Thelema Shiraz

Thelema Mountain Vineyards was established in 1983 when Gyles Webb, a former accountant, purchased a dilapidated fruit farm at the top of the Helshoogte Pass in Stellenbosch. With a vision for premium winemaking, Webb cleared orchards of plums and pears to plant vines on the high-altitude, south-facing slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain. By the mid-1990s, the estate had become a South African icon, with its pure-fruited wines frequently selling out within weeks of release. The name Thelema is inspired by 16th-century writer François Rabelais’s Abbey of Thélème, a utopian place governed by the philosophy of freedom and following one’s true will.

The estate’s terroir is defined by some of the highest elevations in Stellenbosch, reaching up to 640 meters above sea level, where cool Atlantic breezes and iron-rich decomposed granite soils create ideal conditions for concentrated, structured fruit. Thelema’s winemaking philosophy is centered on the belief that great wine is made in the vineyard rather than the cellar, practicing a policy of minimal intervention to allow each site to speak for itself. For the Shiraz, handpicked grapes undergo careful fermentation in stainless steel before maturing for 18 months in French oak barrels, resulting in a balanced, expressive wine that showcases the elegance and peppery spice characteristic of the Simonsberg slopes.