Garage Winemaking in South Africa Less is More - Cape Wine ...

7 Conclusion
I communicated with dozens of micro producers for this paper. Some have
remained garagistes and some are honorary garagistes like me. Whether a trained
winemaker, wheat farmer, architect, guest house owner, publisher, engineer, sail
maker, freelance writer, or a teacher; the thing these garagistes have in common is
passion for their wine and a commitment to quality.
Many garagistes can benefit from consultants in winemaking, viticulture and
marketing, as well as receiving help from mobile bottling companies, distributors and
professional label designers. But at the end of the day you become a jack of all
trades. A garagiste is not only a winemaker but a bookkeeper, marketer, delivery
person, accountant, and farmer. Today while my wine is maturing in barrel, I have
applied for export certificates on line, delivered samples to the Department of
Agriculture, paid bills, sent price lists to a potential agent, and saved my Dad‟s Jack
Russell who was locked in the cellar since yesterday!
This is the workload I have now with 54 barrels of wine. It was very different in
2001 when I made 8 barrels of Shiraz. In 2003 I was very excited to be admiring my
3946 bottles of finished wine, all hand bottled and hand labelled with bus stickers
attached. Then the reality hit of what I was going to do with all the bottles. It was too
much to drink myself and I don‟t have that many friends! So I loaded my car with
wine and headed off to Cape Town to visit some recommended restaurants and wine
shops, and at the end of the day I came back with an empty car! Everyone loved the
fact that the winemaker full of passion and knowledge was making the effort, and the
story of starting Black Pearl with no wine degree or wine background was intriguing
to potential clients. Amazingly, all those people who bought my first vintage out of
the boot of my car remain loyal customers to this day.
But times they are a changing. Most wine buyers won‟t see you these days
without an appointment because they are bombarded with wine reps nonstop. My
words of wisdom are start small and let all your friends and favourite restaurants
know what you‟re doing. Get your brand name out there while your wine is still in
barrel. Establish your markets and then slowly expand every year, or remain small
and keep it as an exciting and ever changing hobby. As my father repeats often, “it‟s
all about the f word..........fun.”
Fun and rewarding. To show up at a close friends 60 th birthday party with a case of
your own garage wine rather than the next person‟s heavily advertised wine bought
from the supermarket means so much to your friend. To get an email from a
complete stranger in Canada or Austria telling you your wine is the best wine they
51