News from Zakkie Bester of Riebeek Cellars

We were delighted to hear from Zakkie recently that the first ever grapes from Partnership Vineyards were harvested on the 30th January and 1st February 2008. Altogether 63 tons of Sauvignon Blanc were picked and the fruit was of very good quality.

The initial funds of £6,000 (raised from Churches, dinners and events in Kent) were vital to the early stages of the project and enabled the first plantings of vines to go ahead. The progress made at Partnership Vineyards clearly made a favourable impression on the South African Minister for Agriculture during an official visit in 2006. Consequently, in February 2007, all the 151 actual partners in Partnership Vineyards, their families, friends and supporters, learned of the receipt of a bursary from the South African Government of just over £280,000 (Rands 3,951,804.00). This meant that the scheme could really take off.

But don’t forget it was your donations that were the catalyst for the scheme and without your help it might never have got off the ground and would not have received the approval of the South African Government and the subsequent bursary.

Watch this space for further news of how the wine develops and when it will reach the shelves in the UK.

Andrew and Branwen Jones, March 2008