Dean Moult, a former Wynberg Boys’ High School pupil and now a chef turned vintner has set himself the task of transforming the school’s neglected vineyard with the hope of producing a new vintage.
The vineyard was the brainchild of the school’s former headmaster Keith Richardson.
According to the school’s website, after a conversation with winemaker Andre Rousseau, Mr Richardson decided that making a Wynberg wine might be a good way to mark the school’s 175th anniversary in 2016. With the help of Buitenverwachting winemaker and former pupil Brad Paton, 900 Shiraz vines were planted by some pupils and their families in June of 2010.
When the time came to harvest, a few boys assisted another winemaker, Wynberg old boy Stuart Botha, to pick and process the fruit at his workplace winery at Eagles’ Nest. The first vintage, the Oude Wijnberg 2013, hit the shelves in July of 2015. The school first released 175 double magnums containing three litres of wine and a further 990 bottles onto the market over several months.
The vines are 13 years old now, but they still have a few good years in them, Mr Moult says.
“Twenty years is the longest you take it. Certain varietals can go longer, but the general rule is you can start making wine after about three years and then it only gets better. The yield drops slightly, but the quality and the complexity of the wine goes up. So 13 years is a perfect window of good production, good yield and really good quality as well.”
When he first got to pruning for a new vintage in July, he said the vines had overgrown like a jungle, having been neglected for more than a year. He and a group of friends, all former pupils, are taking to taming the vines in stages. He says bud break, the appearance of green tissue through the bud scales, happens in late August.
“We will start to see flowers in September, and then between late October to November we will get grapes. They slowly ripen until March then we pick. It is a long process,” Mr Moult says, but adds that he has the patience and commitment to follow through.
Mr Moult matriculated in 2017, trained as a chef at Silwood School of Cookery in Rondebosch then worked at Chef Warehouse at Beau Constantia. It was at the boutique wine farm that he graduated from drinking “bottom shelf wine” to his current appreciation.
“I was exposed to some very high end wine at the restaurant and that’s when I learnt that wine is more than just an alcohol it is actually an art.”
He says once the school learnt he had taken an interest in wine, they leapt at the opportunity of having someone take over the vineyard.
“I am a complete novice to making wine, but I believe that in the cheffing and the wine industry if you have enough passion and are willing to put in the hard work, you can learn how to do it and make it out there.”
When it comes time to harvest in March next year, he hopes to rope in some current pupils to harvest and also plans to run an art competition with the school for the designing of the label. For now he looks ahead at the hopes of a good yield which he guesses will be a thousand bottles or a tonnage around 1.5 tons of grapes.
Deon Scheepers, the school’s current headmaster, says they are very proud to continue producing wine from the vineyard.
“The school vineyard will not only provide a unique experience to our boys in the art of making wine but will also provide them with the opportunity to contribute towards the service pillar of the school.”
