The High Road

For those whose sense of taste favours the elegance and complexity of classic Bordeaux-style reds, The High Road is the perfect destination.

Established in 2003 as a boutique négociant producer, The High Road has cultivated a considerable reputation amongst Bordeaux aficionados.
The brand has been built on four unwavering pillars of distinction: exclusive sourcing of quality grapes perfected by the Stellenbosch Terroir, a single-minded focus on Bordeaux Varietals, an insistence on using a considered selection of fine French Oak barrels, and our proprietary High Road Practices.
Guided by our consultant winemakers for the past 15 vintages, we have succeeded in producing exceptional vintage-specific wines with the elegance, intrinsic depth and distinction of a classic Bordeaux red at their core.
The epitome of Bordeaux, yet expressing a sense of place that is uniquely Stellenbosch.

Firstly to achieve quality the emphasis is placed on terroir and viticultural best practices.
We source our fruit from premium vineyards of the Golden Triangle of Stellenbosch. In these vineyards the canopy management, yields, irrigation and harvesting are all under our own fastidious control.

Here, a diversity of soil types with a predominance of Hutton and Clovelly offers a rare combination: great water retention and excellent drainage. This means either no irrigation or drip-irrigation is used – which practically eliminates crop damage. Combined with a cool, seabreeze-kissed climate, the result is the perfect fruit for our subtly complex red blends: high quality smaller berries at optimum ripeness and colour, packed with fruitiness and smooth tannins.
Secondly as per the benchmark set by respected négociants from France, we buy in premium quality Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec – the classic red Bordeaux varietals.

Cabernet Sauvignon performs particularly well in Stellenbosch. It is arguably the strongest red cultivar in South Africa, which is why we insist that it should be the backbone of our wines. This single-minded dedication to Bordeaux-style wines saw the induction of Les Sweidan into the Commanderie de Bordeaux en Afrique de Sud, the South African chapter of the worldwide Commanderie that unites producers and wine lovers who share a passion for Bordeaux.

Thirdly we use the finest French oak barrels for the maturation of our noble blends. In the ancient oak forests of France, growth is slow allowing the wood to develop the tight grain that our winemaker prefers – both for the optimum transfer rate of oxygen and the exchange of flavour nuances. Skilled French coopers hand-craft the centuries-old wood – shaping, seasoning, sorting and assembling the staves to produce the barrels.

The tannins and bouquets derived from these amazingly well crafted barrels add to the complexity of our wines and transition smoothly onto the palate; chocolate, mocha and cigar box notes are all derived from the French oak.
The influence the wood imparts to the maturing wine is subtle and spicy. This, and the skills of our winemaker, account for our wines’ signature complexity and elegance.