assumption. The ambience is there, but not the centuries. I beg the obvious question: Why grape farming and winemaking in KZN? “My parents, Ian and Jane bought the farm in 2000 after coming from Johannesburg, purely because my brother and I went to school in the area and Jane wanted to be close to us. They had absolutely no plans to do wine. My father, however, kept looking at the seven hectares and said we should really use the land for something. He owned a furniture company at the time and had no agricultural experience. He dabbled in a few sheep and cows, potatoes, but nothing really struck a chord. Then we were skiing in France and my dad saw vines in the Alps and thought: If you can grow vines in an extreme climate like this, you surely must be able to grow them in KZN. That’s when he started researching. He looked at different areas around the world with similar conditions. After two years one of his friends told him to shut up and plant. So we planted syrah and cabernet in 2004. We also planted sauvignon and chardonnay, but the white varieties took a little longer. Initially we planted the chardonnay at the bottom of the hill, but they were not flourishing, so we
13 18 Plaastoe! November & Desember 2017
transferred them to the top where they are now a huge success.” Laurie left school and went to university in the UK. Upon the completion of her studies she moved to London and started working in a rather stressful job as PA to a hedge fund manager. “I then decided to do wine courses, because I didn’t know enough about wine. Especially for someone whose parents were running a wine farm.” I ask another obvious, if not dumb, question: What do the Brits know about wine?
“They are of the world’s largest importers of wine and therefore have vast knowledge, although they don’t grow and produce much. ” I learnt how to taste wine, what to look for and what to appreciate. And the more you know what to look for, the more you pick up tastes and aromas. I did the courses and really became hooked. By the time I was ready for the highest level, I needed
to make some choices. It was a big time and financial commitment and I realised I might as well follow a career in wine. I did the Level Four Diploma, a two-year course, which I did in one year. Then I came to the farm to help out.” There are obviously many careers in the wine industry, but Laurie chose vine growing and winemaking. “I could have gone into the commercial side in London, but I chose family. What happens if my dad got injured, or became sick? We would have to sell the farm, an enterprise that was completely pioneering and I was not prepared to sell that to someone else. These are the oldest commercial vineyards in the province and we were the first to make certified wine in KZN. That made history and we were the first to make a certified sparkling wine. So we had a lot of firsts. Almost all our wines sell out within six months. Every year we produce six to eight types of wine and they are all certified. We are also the only winery in KZN that produces wines every year.” Pioneering comes with its challenges and establishing a venture in an unsuitable area is no different.