A Celebration of the 100th Vintage of Alto Rouge

The South African wine industry is a mix of old and new and the old was really brought home at a centennial celebration on Monday, 16 September 2024 at Alto Estate, Stellenbosch. The Alto Rouge 2022 is the 100th year of bottling this red blend. Very special.

Bertho van der Westhuizen is only the 5th winemaker in 100 years – and, incredibly, 4 of those winemakers are father and sons.

Alto greeted us with sister company Stellenzicht's new Cap Classique as a welcome drink and beautiful live music by a violinist. Next, we were taken through a tasting in the romantic candlelit cellar, where we tasted 5 vintages of the Alto Rouge, ranging from from 2017-2022. They were all so fresh still.
The delicious celebratory lunch was accompanied by a jeroboam of their 2015 Alto Rouge – simply wonderful.