Hundreds of years ago, the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley was known as Attacquas Kloof. In 1760, Wessel Wessels arrived with his family and set up home. Some historians say it was Wessel who called the valley “Hemel-en-Aarde” (Heaven on Earth). What is known for certain is that “Old Man Wessels” was the first European of settler descent to live in and farm the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. Some two hundred years later, husband and wife Craig and Anne Wessels bought a small portion of Wessels’ original farm, in 2004, and in so doing, the name of the original settler returned to the valley…
Like the Wessels’ that preceded him, Craig’s real passion is farming. He is one of those “winemakers” – like Eben Sadie of Sadie Family Wines, like Callie Louw of Porseleinberg, like Adi Badenhorst of Badenhorst Family Wines – who is more farmer, than winemaker. “Vigneron”/winegrower is a much more appropriate name for him! Their house is 30m away from the vineyard and Craig estimates that he spends 80% of his time in the vines. Anne shares his passion for the land and runs the business side of their operation. In less than two decades Restless River have established themselves as one of the most exciting growers of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in South Africa.
