Dave and Felicity (née ‘Newton’) Johnson entered in to the wine industry in the 70’s in an exciting era where a generation of winemakers were creating the foundations for premium wine making in South Africa and exploring the concepts of vineyard origin and estate made wines. Dave went on to become one of the country’s first Cape Wine Masters and in the early 90’s, with South Africa’s readmission in to international markets, was instrumental in exposing and exporting some of these estate wines in to mainstream wine markets, such as the United Kingdom. He began his own negociant wine brand called Cape Bay which, after some rapid growth, soon required a home and cellar of its own. This initiated their move near to the seaside town of Hermanus and into the picturesque Hemel-en-Aarde (‘Heaven and Earth’) Valley with its views over the Atlantic Ocean. It was here in 1997, joined by their two sons Bevan and Gordon that they started to make their first Newton Johnson wines.