On Wednesday morning we woke up bright and early to depart for Waterford Estate in Stellenbosch. We drove up the stunning entrance to Waterford through the clementine trees just before sunrise. There we were met by Kevin Arnold, the Waterford winemaker, who spent the day with us, telling us “The story outside of the bottle”.
Our first task was to head into the fields and pick Malbec grapes with the Waterford team! The Londolozi staff was very excited to touch and taste the grapes that later ended up in the wine they pour for their guests in the bush. We ran up and down the vineyard picking the grapes and loading them into the trakters. After a couple hours in the field we returned to the main building for tea and coffee before our tour of the estate and explanation of the winemaking process.
Witness picking grapes
Caven tasting the Cabernet Sauvignon grape
We saw everything from where the grapes were de-stemmed, crushed, and fermented to where they were put in the barrels and stored. We even saw where the wine was bottled, labeled and shipped off to the distributors. It was an incredible experience to see the long and gentle process of winemaking from vine to bottle.
Team learning about the wine making process
Duncs is always learning a thing or two!
Excellent diligently taking notes
Kevin took us on a ‘game drive’ of the beautiful estate in the Wine Tour Land Rover while explaining to us the ‘Waterford Way’ which has many parallels to what we do at Londolozi. He emphasized the importance of the land, the people and the wildlife and how winemaking respects nature just as we do in the bush.
Kevin showing the team his wilderness
Trevor almost the same size as the wine bottle
Cry and Witness wine tasting
Tresta and Kevin Arnold
Overall our visit to Waterford was an eye-opening experience for everyone. Now that we understand the process of making the wine and all the work that goes into it, we can give our guests at Londolozi a better experience in camp and teach them about South African Wines.
Kevin Arnold and the Londolozi staff
Thank you Waterford for all your effort!
A big thank you to Kevin Arnold and the Waterford team for making this such an incredible experience!
Written and Photographed by: Trisha Siegel
Rich Laburn is filmmaker, photographer and writer who is based at Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa. Spending his time capturing scenes of the wild and communicating the beauty of the African bushveld, he runs the Londolozi Blog as a way to entertain and engage people wishing to visit these wild lands.
