Born and raised in France, from a Calvados family, Christophe Durand moved to Cape Town in 1995. Beginning as a supplier of premium French wine barrels and very much involved in winemaking, it was only a matter of time until he brought together his knowledge and passion for fines wines into creating his own.

His first vintage came to birth in 2000 with a beautiful Syrah called Cuvee Ameena at the time from carefully selected Stellenbosch grapes. His highly acclaimed Syrah is now a blend of two vineyards, Perdeberg and Elgin.

After much success with the Syrah, it was time to create another. In 2004, after sourcing some stunning grapes in Elgin, Christophe made his first Chardonnay "Cuvee Anais", named after his baby girl.

Christophe believes strongly in true tradition, and his philosophy is to interact as little as possible with the grapes.

Each Cuvee should reflect the Terroir and exudes elegance. Some stunning vineyards across the Western Cape have been selected, some of them 100kms from each other to form the Dorrance portfolio.

Early pickings, all done manually in light boxes and brought to the cellar where another meticulous selection is carried out.

Focusing on freshness an natural acidity, the wines are alive and energetic, pure and clean. Those are made with precision and elegance.