Under Oaks Wines

About Winery and Wines

Ansela van Bengale (also known as Angela/Ansiela/Engela) was one of 11 slaves that arrived in the Cape between 1652 – 1657. She was originally from North East India but had been exciled to Batavia. Ship Captain of the Amersfoort, Pieter Kemp, sold her to Jan Van Riebeeck and she worked as a domestic worker in his household. “Beautiful Ansela” as she was known for her extraordinary beauty, was a kind and loyal worker and well loved amongst her co-workers. Before Jan Van Riebeeck departed from the Cape in 1662, he sold Ansela to Abraham Gabbema. In 1666 Ansela, together with her three children, was one of the first slaves to be set free. Her daughter Anna de Koningh, known as a beautiful and elegant “Eastern woman”, married Oloff Bergh who was one of the wealthiest men in the Cape during that time. Amongst his properties were the farm, De Kuilen, a house in Heerengracht and the farm Groot Constantia, all of which Anna inherited. In 1667, Ansela became the second woman in eight years to receive a plot in Tafelvalley. Ansela and her son, Pieter, were christened in 1668, and that same year she married Arnoldus Willem Basson. Between 1670 and 1695 the christened seven children and Ansela became the mother of the Basson family in South Africa. After the death of her husband, she inherited a house and plot, slaves, cattle and sheep in Tafelvalley and a farm in the Drakenstein area. In 1706 she acquired the farm Honswyk (now Under Oaks) After her death in 1720 the farm was bought over by Daniel Marais for 15 000 gulden. Ansela was well respected in the Cape community and died a very wealthy woman. The farm Honswyk was then renamed Nantes in 1964. In 2004 it was bought by the current owners and developed into the beautiful property it is today.