Denzel Swarts, born 37 years ago into a humble farm-working family on the historic Simonsig Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, has been appointed sales and brand executive of Zoetendal Vineyards and River Estate.
Zoetendal is situated near Elim in the Overberg region of the Western Cape, about 200km from Cape Town, and forms part of a 46 000-hectare nature conservancy. With six hectares under vine, the wine range includes the current vintage Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc Limited Edition as well as the Chenin Blanc 2020 and flagship Monarch (2016 and 2017 vintages). The latter is a rich red blend of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot.
Zoetendal Vineyards and River Estate is 51 percent black-owned.
As the third generation of his family working in the Simonsig vineyards, Swarts laboured as a part-time general worker over weekends and school holidays from the age of 16. He was employed full time at age 20 and, 13 years later, advanced to the position of regional brand ambassador for the Western and Eastern Cape provinces.
Swarts says he was fortunate that Simonsig offered career development opportunities for its employees and that he gained tremendous experience working with Simonsig winemakers Johan and Michael Malan.
Looking around him, though, he saw this was the exception rather than the norm in the wine industry. As he began to forge his path to personal success, Swarts decided to share his story in order to help others break the pattern of what he describes as "generational general workers’ poverty".
He realised early that the key to economic emancipation was education.
People might consider his first step to realising his dream ill-considered: he dropped out of high school for a portion of a term. "I knew I wanted to stay in the industry, so I enrolled for a course at Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institution."
Swarts’ continuing professional development journey over the past 11 years at Simonsig has seen him completing numerous courses with Cape Wine Academy via Stellenbosch University. However, what stands out for him was time spent at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) where he successfully completed The Business of Wine course.
He has since completed a post-graduate diploma in administration through the GSB.
Swarts is the first member of his family to receive a tertiary education and is an executive member of BLACC (the Black Cellar Club). This is a pioneering association of particularly those people who come from previously economically disadvantaged backgrounds in southern Africa and further afield who are interested in furthering their wine knowledge to benefit their careers.
Swarts launched a not-for-profit wine business, Son of the Soil, in 2016. This is a commercially sold wine range from which profits are used to fund his Leadership Foundation, a platform he uses to mentor Grade 10-12 learners.
The programme is aimed at rural youth in the Western Cape and seeks to inspire them to become active and responsible citizens of South Africa.
This new chapter in Swarts’ life sees him taking up the position of brand and sales executive with a mandate to reposition Zoetendal Vineyards and River Estate, both locally and internationally, as a luxury consumer brand.
Situated on the banks of the Nuwejaars River, the estate also offers luxury accommodation in the form of a fully serviced six-bedroom manor house and a two-bedroom self-catering cottage. Apart from wine tasting, ancillary activities include shark-cage diving and visiting Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa.
To book a visit to Zoetendal Vineyards and River Estate, including a wine tasting experience, email hospitality@zoetendal.co.za. Should you be interested in listing the estate’s wines at your hospitality establishment, kindly email denzel@zoetendal.co.za.