Donovan Rall is counted among the best winemakers of Swartland and South Africa. In everything he is an impressive personality and that has not only to do with his imposing stature. After graduating from Stellenbosch University in 2005 he decided to first travel and then return in 2007 to settle in Swartland. Here he went in search of old small vineyards from which he makes natural wines. The fruit from the different parcels is always vinified separately and then blended. This is where Donovan's talent comes into play, he is probably one of the best blenders of the Cape. All his wines are made in a natural way. Donovan has spread his vineyards over Swartland and the Western Cape. Most of them are old vineyards that he rents and they are planted on granite, schist or iron rich clay soil. Donovan himself is described as a man of the soil, he explains: “Every soil type will give you a different kind of wine, even if you plant the same cultivar in it. That fascinated me about the Swartland. That and the fact that the varietals that I love to work with, Shiraz, Grenache, Chenin, Carrignan, Cinsault, all flourish here – same as I do,”. In both the vineyards and in the cellar there is as little interference as possible and the method is as much as possible biological/natural. Rall Wines’ first vintage in 2008 consisted of a blended red and a blended white, succinctly called Rall Red and Rall White. Donovan only started producing single-varietal wines in 2016, when he finally found vineyards which, in his opinion, could stand alone. These happened to be two vineyards near Riebeek, planted in schist. This is when he launched AVA range, named after his daughter. Rall’s wines are among the best in South Africa