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FlagStone Wines

Experiences Wine Specials Winery Experiences

Address

Stellenbosch Wine Route W.R. Quinan Boulevard (off Strand Beach Road) Paardevlei,

Phone

021 852 5052

Flagstone.Wines@accoladewines.com

Website

flagstonewines.com

Open Times

10:00 - 16:00

Price Range

R0 - R0

Social Networks

In 1898, the board of directors of De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited, under the chairmanship of Cecil John Rhodes, decided at a meeting in November to build a factory for the manufacture of explosives in the then Cape Colony. Until 1896, when Modderfontein, Transvaal, commenced production, all explosives used in the diamond and gold mines in the Cape and Transvaal were imported at great cost. By the erection of a local explosive’s factory as an enterprise on its own, De Beers Consolidated Mines would save a considerable sum of money as well as have the necessary explosives readily available. Colonel William Russel Quinan of Pinole Works, California (USA) was appointed by the chairman of De Beers Consolidated Mines, F Gardner Williams, to realise this ambition. To the citizens of Somerset West, the 11 600-ha estate sandwiched between the N2, the R44 and the Indian Ocean – owned by African Explosives and Chemical Industries Limited (AECI) – will probably always be known as De Beers or the Dynamite Factory. Yet De Beers lost its identity in 1924 when it merged with the interests of the Nobel Group (named after the Swedish patentee of dynamite, Alfred Nobel); only De Beers Avenue still serves as a reminder of those times. The amalgamated company was named African Explosives & Industries. The word “chemical” was added only in 1944, when the amalgamated company name finally became the name to trade under, which was abbreviated to AECI. As for the term “dynamite factory”, dynamite was last produced at AECI Somerset West in 1986. Afterwards, the plant was decommissioned and dynamite production was concentrated at Modderfontein, 16 km from Johannesburg. The “Old Dynamite” Factory is now home to Flagstone wines, and was transformed into a working winery in 2002.

Facilities

Award Winning Wine Offers Light Snacks and Platters Wine Tasting