Design-Led Wine Estates Blend Art, Architecture and Story

Drink with your eyes at these design-forward wine estates marvellous collections.

Rage Against the Machine

Dubbed ‘Ghost in the Machine’, Bruce Jack's collection of wines is his rally cry against AI. Each bottle features a unique, evolving design that tells a dystopian tale of digital domination while confounding AI’s ability to recognise it. No two bottles are alike, so they remain unscannable.

Land

Owned by the Gaiduk family, married couple Denis and Yuliya run the show at Quoin Rock. Architect Yuliya was tasked with restoring the Stellenbosch concern — and her considerable talent has informed the striking aesthetic. Unashamedly modern with parts of the design mimicking the surrounding winelands — such as a laser-cut pergola that casts a pattern of vine leaves and curved LED light troughs that emulate how wine circulates in tanks.

Sea

Like something out of a Studio Ghibli movie, Fryer’s Cove is an isolated West Coast winery housed in what was once a fish factory. It’s recently been reimagined to reflect its ocean-side address; think fish scale floor tiles and a 6 000-litre tank filled with local marine life, as well as barnacle-covered bottles of Fryer’s Cove wines.

City

Minimalist Wines has found a home in Cape Town’s Gardens district, transforming a repurposed factory into an urban winery. Founder Sam Lambson’s dream began with a ‘klapped-out bakkie full of grapes’ and his vision is now fully realised in his glass-walled tasting room with a view of the cellar. Relax over his range of three cool climate syrahs, complete with bread from neighbour FlourMarket, charcuterie by Neil Jewell and Klein River cheese.

Good news for bubbly lovers — there’s something new and delicious to try; La Maison Pommery, the esteemed producer from Reims, France has just landed on our shores.

Text by Malu Lambert