I have been researching my Mothers ancestors, her mother was born a de Villiers whose forefathers came to the Cape as part of the French Huguenots, here is some information on the
de Villiers wine
The de Villiers family of ancient Franco- Norman descent
defended and saved Europe against the Saracen invasion in 778 A.D. together
with the last Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Charlemagne.
At the end of the eleventh century 1096 A.D. They embarked
on the first Holy Crusade in defense of their faith and quest for land where
they conquered Palestine, Lebanon and Syria from whence their coat of arms
originates. (Note the curved scimitar on top of the coat of arms).
Three Centuries later the Crusaders were driven from the
Holy Land, however it is reputed that Jean de Villiers the Grand master of
Acron and First Grand Master of Crete of the order of St. John of Jerusalem
took with him certain vine cuttings the Noble Syrah (Shiraz) red grape which
came from Syria (originally from ancient Babylonia) and the white cultivar
chardonnay which originates from Lebanon.
Hence these noble cultivars were introduced to the European
wine regions and subsequently world-wide.
In 1688 the de Villiers Vignerons fled France from
persecution to retain man’s God given rights of religious freedom independence
and the pursuit of happiness.
The de Villiers family arrived at the Cape of Good Hope
South Africa in 1689 in defense of their faith and quest for land and
introduced their firsthand knowledge and experience in the art of winemaking to
South Africa more than three centuries ago. They were the first Pioneers
arriving in South Africa with wine making knowledge and skills hence the south
African wine industry was born.
For more than Three Hundred years the forefathers of “de
Villiers wines” were the proud owners and cultivated world renowned wine
estates such as “la bri”, ”de Leeuwenjaght”, “Lekkerwijn”, ”Boschendal”,
”Coetzenburg”, “Zonnebloem”, ”Babylonstoren”, ”Zorgvliet”, ”Bethlehem”, ”la
Provence”, ”Hondswijk”, ”Estherdal”, ”de Goede Hoop” and “Nantes”.
The three de Villiers brothers were the only pioneers
arriving at the Cape of Good Hope with a letter of recommendation from the
Heeren Sewentien in May 1689, of the Dutch east India company at that time the
biggest mercantile company in the world informing Simon van der Stel; the
Governor of the Cape, that the brothers Pierre, Abraham and Jacques de Villiers
had a good knowledge of viticulture and that he should assist them on their
arrival.
“Ideal climate-Unique terroirs-Choicest vineyards-Superior
wines.”
In 1770 fortified sweet wine was shipped via the Dutch east
India company to Hong Kong Beijing and Shang Hai-China Malaysia and Singapore.
There the wine was traded for exotic Chinese silk crockery and pottery and it
is reputed an oak barrel of cape Muscatel was presented as a gift to the
Chinese emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty to the Court at the Forbidden City
in Beijing 1795, by Isaac Titsingh representative of the Dutch Embassy to
celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Qianlong Emperor’s reign.
In 1805 Vignerons began to export fortified wine and brandy
to Great Britain and her dominions.
From 1812 a barrel of sweet wine was sent to the island of
St. Helena every year to the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his aide de camp
First Lieutenant Yon(the only French companion allowed during his banishment)
until his death. It was reputed to be Napoleon’s favourite wine! Still unto
today 200 years later, de Villiers Wines of the Cape exports wines to Dean Yon
Weinimporte via Hanover to European Wine merchant and direct descendant of
First Lieutenant Yon.
In 1867 under their
flagship “Paarl Rock Brandy” and other fortified wines they were of the first
distributors to the diamond fields of Kimberley to the various towns of the
Orange-Free-State and in 1873 further north to Pretoria and the goldfields of
Johannesburg: the Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek (Z.A.R -South African republic
known as the Transvaal/Gauteng).
The present.
The continuation and fruition of these principles and more
than three-hundred year old tradition is perpetuated by our Company today.
Villiers de Villiers the tenth generation in South Africa
and present shareholder and brand Ambassador of the Company himself once a
Vigneron for twenty years in the Paarl wine region.
Today “de Villiers Wines “under the personal supervision of
Mr. de Villiers, personally tastes, selects and blends hand chosen grapes from
the Choicest Vineyards with their Unique Terroirs culminating into a Superb
Quality range of wines which also offers exceptional value to satisfy all the
needs of the discerning customer under the flagship National and International
brand-names “de Villiers wines” comprising three ranges : the normal
superior-quality-value de Villiers Range the superb de Villiers Reserve range
as well as the Dutch “Heeren Van Oranje-Nassau range.”
The company’s head
office is situated in Paarl – in the heart of the cape wine lands of the
Western Cape region
