Some 302kms from Cape Town the R362 winds its way up the picturesque West Coast. Along this largely unspoiled coastline lies Doringbaai, home to a small but hardy fishing community and arguably the world’s only vineyard this close to the Atlantic Ocean. The vines of Fryer’s Cove dot the hillside 820 meters from where the cold ocean throws its breakers against a rocky shore. The locals are as robust and unfettered as the landscape and it is this terroir that imbues every bottle of Fryer’s Cove wine. Fryer’s Cove wines have a distinct maritime flavour, hence our slogan ‘forged of the earth, tempered by the sea’. The French term terroir is not easily defined, but among winemakers it represents all environmental factors that shape the personalities of wines from a specific vineyard or region. In our district, nature is unrelenting. It rains an average of only 50mm per year and the Southwesterly wind constantly buffets the coastline, but thanks to a series of fortunate coincidences this region is ideal for winemaking.