Southern Right

Southern Right: Hamilton Russell’s Pinotage & Sauvignon Blanc brand

Southern Right is the specialist Pinotage and Sauvignon Blanc brand founded in 1994 by Anthony Hamilton Russell. It sits in the same Hemel-en-Aarde / Walker Bay family of projects as Hamilton Russell Vineyards (HRV) and Ashbourne, but it is not a Pinot Noir / Chardonnay monopole story—Southern Right exists to pioneer classically styled cool-climate Pinotage and a serious coastal Sauvignon Blanc. Official brand site: southernright.co.za.

Shared contact — no verified separate walk-in cellar door

Critical visitor fact for this guide: a separate public walk-in cellar door for Southern Right has not been verified. Contact published on Southern Right’s own contact page uses +27 28 312 3595—the same number long associated with Hamilton Russell Vineyards—and lists Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, R320, Hermanus. Email forms on brand and association pages have included info@southernright.co.za. Do not invent Southern Right tasting-room hours, walk-in schedules, or a standalone restaurant.

Some Hemel-en-Aarde association pages have historically described Southern Right as open by appointment. Until a dedicated, independently verified cellar-door timetable is published and confirmed, treat Southern Right as a brand and wine story first. For tasting logistics, use the shared HRV phone and ask explicitly whether Southern Right wines can be tasted and where—often the practical path is via the Hamilton Russell visitor operation rather than a separate Southern Right tourism product. Do not list invented Mon–Sun walk-in hours from outdated directories.

Where the property sits

Hemel-en-Aarde Wines association copy places Southern Right on a property on the western border of Hamilton Russell Vineyards—among the first farms you meet entering the celebrated valley from Hermanus. The land includes older Overberg farm structures and an architecturally noted old brick kiln, plus a significant indigenous fynbos reserve overlooking Walker Bay. From higher ground on the reserve, association prose notes views toward the bay and, in season, southern right whales—the species that gives the brand its name.

GPS published on the Southern Right contact page: S 34° 24’ 03.67”, E 19° 12’ 58.89”. Use that for geographic context, not as proof of a staffed public tasting desk.

Brand philosophy and wines

Anthony Hamilton Russell founded Southern Right convinced that Pinotage—an early-ripening South African variety—can produce world-class wine when grown in cooler maritime sites that allow longer hang time, fully developed tannins and greater fruit complexity. Early work with planting partners focused on clay-rich Walker Bay sites; a Hemel-en-Aarde Valley farm was later secured as a central home for the Southern Right cellar (late-1990s purchase narrative in Cape wine histories).

The brand remains tightly focused:

• Southern Right Pinotage — classically styled, soil-expressive Pinotage; technical sheets discuss mixes of granitic and clay-rich shale-derived soils, French oak ageing, and relatively modest alcohol for the style. Fruit origin can include Hemel-en-Aarde and other Cape regions depending on vintage—read the current sheet on southernright.co.za rather than inventing a single-vineyard claim.
• Southern Right Sauvignon Blanc — positioned as fine-wine Sauvignon, not merely varietal-aromatic SB; vintage notes discuss blends of soil types (including clay-rich and granitic components) and coastal freshness. Fruit may be drawn from Hemel-en-Aarde / Walker Bay and other cool coastal sources as published per vintage.

Conservation messaging has long tied bottle sales to support for southern right whale conservation in Walker Bay—part of the brand’s public identity since early releases (first Pinotage and Sauvignon Blanc releases dated to the mid-1990s in Cape histories).

How to experience the wines without inventing a tasting room

Honest options for travellers and for SEO copy:

1. Call +27 28 312 3595 and ask whether Southern Right Pinotage / Sauvignon Blanc are available to taste at the Hamilton Russell tasting room on your date. 2. Buy current vintages via retailers or the brand’s published channels; technical notes live on southernright.co.za. 3. Do not publish a Southern Right “open daily 9–5 walk-in” line copied from unverified farm aggregators. 4. Do not invent picnic decks, guest houses, or a Southern Right restaurant.

Ashbourne (Pinotage / Sandstone white) is a related family brand that likewise points tasters toward HRV rather than a separate door—Southern Right should be handled with the same caution: brand clarity first, visitor infrastructure only when verified.

Why Southern Right still belongs on a Walker Bay farm list

Even without a verified standalone walk-in cellar door, Southern Right is central to Walker Bay’s story: it is how the Hamilton Russell family extended cool-climate thinking to Pinotage and coastal Sauvignon Blanc, complementary to HRV’s Pinot Noir and Chardonnay reputation. SEO pages that omit Southern Right miss a major Hemel-en-Aarde brand; pages that invent a tasting room create failed trips. The correct middle path is brand-accurate wine content, whale-conservation context, R320 / western-border geography, and the shared phone number with an explicit “confirm tasting access—no separate walk-in verified” flag.

Listing fields to keep clean

• Farm / brand id context: Southern Right Cellars / Southern Right wines
• Website: https://southernright.co.za/
• Phone: +27 28 312 3595 (shared with HRV contact channels)
• Focus: Pinotage + Sauvignon Blanc only at the core brand story
• Visitor status: no separate walk-in cellar door verified; do not invent tasting-room hours
• Nearby reference: Hamilton Russell Vineyards on the R320 for appointment or published HRV tasting logistics

Follow those rules and Southern Right remains a precise, trustworthy entry in a Walker Bay guide—celebrating the wines and the whale-named conservation link without sending guests to a door that is not confirmed open.