As a child, I remember family trips to wine estates during the holidays. I will be honest — I found it a little boring back then. But I always noticed the smell in the tasting rooms. Something about it stayed with me. Sunday lunches helped too, where my parents allowed me a small taste of wine alongside the meal. Looking back, that is probably where it all began.

With some guidance from my aunt, I started to understand that there was a whole world beyond the sweet stuff — that wine was, in fact, a quietly extraordinary thing.

I also loved science. When I realised that winemaking was essentially what happened when you combined the two, the decision made itself. I studied at Stellenbosch University and graduated in 2008 with a BScAgric in Winemaking, then immediately left for New Zealand to experience a harvest abroad.

I arrived at a 26,000-ton operation. Within a few months, I knew it was not for me. I wanted to taste the wine I was making. I wanted to get my hands dirty and actually feel the process. Scale was the enemy of everything I cared about.

Back in South Africa, I found my way to Lynx Wines in Franschhoek — a small, hands-on cellar where I spent the better part of a decade growing from assistant winemaker to general manager. I learned enormously there, won a few awards, and came to understand what a small cellar demands of you and gives back in return.
When the time came to move on, I found myself at Altydgedacht — and discovered, almost immediately, that cool-climate winemaking was a different conversation entirely.

I fell back in love with Sauvignon Blanc. I started exploring how harvest timing, yeast selection, fermentation temperature, and barrel work could take the same grape in completely different directions. It was the kind of discovery that makes you realise you have only just started.

When I heard that Nitída might have an opening, I did not think twice. I called Bernhard directly. The estate had everything I had spent my career moving toward — cool-climate grapes, unusual cultivars, Sauvignon Blanc with room to explore, and a philosophy built on doing things properly rather than quickly. It felt less like a new job and more like the place I had been working toward all along.

I love wine. The making of it, the drinking of it, and above all, the sharing of it. When you open a bottle with someone and talk about what you taste, something happens in that space — an understanding, a connection, a memory in the making. That, for me, is what this is all about.