Planet Earth had barely finished lapping the sun in the new millennium when wine experts proclaimed the Bordeaux of 2000 to be one ofthe greatest vintages ofthecentury.
Yes, the estate supplied wine to Britain's first prime minister, Robert Walpole, in the 18th century, but throughout much ofthe 20th century, it struggled.
It maybe a little more than 20 years since the end of apartheid opened up thewine industry to the wider world but vines have been tended in this corner ofthe globe since the mid-17th century.