Luddite Wines / Fam. Verburg & Meyer
Niels Verburg is one of those people who you immediately want to befriend. With his imposing stature and beaming smile, he stands out and magically draws people in.
At an early age, while he was working in Australia, he realised that Shiraz was "his" grape. In Chile, he later found the inspiration for the way he wanted to make his wine.
Together with his wife Penny, he planted his first vines in 1996. The first vintage was pressed in 2000. The small winery with just 6 hectares of vines is located just outside the village of Bot River. Walker Bay is only 30 kilometres away. The mild Mediterranean climate from the nearby ocean gives the vines on the south-western slopes of the Houw Hoek mountains a slow and long growing period. This results in spicy Shiraz with elegant fruit sweetness.
The name of the vineyard refers to the Luddites, 19th century English textile workers who fought against the Industrial Revolution. Consequently, Niels is rather reluctant to use "technology", as he says in a humorous way, both when caring for the vineyards and working in the cellar. Vinification involves as little intervention as possible, if any.
Niels and Penny have fulfilled their dream. In addition to the vines, there are also some olive trees and a few lucky pigs are reared: a rural idyll in South Africa. They epitomize the great change occurring in South Africa since the 1990s: moving away from mass production and towards independent quality wines that do not fear comparison with top international wines.
White wines from Luddite Wines / Fam. Verburg & Meyer
Red wines from Luddite Wines / Fam. Verburg & Meyer
from Luddite Wines / Fam. Verburg & Meyer
Producer
Cascina Barisél / Franco Penna
With just 5 hectares, Franco Penna's winery is small but exquisite. The estate near Canelli, east of Alba, comprises only the very best south-facing sites with calcareous soils. Franco's father Enrico, who bought the estate in the 1960s, obviously knew what he was doing.
Nicolas Feuillatte
Nicolas Feuillatte, a visionary and gifted entrepreneur, presented his Champagne for the first time in 1976. It quickly became the trendy brand in jet-setter circles in the USA, Australia and England, circles which Nicolas Feuillatte regularly frequented. In just 30 years, Nicolas Feuillatte rose to become the No. 1 Champagne brand in France.
