OAK VALLEY
The diversification and expansion at Oak Valley does not stop with just a new restaurant. Another new business venture for the estate is the mountain biking experience.
presence and of our total production roughly 60% is exported and 40% is marketed locally and over the border in Africa, so we do have quite a diverse market place.” The production of flowers on the Estate began in 1978, mainly to serve the target markets of the Western and Southern Cape. Oak Valley manages 17 hectares of greenhouse structures. Mr Rawbone-Viljoen said: “Our greenhouses are very modern indeed; in fact our Alstroemeria greenhouse is the most modern greenhouse in South Africa.” Growing flowers on the Estate offers the opportunity to flatten out seasonal dips in production as different flowers grow well at different times of year. Oak Valley Flowers offers such a large range there is a flower to suit almost any occasion. Mr Rawbone-Viljoen remarked: “It’s quite a diverse offering and when the Dutch visit they’re absolutely astounded that we try to do so many things at once.” He added: “We grow Gladioli in summer and Iris in winter; we also buy in product from places as far away as Kenya to supplement our own production.” Oak Valley Flowers is now the largest flower grower and wholesaler in the Western Cape. One of the most exciting and most recent additions
to the business at Oak Valley is the production of wine. Although Sir Antonie Viljoen planted wine grapes and built a wine cellar on the Estate in 1907, but sadly it was taken out of production during World War II and the first commercial wine in more recent times was not sold until 2003. The wine was a sauvignon blanc and, like everything at Oak Valley, it had undergone years of careful development and quality control to ensure it met the exemplary standards set by the company. In 1985 the first vineyards of the modern era were planted and the operation began as an experiment in conjunction with the research station Nietvoorbij in Stellenbosch. Through trial and error and rigorous testing procedures the direction of the wine business became clearer and eventually a commercial vineyard was planted in 1992. Today there are 48 hectares of vineyard on the estate in total. The range of wine produced is now extensive and has won too many awards to list including a Decanter international trophy for the best Bordeaux style red wine in the world as well as an award at the International Wine Challenge for the best South African white wine. Mr Rawbone-Viljoen said: “It was a real leap forward for us, we will continue to submit our wines and given the track record we’re hopeful there might be some
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