The Association of Small Direct Wine Merchants

Great Wine Online imports and distributes South African wines from our sister company, Rickety Bridge Winery, and other select boutique wineries in the Cape winelands

Rickety Bridge Winery nestles on the temperate slopes of the Franschhoek valley, just an hours drive from Cape Town. Franschhoek has historically been a cornerstone of the South African wine scene, having been originally settled by French Huguenot's in the 17th Century. Since 2001, a huge number of infrastructure enhancements have been undertaken, including;

• Increase in cellar capacity to in excess of 200 tonnes
• The addition of the latest state-of-the-art equipment to minimise handling
• Creation of a state of the art tasting centre, plus a conference and wedding venue
• Redevelopment and improvement of the guest house to a first class standard

Winery production was enhanced in 2002 by the acquisition of the historic Zonnebloem vineyards just 20 miles down the Franschhoek valley, and some of the upper slopes behind the winery have recently been cleared to allow planting of additional grapes on land assessed as having an ideal terroir for cultivation of Rhone varietals.

This year sees the launch of our top tier range of wines, the Rickety Bridge Paulina's Reserve Chenin Blanc 2008 and the Rickety Bridge Paulina's Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2008, complementing their Rickety Bridge Paulina's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, and forming the trio which comprises their special edition range.

Also soon to be released will be the Rickety Bridge Pinotage 2007, providing the winery's first bottling of this 'classic' South African varietal. Together with the Rickety Bridge Natural Sweet Chenin Blanc 2007, we believe Rickety Bridge now has a portfolio of wines to compete on a truly international scale.

Along with Rickety Bridge wines we also sell a number of other wines from small farms, where the emphasis is most definitely on quality. Current wineries include Babylon's Peak, Waverley Hills, Under Oaks, Ridgeback Wines and Rose Garden Vineyards.