Area Conserved: 800 ha Wine District: Olifantsrivier Owner / Contact Person: Jan van Zyl Phone: (027) 2132312 Website: www.fryerscove.com Membership Date: 01 September 2006

Fryer’s Cove vineyards are owned by Jan “Ponk” van Zyl (as he is commonly called in the Vredendal area) and his brother-in-law, Wynand Hamman. The farm was originally a sheep farm before the water canal system was built. With the development of vineyards in the valley, the Van Zyl’s delivered their first 11 tons of grapes from Draaihoek farm to the Vredendal Co-operative cellars in 1956.

Fryers Cove is named after Richard Fryer who was one of the first commercial farmers in the area. The Draaihoek farm extends from just outside Vredendal towards the coast. Fryer’s Cove Vineyards lie approximately 600m from the Atlantic Ocean where the vineyards benefit from the cool sea breezes. A delightful tasting venue has been constructed overlooking the coast, where you can taste the Fryers Cove Sauvignon Blanc, which recently was awarded a 5 star from Wine Magazine.

In 2002, Jan “Ponk” moved all livestock out of the planned 800ha conservation area, and started reinstating game. Currently the game camp has 25 springbok and 7 gemsbok as well as numerous small antelope (klipspringers, duikers). The game camp area consists of a mixture of Namaqualand Strandveld and Namaqualand Spinescent Grassland which is closely monitored for game impacts. In May of 2006, an open-air restaurant overlooking the waterhole in the game camp was opened, serving traditional buffet meals. Only locally mined sandstone was used in construction and the rustic building style complements the surrounding area.