Abé Beukes, Award Winning Winemaker at Yonder Hill, and me chatting at The Whippet, Linden
What was the defining moment in your life that set you on the path of becoming a winemaker?
A pressing season in Kanonkop with Jan Boland in 1976
Where did you train to become a winemaker?
Stellenbosch University and Kanonkop Cellar
Jan Boland, owner of Vriesenhof Wine Estate
Who would you regard as your mentors?
Jan Boland Coetzee, Herman Kirschbaum and the late Eben Archer, Viticulturist
You work with a selection of some of the world’s most noble grape varieties. Is there one other variety with which you would really like to work?
Pinot Noir, grown in the right terroir
Tempranillo ripening on the vine
Is there another wine you would like to make in your cellar with the varieties available to you there?
Tempranillo
You seem to be quite innovative with new wine styles – what leads you there?
My inquisitive mind, and why certain cultivars work
If you could choose anywhere in the world to make wine other than where you are now, where would it be?
On a farm in the Kamiesberg Mountain where my dad was born. Lots of decomposed granites
Grenache Noir, generous producer
And what grape type would you use?
Shiraz and Grenache
I know it is a bit tricky asking a father to choose his favourite child, but which one of your wines is your current favourite?
Lievland Weisser Riesling 1996 (Woolworths)
Lievland Manor House
Your greatest bottle of wine ever?
Impossible to answer, I have had many favourites
Do you enjoy cooking to show your wines off at their best or do you leave that to others?
I leave that to others
Abé enjoying a glass of Yonder Hill
What is your favourite style of food?
Italian, French, Indian and Potjie
Your best style of restaurant, you enjoy visiting?
Any place where honest food is made with love
Your ideal dinner party guest?
Anybody who loves food, wine and good company
Your favourite holiday destination?
Anywhere near the ocean
What is on your bedside table as reading matter at the moment?
Raaiselkind – Annelie Botes, Offerland – F.A Venter
One piece of music you would take with you to a desert island?
Only one will make me crazy – Queen, Neil Diamond, Laurika Rauch, David Kramer
I’m currently working on….
2018 Wines Pre-Bottle and a Solar system for my house
My favourite weekend getaway is….
See toe – Soutkloof, West Coast
Ankole Cattle on Yonder Hill
Guilty Pleasures?
A fast car
One day, I will….
Learn to use my cell phone
How can a visitor contact your winery?
Via landline 021-8551008
Online through Social Media pages Instagram, Facebook & Twitter
Or via our website www.yonderhill.co.za
