This month has seen the launch of the Winelands Art Gallery at Avondale Wine Estate. Situated just outside Paarl on the slopes of the Klein Drakenstein mountains, Avondale Wine Estate is already well known for its range of organic and biodynamic wines, the award-winning FABER restaurant and its ever-increasing range of non-wine related activities. The latest addition of the Winelands Art Gallery serves to further cement Avondale Wine Estate as destination of choice in the Cape Winelands.
Founded by Ryan van den Berg in July 2012, the Winelands Art Gallery showcases the works of renowned South African artists including the likes of Solly Manthata, Harry Erasmus, Paul van Rensburg, Gericke, et al. Originally operating from the Stellenbosch area, van den Berg moved premises to Durbanville in 2016 together with establishing what has since proven to be a very successful online presence.
“Whilst our online platform definitely helped to sustain us during Covid-19 and the various government lockdowns, the reality is that the business still suffered forcing us to close our physical premises,” says van den Berg. Fortunately, the online division enabled van den Berg to continue operating and showcasing local talent. “The offer to re-establish a physical presence – but this time on the beautiful Avondale Wine Estate, has provided us with the much needed opportunity to once again interact with all our customers and added a much longed for personal element to the business.”
Officially launched on 7 October, the Winelands Art Gallery kicked off with a three-day exhibition in the Avondale Wine Estate’s Tasting Room showcasing the works of for e.g. Corne Weideman, Paul van Rensburg and Driekie van Wyk, amongst others.
“There is a natural synergy between our wine estate and the Winelands Art Gallery,” says Johnathan Grieve, proprietor, Avondale Wine Estate. “We too have been heavily impacted by Covid-19.” This has led Avondale Wine Estate to continually reinvent itself over the last few months leading to the addition of several outdoor and non-wine activities.
“Our wine estate is situated in one of the most beautiful areas of the Cape Winelands, with sweeping panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and winelands. The addition of the Winelands Art Gallery, and the resulting beautiful artworks now available for viewing by all our visitors, is a natural complement. We are very excited to be able to collaborate with van den Berg and his team and to add to the viewing pleasure of all our guests.”
Visitors to Avondale Wine Estate can view the various artworks throughout the week (seven days) from 09h00 to 16h00 at no cost, with several future exciting exhibitions planned over the coming months.
For more information, please contact [email protected] (082 773 5210) or [email protected] (021 863 1976).
