It Takes Guts And Blind Faith

When serial entrepreneur Penny Streeter became the owner of Benguela Cove - the luxury secure property development and vineyard located 80 minutes from Cape Town International airport - she did what she has always done: jumped in with both feet and followed her gut instinct.  

Streeter, a social drinker much like the rest of us, had no claim that she could lay to being a wine expert; she enjoyed the odd glass of Chardonnay, which hardly gave her the necessary credentials to run a wine business and a vineyard that now harvests 700 tons of grapes annually.

The big guns in the wine industry such as Kevin Grant from Ataraxia Wines and Paul Wallace from Paul Wallace Wines were called in, together with Benguela Cove’s Vineyard Manager Jaco Mouton; their advice was to sell all the grapes that are harvested to co-ops - put nothing in the bottle unless you wanted to be stuck with a wine mountain, they said.

This didn’t sound like an attractive proposition to Streeter, and either foolishly or wisely, she chose to ignore this sage advice. The dice had rolled, and using her never-ending confidence and sales skills, she set out to build a wine empire and brand for Benguela Cove.

Johann Fourie, Chief Winemaker at KWV, joined the business in 2016. Fourie, through KWV, was already familiar with Benguela Cove, its slopes, and the various varietals. With a passion for cool-climate wines, Fourie was certain Benguela Cove would shoot the lights out in terms of quality and taste. 

Today, the estate offers a range of luxury South African residential properties attracting families, those looking for a second, holiday home, and a great property investment. There are superb ocean views in the wildlife estate, with a range of flora and fauna to enjoy, good internet connections and convenient national and international travel.