Christoph Dornier was the son of Claude Dornier, the famous aviation engineer and founder of Dornier GmbH, who for decades designed many the world’s largest and most powerful airplanes.
Christoph Dornier’s interests and ambitions however differed to those of his father’s. He in turn was drawn to Art, Architecture, Mythology, Stellenbosch and Wine. He loved the mystical aspect to wine, its symbolism and its beauty.
In 1995 he purchased the first of the 4 farms that make up Dornier today and procedurally converted former fruit and cattle farms into vineyards. Dornier comprises of 180 hectares in total of which 40 hectares are planted to vines today.
For 14 years Christoph Dornier, supported by his children, worked passionately on his vision and dream of creating a landmark wine estate different from all the rest in Stellenbosch. His dream was fulfilled with the first Dornier wine being released in 2002. Christoph Dornier, a man ahead of his time, leaves in his wake the iconic, modern 500 ton capacity wine cellar situated at the foot of the majestic Stellenbosch Mountain.