About Us
A commitment to craftsmanship
The name Masons comes from the Clift family's history in stone masonry. James Andrew Clift left Cornwall at the turn of the last century and moved to Paarl in 1906, where he built a business that worked on some of South Africa's most recognised landmarks, including the Rhodes Memorial and the Huguenot Monument in Franschhoek. Most of that granite came from the quarry right here on De Hoop farm, which the family still owns today.
That same precision and patience is what the winery is built on.
Working the Slopes of Paarl Mountain
Our Story
For winemaker Derek Clift, it started as a passion project. He grew up farming table grapes, and making wine on the side was a natural extension of that. Mason's maiden vintage, the 2001 Masons Hill, won a Veritas Double Gold Award and turned a passion project into a proper business.
His background in table grape farming shapes how he approaches the land, the soil and the vines. Each season presents different conditions to work with, and he makes his decisions from there, not from a fixed recipe.
If you enjoy a good glass of wine with a braai, you'll be right at home with ours.
