Meet the Winemakers

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.

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.

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.