Victorianbourg’s formal rose garden is a delight for the senses, both visual and olfactory. Stroll through the 30-some varieties of roses, inhale to your heart’s content, relax with a glass of wine listening to the gentle sounds of our fountains, or in the pavilion overlooking the vineyards.

Roses and vineyards are a natural complement, having been associated for centuries in Old World vineyards. It turns out that roses function very much as a “canary in the coal mine” for grapevines. The roses are susceptible to many of the same pests and pathogens as grapevines but tend to show the symptoms earlier. So traditionally when wine growers saw a problem with the rose bushes they had planted at the ends of their vineyard rows, they knew they needed to intervene quickly to protect the grapevines.

In Victorianbourg’s earliest days, as Dan was investigating which varieties of roses to plant at the ends of the rows, he happened across an especially beautiful Old Damask white rose called Kronprinzessin Viktoria (German for “Crown Princess Victoria”). He was able to obtain cuttings of this antique variety, and that started him on his quest to collect as many rose varieties as he could find that had “Victoria” in the name.

And so the idea for the formal rose garden was born. If you like roses, you owe it to yourself to enjoy the result of Dan’s collecting efforts—which continue to this day. You’ll enjoy Kronprinzessin Viktoria, Victorian Memory, Caroline Victoria, and many others—and especially perhaps Victorianbourg, a soft pink Damask rose that was created at Victorianbourg Wine Estate!