Meet the Cellar Master

Q: Where are you from?
A: I was born in the Swartland and grew up on a farm near Malmesbury.

Q: How did you get into the art of winemaking?
A: My grandfather farmed with wine grapes and also made wine on the farm. After school, I had to decide between becoming an Accountant or something BSc-related. I ended up in the winemaking group in the first week of university and got stuck there. Loved it from the first introduction class.

Q: Did you study winemaking, if so where?
A:  BSc Agric Viticulture and Enology at the University of Stellenbosch.

Q: For how long have you been making wine?
A: 22 years.

Q: What has been your proudest winemaking moment?
A: Many highs so far…it is difficult to think of only one… received many accolades….high ratings… Every time someone enjoys a glass of my wine…I am super proud.

Q: What is the most stressful thing about being a winemaker?
A: Harvest time is once a year…thus you only have one chance to make the best out of a vineyard or a tank of wine. If you make a mistake you cannot redo it.

Q: What do you love about winemaking?
A: Working with nature. Every vintage is different with new challenges.

Q: What are your dreams and aspirations as a winemaker (goals)?
A: Help develop big wine brands for RSA.

Q: Was it hard to break into the wine industry as a woman?
A: Challenging at times, but no not hard.

Meet the Winemaker

When speaking to Louwritz you can clearly see that winemaking was what he was born to do, as fate would have it he was born on a wine farm in Vredendal and it’s safe to say that ever since he has never been too far from a grapevine.

Q: How did you get into the art of winemaking?
A: I grew up on a wine farm in the Olifants River valley in Vredendal. I guess you can say it’s in my blood.

Q: Has winemaking always been your passion?
A: Yes, since I started my studies I loved what I was doing.

Q: Did you study winemaking, if so where?
A: Yes. I studied BsC Viticulture and Oenology at the University of Stellenbosch.

Q: For how long have you been making wine?
A: 15 Years.

Q: What has been your proudest winemaking moment?
A: Receiving awards is always special and makes you proud of your work but for me, it is more special when my product does well in the market and knowing that people must be enjoying it. That makes me proud every day.

Q: What is the most stressful thing about being a winemaker?
A: In a winery, everything is fast-paced and you have to make quick decisions with a product that can sometimes be very unpredictable.

Q: What do you love about winemaking?
A: In a Wine cellar there is never a dull moment. Working with grapes that are different every year is a nice challenge. No day is ever the same as the day before and there’s a curveball around every corner that keeps you on your toes. The best part is that winetasting is part of my job description.

Q: What are your dreams and aspirations as a winemaker (goals)?
A: At the moment for me it is to make a positive contribution to the business of Namaqua Wines. To help the winemaking team take Namaqua to a new level in the wine business and always produce wines in styles that our consumers are happy with.

Meet the Winemaker

Rudolf is a Kalahari native that has made wine all around the world, he has even had the pleasure of working with the world-renowned Giorgio Dalla Cia. He is passionate about Rugby and making wine that people really enjoy.

Q: Where are you from?
A: Kalahari Upington Askham

Q: How did you get into the art of winemaking?
A: My father worked in Agriculture and it was his job to advise farmers on how they can best use their land, keeping key elements like weather patterns and soil quality in mind. In those days even the distance from the farm to a market was considered. In 1980 my father noticed a boom within the South African wine industry and encouraged me to pursue a career in winemaking.

Q: Has winemaking always been your passion?
A: As a winemaking student my life then revolved around “wine, women and song” but with time I matured and once I began to actually make my own product I uncovered a real passion for it.

Q: Did you study winemaking, if so where?
A: I studied at Elsenburg from 1996 until 1998.

Q: For how long have you been making wine?
A: 2022 is my 27th year making wine. I have worked for Namaqua Wines for the last 6 years, before that I made wine in Grootdrink, Stellenbosch, Italy and France. I keep a personal diary where I note my findings and experiences, and of course, there is a Springbok on the cover as I am an avid Rugby fan.

Q: What has been your proudest winemaking moment?
A: In all honesty, there have been many proud moments, there was a time when a lady at a recent wine show said “dis nou lekker wyn die” translation, this is a nice wine! I have also won a few awards but my proudest would be The Pichon Trophy – for the best-blended Redwine in the world ( Meerlust Rubicon 2001 ) and the renowned 2008 The Bilton – for the most expensive Red wine in South Africa (R3,000 per bottle)

Q: What is the most stressful thing about being a winemaker?
A: In winemaking, there isn’t a lot of stress, the only stress that I can think of is when you have to leave at the end of the workday and your FILTER is running the nightshift.

Q: What do you love about winemaking?
A: “Wine won’t remember you, people will”. Once a year I get the chance to make a wine, and then for the remainder of that year, I nurture that wine and eventually, it gets bottled. Then the public gets to taste and buy the wine that I created. I pride myself on making a wine experience that someone really enjoys.

Q: What are your dreams and aspirations as a winemaker (goals)?
A: This is the hardest question but it is actually the easiest to answer, at a certain point in your life you don’t have “wine goals” but rather life goals, you want to move into cellar management, where you manage people, facilities and even start new wine brands.

Q: How did you get into the art of winemaking?
A: My parents were farmers and my love of wine started from an early age as I watched my parents work.

Q: Has winemaking always been your passion?
A: I’ve always had a passion for farming in general, but I first thought about it as a career when I finished highschool.

Q: Did you study winemaking, if so where?
A: Yes, I studied at Elsenburg landbou college

Q: For how long have you been making wine?
A: I have been making wine for the last 28 years of my life, 25 of which have been with Namaqua Wines.

Q: What has been your proudest winemaking moment?
A: It was the first time that I won double gold at the Veritas for one of my wines. Another memorable moment was when I was able to make wine in the South of France.

Q: What is the most stressful thing about being a winemaker?
A: Vir my is dit om elke jaar, die verskillende “brands” van Namaqua, kontstant te hou, dat die klieënte gelukkig kan wees en bly koop.

Q: What do you love about winemaking?
A: Wine is a lively product that keeps you on your toes, you can think that everything is under control one moment but the next everything is chaos and you have to start from scratch. I also love that I get to work outside in the open air.

Q: What are your dreams and aspirations as a winemaker (goals)?
A: To always put Namaqua Wines first and to keep our loyal supporters happy to ensure that they keep choosing our wines.

Q: How did you get into the art of winemaking?
A: From as long as I could remember I have always had an interest in the art of winemaking.

Q: Has winemaking always been your passion?
A: Yes it is, I love everything about it from nurturing the vineyard to checking on the wine and tasting it as it matures and to keep records of how the flavours develop.

Q: Did you study winemaking, if so where?
A: Yes, I studied at Elsenburg Agricultural College.

Q: For how long have you been making wine?
A: For 39 years.

Q: What has been your proudest winemaking moment?
A: I have won a few awards and those have been the highlight of my career. However there are 2 awards that I am partially proud of namely, SA Champion Sauvignon blanc – SA Champion Ruby Port

Q: What is the most stressful thing about being a winemaker?
A: At this moment “loadshedding” because it completely stops production, we have to carefully plan when what happens to ensure that we don’t lose any product.

Q: What do you love about winemaking?
A: I love making wine that people enjoy.

Q: What are your dreams and aspirations as a winemaker (goals)?
A: To nurture and turn grapes into the best possible product for our consumers

Q: How did you get into the art of winemaking?
A: I grew up on a wine farm, and was intrigued with the process of winemaking, I visited a wine cellar during harvest time, and that sparked a passion in me.

Q: Has winemaking always been your passion?
A: Yes, wine farming and wine making has always been my passion.

Q: Did you study winemaking, if so where?
A: Yes, I studied at Elsenburg Agricultural College.

Q: For how long have you been making wine?
A: From 2000.

Q: What has been your proudest winemaking moment?
A: It was during my studies when I was able to make my very first wine, all the way from the vineyard to a bottle.

Q: What is the most stressful thing about being a winemaker?
A: That you only get one chance every year to make wine from your selected grapes, so it has to be excellent.

Q: What do you love about winemaking?
A: The satisfaction of a good end product that the consumer enjoys.

Q: What are your dreams and aspirations as a winemaker (goals)?
A: I want to see the wine business in South Africa grow as a healthy business to invest in.
Personally I still want to make an International awarded wine.

Marina has worked at Namaqua Wines for the last 19 years and in that time, she has filled nearly every role within the winemaking process making her a valuable asset to our company.

Q: Where are you from?
A: Brandvlei, Northern Cape.

Q: Is winemaking in your family?
A: My father was a sheep farmer. We are a family that loves gardening, and that love of plants drove my passion towards viticulture.

Q: Do you like wine?
A: Yes, tasting it is part of my job, but I must spit it out. I am passionate about wine, I love going to wine shows, and visiting wine farms when I am on holiday.

Q: What is your favourite wine?
A: Cape West, Thé Blend, we did the first bottling in June 2022. Then I also enjoy our Namaqua Sweet Red.

Q: What do you look for in wine that you pick for yourself?
A: I taste wine every day so when it comes to picking my own wine, I am picky. I look at wine in technical terms, I imagine what the vine looked like, and I think about what processes it followed to get into my glass.

Q: What does your role as a Quality Manager entail?
A: I review and manage critical control points within the winemaking chain, with the aim of improvement and increased process efficiency.

Q: How long have you worked for Namaqua Wines?
A: I started in December 2003, so this year I will be 19 years.

Q: Tell us about your journey and how you ended up as the Quality Manager?
A: For the first 11 years at Namaqua, I was outside where I worked on the vines. I enjoy the freedom that comes with working in the open air. Then I went to work in the laboratory. I was always interested in the chemical processes that go into the art of winemaking.

Q: What do you enjoy the most at your job?
A: I like seeing processes come together by problem-solving and having the end product in mind.

Q: What causes you to stress at work?
A: Sometimes I stay awake at night wondering about a product or process, when I feel something is off. I often come to work and say “I thought about this issue last night”.

Q: Are you passionate about your role at Namaqua Wines?
A: I am, and I believe that there is always room for improvement.

Q: How did you end up in the wine industry?
A: In grade 11 I heard about “Viticulture and Oenology” as an Agriculture course. How lucky I was to find such a good fit for myself.

Q: Is it hard being a woman in a mostly male-dominated line of work?
A: For me, I can’t really say that it is hard on me. I am happy, my team never let me experience anything like that.

Q: What is the most challenging thing about your job?
A: Problem-solving could sometimes prove to be challenging. Because I work inter-departmental, there are a lot of different personalities that need to work together.

Q: What is your vision for Namaqua Wines?
A: Due to the diverse climate and soil, the Olifants river region has enormous potential to produce cultivar wines. I want to see in the future that we also get recognised for the expressive Cultivar Range that we produce.