Olof Bergh was the first owner of Groot Phesantekraal. His wife was Anna de Koning, who was the daughter of Angela of Bengal (called “Maai Ansiela’ or Fair Angela). Angela arrived at the Cape from Bengal with three children, Anna being one of them, and they were sold to Jan van Riebeeck as slaves. When Van Riebeeck left the Cape in 1662, he sold the family to Abraham Gabbema, who freed them in 1666 when he in turn left the Cape. Angela then bought land in the Heerengracht (currently Adderley Street, Cape Town’s High Street) and is therefore considered the first black person to own land in the colony.

Angela’s daughter Anna married Olof Bergh, who despite being jailed for stealing the treasure of a sunken ship, was later rehabilitated and reinstated in the government becoming a very wealthy landowner. The couple had 12 children and lived lavishly. Upon Bergh’s death in 1724, Anna inherited his entire estate and wealth, unusual in those times for both a woman and a freed slave to be a prestigious landowner.

The opulence and elegance of our barrel-fermented Chenin Blanc is a fitting tribute to one of the celebrated ‘grande dames’ of the early Cape and erstwhile owner of Groot Phesantekraal, Anna de Koning.