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 Ridgeback wines
Vansha Farming: Paarl, South Africa
Winemaker: Cathy
Marshall
Ridgeback wines (Vansha
Farming):-
Jerry Parker grew thousands of hectares of Virginia
and Burleigh tobacco in Zimbabwe and Malawi before, nudging 60, he came to the
Cape five years ago to ‘retire’ on a small farm behind Paarl
mountain. ‘Hadn’t a clue about fruit,’ he said. The fruit
included wine grapes, supplied to nearby Windmeul Co-op. And they seemed pretty
good - kept winning the co-op’s own quality awards. With some attention,
perhaps they could be even better - and, made into the farm’s own wine,
more profitable.
Vineyard consultant Paul Wallace came on board for a
wholescale replanting and modernisation programme, with a special nod to shiraz
and the rest of the southern France crew. Mobile winemaker Cathy Marshall (of
B.W.C.) began to do her thing, in borrowed space at Franschhoek. So
successfully that ‘we were prompted to pursue this venture with the vigour
it deserves’. An own Ridgeback winery will be up in time for the harvest
of 2003. ‘I’ve never worked so hard in my life,’ says Jerry
Parker, sounding like an old winelands hand. ‘Superior canopy
utilisation,’ he talks about, and ‘green pick’ and varieties
‘to suit the terroirs and the desired Rhône flavours we are looking
for in our wines’. All this and he remains a virtual
teetotaller!
More information on Ridgeback
wines(Click on links):
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