NELSONS CREEK
Accommodation Services in Paarl

Nelson Wine Estate is a family wine farm in every sense of the word where most of the members of the Nelson family are involved in the running of the business in one way or another. Alan Nelson went to school in Johannesburg and then studied law at Stellenbosch University where he met Marguerite, the love of his life. Three years ago Alan handed over the farming and winemaking business to his children Daniel and Lisha making it possible for him to pursue his passion for the law and especially mediation. Alan’s spare time is taken up carriage driving with his Friesian horses and he is currently developing Olympic standard facilities for hosting carriage driving competitions on the estate. The vineyards on the Estate are managed by Lisha’s husband Petrus who joined the team on a full-time basis since After completing two seasons with well-seasoned winemaker Mike Dobrovic, she spent another season at the Stone Street Winery in California. Lisha has an incredible dedication towards her work and to the reputation of the Estate and is becoming known as one of South Africa's best winemakers, a tag rightfully earned when regard is had to the excellent awards and reviews received on her wines since production started in early Lisha controls the purse strings, which she does with an iron fist. Her portfolio also included functions and accommodation facilities which are now brilliantly managed by Erina Wagenaar. Since then Daniel has had to turn his hand to almost every aspect of the family business. From administration, to taking care of the bottle maturation cellar, the labelling of the family wines, and attending to export clearances and dispatch. Daniel is also an avid motorcyclist and is most at home on his BMW 1200 GS carving it up on some dirt road out in the wilderness. The rest of the time she is at Alan's side and an incredibly important part of the farms management team. As soon as they could afford it the Nelson's bought their first vineyard in Stellenbosch. It was only four hectares in extent but enough to make them sure that this was the life for them. Saving every penny that they earned the family in 1987 started to bring their plans to fruition when the family acquired Nelson's Creek. A huge amount of research went into buying the family farm. Weekend upon weekend Alan and Marguerite did the rounds with many agencies searching for the perfect farm. Alan's dream was to make the best wine in South Africa and after reading every book and article about wine that he could lay his hands on and travelling to other wine growing countries, he knew that terrior and micro climate were extremely important. With limited resources the farm also had to be close enough to Cape Town so that Alan could continue to practice law in order to earn enough money to develop the farm and to pay the bond. It also had to be suitable for equestrian activities. Alan knew that he had found the right area when he learnt that Gunter Bröessel, surely South Africa's most well-known winemaker, had purchased a small farm in the Agter Paarl region in very close proximity to Nelson Creek. The Nelson's could however never at the time have known that the mini region in which their farm was located was destined to become one of, if not the very best region in the world for the production of wines of exceptional quality. Since acquiring the farm, grapes produced in the mini region in which Nelsons' Creek is located have achieved truly outstanding achievements, including being rated the best in the world on no less than three occasions in the past few years.