the men went on to marry local women, their descendants still living in the area today. History, it seems, has a way of taking root. 

A Vision Reborn: The Streeter Era 

Fast-forward to 2010. Penny Streeter OBE and her husband, Nick, purchased a holiday home on what had become a fledgling estate development. Vineyards planted between 2003 and 2007 already graced 70 hectares, alongside olive groves and lavender fields. But when the original developer passed away in 2011, the project stalled, leaving homeowners anxious about their investments. 

Penny didn't hesitate. In 2013, she and Nick acquired the entire 200-hectare estate - a bold rescue mission that would transform not just property, but possibility itself. 

The experts were sceptical. Coastal terroir? Too salty, too windy, too marginal for serious viticulture, they said. But Penny saw what others couldn't: potential written in maritime breezes and ancient soil. She appointed acclaimed winemaker, Johann Fourie, in 2016, and in February 2017, opened a gravity-fed, state-of-the-art winery that would soon earn recognition as a WWF Conservation Champion and a place among the World's Best Vineyards. 

A Tribute in Every Bottle 

Today's Benguela Cove is more than a winery - it's a living memorial. The flagship wine, The Catalina Semillon, grows on a single vineyard overlooking the precise spot where those wartime flying boats once landed. Its distinctive minerality and subtle saline finish aren't accidents of terroir; they're liquid history, a taste of the very elements that drew the RAF here eight decades ago. 

This is what makes Benguela Cove's first decade so remarkable. In just ten years, Penny and her team have created wines that don't simply reflect their place - they honour every layer of its story. From Dutch colonial waystation to family farm, from military airbase to world-class wine estate, this land has been shaped by vision, courage, and the willingness to see beyond conventional wisdom. 

A Double Celebration 

As we toast South Africa's 367 years of winemaking excellence - a journey from those first tentative pressings in 1659 to today's globally acclaimed industry - Benguela Cove's ten-year milestone feels particularly poignant. Both stories speak to the same essential truth: great wine demands patience, belief, and respect for the land's unique voice. 

The South African wine industry has given the world expressions of terroir that could come from nowhere else. From the granite slopes of Stellenbosch to the limestone hills of the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, our wines tell stories of adaptation, innovation, and an unshakeable connection to place. Benguela Cove embodies this spirit entirely - a relative newcomer already steeped in centuries of narrative, producing wines that capture the maritime magic of Walker Bay in ways the sceptics never imagined possible. 

A Toast to the Journey 

This is a moment worth marking - 367 years of South African winemaking tradition meeting a decade of Benguela Cove's remarkable journey. These aren't merely numbers; they're invitations to taste history, to experience terroir shaped by flying boats and colonial traders, by family farmers and visionary entrepreneurs. 

We invite you to celebrate with us. Discover; The Catalina Semillon and taste the minerality of a military airbase turned vineyard. Explore our range and find the wines that speak to your own sense of adventure and appreciation for stories well told.  

Whether you're a collector seeking something extraordinary or simply someone who appreciates wine with soul, Benguela Cove offers bottles that honour the past whilst embracing the future. 

Raise a glass. Taste the legacy.  

Each wine you choose isn't just a purchase - it's a toast to persistence, to the courage of pioneers' past and present, and to the magnificent accidents of history that sometimes yield the most memorable wines. 

Here's to 367 years of South African excellence. Here's to 10 years of Benguela Cove. And here's to you - join us in celebrating the place where history quite literally meets terroir.