Howard Gqirana and Nelson Buthelezi
Two aspirant winemakers who were chosen for the SAWIT cellar exchange programme returned from California brimming with ideas. Sara Steer reports.
Make some wine happy." is the cheerful instruction on the back of Howard Gqirana's T-shirt. Gqirana is both making happy wine and happy making wine, after his two-month stint with Byron Vineyard and Winery in the Central Coast region of California last year. The upbeat T-shirt from Cork Suppliers USA, and Howard's new favourite expression "No Problem!" are not the only Californian catch phrases he brought back home with him. "Clean as you go!" is the strict order echoing throughout the Byron cellar, where the exceptionally high standards of hygiene made a lasting impression.
The 26-year-old's first trip overseas exposed him to virtually every aspect of winemaking, ranging from crushing and de-stemming through to bottling the wine. The Californian experience has given him a different perspective on how other wineries operate, as well as a few high standards to live up to.
Gqirana's somewhat whirlwind introduction to the cellar techniques and practices of Byron was organised by the SA Wine Industry Trust (SAWIT) as part of an ongoing cellar exchange programme. He was one of only two cellar assistants to get the opportunity of working in one of the top USA wineries in California. Howard, currently red wine foreman at the Graham Beck Coastal Cellar in Franschhoek and Nelson Buthelezi (24), trainee assistant winemaker at Ashanti in Paarl, joined Byron "Ken" Brown at his Santa Barbara vineyards in August. The two spent September and October getting hands-on experience in Brown's famed natural farming practices and his policy of minimal interference in the cellar.
SAWIT, which represents government and industry, was established in 1999 to implement the development of the local wine industry. It aims to advance the skills of wine farm workers and make the industry more demographically representative.
"Education at all levels of the wine industry forms a critical part of transformation. We aim to upgrade the skills of existing wine farm workers, encourage the entry of new people and create meaningful career opportunities for them," says Marthinus Saunderson, general manager of SAWIT. The trust recently launched a Wine Education Fund with R3 million earmarked for the next three years to accelerate the entry of historically disadvantaged students into the wine industry as winemakers, viticulturalists and wine marketers.
A Franschhoek local, Howard grew up on Rickety Bridge farm, not far away from where he is currently working. "Ja, I still stay with my parents at Rickety Bridge," explains Howard, his voice echoing melodiously in the splendid Graham Beck turret-like tasting room. After completing a marketing diploma, Howard started his career as a tasting room assistant.
In early 1996, he left the tourists and the tastings for the rigours of the winery, when he was appointed as a cellarhand at Rickety Bridge. Howard completed the Cape Wine Academy's Preliminary Wine Course and was appointed as the winemaker's personal assistant. His award hangs proudly on the office wall. After three Rickety Bridge harvests, he joined Douglas Green Bellingham as cellar foreman. When Graham Beck Coastal came into being, Howard stayed on in the red wine cellar. He readily admits that red wine is his favourite. "I enjoy drinking and making it. With red wine it's nothing fancy. You must just roll up your sleeves and get in there," he says with an almost imperceptible flexing of his shoulder muscles.
Howard and Nelson's stay at Byron certainly gave them ample opportunity to do just that. "We were exposed to a lot of different duties," says Howard. His particular responsibilities included sanitising the tanks, crushing/destemming, pressing, assisting with additives, punching down, pumping over, emptying the red fermenters, racking, topping and stirring. "At Byron they are continuously striving to improve the sorting process," he says while enthusiastically wiggling the fingers of his large hands: the grapes are not only hand-selected in the vineyards, but on arrival at the cellars they are hand-sorted at special tables.
"The people I worked with had an amazing sense of pride, and the staff have a wonderful work ethic," confides Howard. Many of the cellar workers at Byron were Mexican, with large numbers of them working only for one harvest before moving on or returning across the border. The language didn't seem to pose much of a problem says Howard, admitting his Spanish - and the Mexicans' English - was basically non-existent. He shakes his head ruefully at the odd system of sign language he developed to communicate with his co-workers. Howard chuckles shyly when asked about the smattering of Spanish he brought back to Franschhoek with him!
He explains that in 1990 Byron Winery became part of the Mondavi stable, when winemaker Ken Brown and the Mondavi family joined forces. Both are committed to quality and believe in the outstanding potential of the Santa Maria Valley. In 1996 the Mondavis built a state-of-the-art gravity-flow cellar with Ken as winemaker and Mike Sinor as his assistant. Howard describes the Santa Maria Valley as an exceptionally cool region, situated 50km from the ocean and flanked by a pair of east/west mountain ranges. The site is excellent for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay due to the cool breezes and coastal mists from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
A few innovative techniques really caught Howard's attention. He points enthusiastically to a photo in the Byron pamphlet to illustrate the concept of gravity flow. "Look how the estate is built on different levels on a slope, so that they can use gravity in the wine-making process," he explains. "Byron is continuously striving towards gentle wine-making, allowing gravity to do the work of the pumps," he says. This ensures that the grape juice passes through the winery without harsh handling and undesirable exposure to oxygen. Howard describes his temporary Californian boss, Ken Brown, as "serious and intelligent - a man with his finger on the pulse of the winery and cellar". His policy of strict hygiene at all times is one of the most fundamental principles which Howard believes he can apply in his own cellar. Brown, in turn, credited Gqirana with having "all the qualities required for an outstanding career in the wine industry and exceptional drive and determination".
"Their 'Clean as you go' slogan means that they don't wait till the change of shift to clean the cellar, everything is always clean," maintains Howard, as his eyes automatically scan the area behind him to check the state of the spotless cellar beyond the large window in the tasting room. When asked whether South African cellars can live up to the high standards found over in California, he is optimistic. "Given time, nothing is impossible," says Howard "No Problem" Gqirana with conviction.
"At Byron the emphasis is not on how much is produced, but rather on the quality," explains this young winemaker. In total they produced about 1 500 tons for the 2000 season, with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir being their largest yields. Apart from these varieties, Howard also brought in Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.
Howard's exposure to the Byron style of winemaking gave him the opportunity to experience a few innovative techniques. The on-going work on fermentation parameters and pressing strategies that optimise and give positive tannin profiles, receives top priority. For Chardonnay, Byron sorts all lots by hand, different blocks are pressed separately, they allow 24 hours settling time, the juice is racked to barrels and there is malolactic inoculation. While in the red wine department all lots are also hand sorted at the winery. With the reds there is pump over daily and cap punch down three times a day. They use basket presses and the settling time is 24 hours before racking into barrels. In the short while that Howard was in California, he tried to get as much exposure to the Californian wine industry as possible and even managed to find enough time to visit the Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville and Opus One. "I was very impressed with the Mondavi operation, especially their red wine fermentation."
The Californian sojourn has left him with a few exciting ideas. "I would like to experiment and build on the experience I received in America," he says earnestly. "When I came back I sat down with Charles (Hopkins - Graham Beck Coastal cellarmaster) and went through the different wine-making styles to see how we can go about applying them here."
For the time being Howard wants to continue making red wines, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz currently occupying a soft spot in this winemaker's heart.
From California to the good old Kaap, Howard is optimistic about the future of wine both abroad and locally. "The industry has a very bright future. The wine produced in South Africa is up to standard and can definitely compete on an international level, and we've finally got the recognition," he bubbles. Howard believes the programme introduced by SAWIT is an excellent way in which to expose young people in the wine industry to a wide variety of techniques and training.
In the tasting room turret in the clouds at Graham Beck, Howard is refreshingly down to earth and quietly confident about his Californian connections. "From a winemaking point of view the trip has given me a lot of confidence and a different perspective," says the 'no problem man', with a distinctly Californian twang.
Golden opportunity
When SAWIT announced they were looking for willing and competent volunteers for their cellar exchange programme, 24-year-old Nelson Buthelezi jumped at the opportunity. "I didn't want to let it slip away, because this was my first opportunity to go overseas and what I've been looking forward to," he says grinning. His stay at Byron saw him burning the midnight oil in the laboratory. "I was responsible for running the sugar and acid analysis in the lab," he explains. Grapes would be brought in from the vineyard at regular intervals for him to do the 'chemistry' on them.
The experimental cellar where he was based had many different batches and used a variety of different yeast strains. A record is kept of all the results so that comparisons can be made between each season and individual lots. "At Byron they don't just focus on the sugar, they go into the vineyard and taste the grapes and look at the pips, because what they basically want is ripe tannin and ripe pips."
How did an umfaan from KwaZulu-Natal get bitten by the grape gogga, one might wonder? The attraction to the fruit of the vine was, he insists, instantaneous. "The first time I tasted anything to do with grapes was when I tasted grape juice," he says smiling enigmatically. "My grandfather was a priest and they used grape juice for the Easter Ceremony - from the first time I tasted that grape juice I fell in love with it," confides Nelson. But merely tasting this nectar could not satisfy him, and Nelson soon realised, "I wanted to put my hands on the grapes."
After paging through a copy of WINE Magazine, he came across Jabulani Ntshangase's (previously with Spier Cellars) name and decided to contact him. "Jabulani said 'come' and right there and then I took my bag and went to Cape Town," recalls Nelson. Jabulani arranged for Nelson to work in the wine centre at Spier where, says Nelson, "I started to taste some wine and chat to some people". But the grapes were calling and Nelson informed Jabulani that his real desire was to make wine. "I wanted to have the information on making wine so that I could go home and teach people." While at Spier, Nelson monitored the grapevine and in 1998 took up a position at Ashanti, in Paarl, as a trainee assistant wine maker. "I jumped at the chance."
Nelson also completed the Cape Wine Academy's Preliminary and Certificate courses, and plans to do the Diploma 1 course soon. "Yes, it's on the programme," says Nelson resolutely. Getting to grips with the theory behind the world of wine is just as important as the nuts and bolts technical side maintains this determined young winemaker. "I learned how to appreciate wine and that you must analyse wine and say what you think about it."
"There was certainly plenty to learn at Byron and," grumbles Nelson good-naturedly, "there wasn't much time to go out." One gets the feeling that the Byron buzz more than made up for any jolling that he might have been missing. The joint venture between Byron and an Australian winery gave Nelson the chance to immerse himself in both the Australian and Californian winemaking styles. With the Aussie style the grapes are put through a heat exchanger to speed up the fermentation process. "With Californian wines it takes two to three weeks for fermentation, whereas with the Australian process, it will take about a week or so. It's so fast," says Nelson.
The melting pot of cultures and languages does not seem to have fazed the dude from Durban. Even the fact that most of his Mexican co-workers spoke only Spanish could not dampen Nelson's enthusiasm for winemaking. "Ag, we were only speaking one language and that was 'wine'!" chuckles Nelson. He believes the tips and skills he came home with have given him a lot of confidence and a few very passionate goals for the future. "When I got back I thought 'well, I can make wine'. If people can make wine in such a simple and easy way like that, then, man, I can do it! I've seen it, I can do it!"
Nelson is impressed with the Californian approach to hard work. "It's the awareness," he says. "As you work you must be aware. You must be careful in everything you are doing. It's busy and it's a long day, but you must always focus." On the rare occasion Nelson gets some quality time to himself, he likes to go out and order - wine - of course! "I love Chardonnay and I also enjoy an easy-drinking, fruity Merlot," says the guy who is ga-ga about grapes. When it comes to working with wine, Nelson says he finds Cabernet rewarding, but would like to try his hand at Chardonnay - the "delicate" wine.
The two months in California have given him a new perspective on "how other people make wine" emphasises this tenacious 24-year-old. "It's not just about working," explains Nelson, "you've got to have something to look forward to." And Nelson Buthelezi can't wait to get his hands on all those glorious grapes…
