Restless River Wine

Restless River is managed and owned by Craig and Anne Wessels, winemaker and manager respectively. Their farm is located in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley and has some of the oldest Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay vines in the region (planted in 1998). Almost all their production is done by hand, resulting in limited quantities of each wine. Being terroir driven, the focus is on 100% single varietal wine with each vineyard on their farm registered as a single vineyard and the wines named after the vineyards.

Craig's work on the farm began as a passion project, producing his first vintage in 2007 out of a small hut/shed on the property. With a few vintages under his belt, in 2012 Restless River was launched. The name is derived from the river that flows through the estate and in a way from how restless he grew, eager to share his wines with the world. He is a self-taught winemaker, committed to site expression and a minimalist approach. He wants his wines to tell a story of where they are from, hence each wine is named after the vineyard it comes from.

Currently they are focused on Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The carbernet and chardonnay vineyards were planted in 1999 and the pinot noir in 2013. Craig is a fan of whisky and the labels are inspired by old whisky labels that used to have a lot of detail. Hence the labels always mention as much as they can about the vineyard and production.