Besides a BSc in agric soil science and horticulture and an MSc in organic chemistry from Stellenbosch University, Darren Maree (28) also graduated cum laude at the Cape Wine Academy. He worked at Rust en Vrede, selling wine for two and a half years before joining Capreo, where he sold wines to international clients. He’s part of a dynamic duo that started a South African wine merchant business and has been employed as a research and development scientist at Omnia since graduating in 2023. [Update: In May 2024, he started working as an agronomist at Corteva Agriscience.]
Although he was introduced to wine at a University of Stellenbosch Wine Culture Society (USWCS) event by mere chance (or divine intervention, he likes to think), he knew immediately he wanted to know more.
At his first on-campus tasting, he asked the then-chairperson of the society, Joanne Williams, if he could join the society’s committee. They happened to have two openings, and a short interview and blind tastings later, he was accepted. While still a student, Darren established online wine tastings for Stellenbosch University alumni and was instrumental in the launch of the Maties Wine Club in 2020. He also ran a wine club at the university residence Eendrag and belonged to the Maties Wine Society for three years, one of which he served as chairperson.
“My most significant accomplishment is establishing the Maties Wine Club,” he says. “In a year that challenged the entire industry, we could still sell South African wines via Capreo to our Maties in Europe. Our online tastings brought old friends together to share their stories about Stellenbosch while sipping proudly South African wines.”
They partnered with proudly Maties wine farms such as Beyerskloof, La Motte, and Kleine Zalze for the online tastings. Darren, alongside the winemaker, presented the live tastings from a cellar to Maties in Europe, which Capreo had supplied with the wines for the tasting. “This model’s success relied on an inviting living-room ambience where stories about the winemaker, the wine farm and especially the wine could be shared,” Darren says. “Through our efforts, we’ve sold more than R1 million in wine over three years and raised over R30 000 in donations from Capreo towards the Stellenbosch Bursary fund.”
Darren says his guiding light has been the wonderful people in the wine industry he met along the way. “My mentor is Cape Wine Master Conrad Louw,” he says. “He was my lecturer for my first Cape Wine Academy qualification and has since become a close friend and my most respected wine confidant.”
The people in the wine industry excite Darren about the world of wine. Whether it be the winemakers toiling away in their cellars, the tasting ambassadors pouring wine in tasting rooms or the viticulturists nurturing what mother nature has provided them with. “Everyone working in the industry forms part of a diverse network that’s much more than the sum of its parts. I’m honoured to call some of these people my friends, and I can honestly say a glass of wine would not be worth pouring without them. Wine truly unifies us and brings us closer together.”
Next on his list of goals is to become a Cape Wine Master. “I would also like to get more involved in the Pretoria and Johannesburg wine scene and join a serious tasting group to develop my wine knowledge and tasting skills further,” he says.
Darren regards his tenure as the USWCS 2017/2018 chairperson as one of his most memorable experiences in wine. “I talked about wine every day, whether to arrange or host an event or ask people in the industry for advice or help,” he says. “That year, we made magic with the society, educating hundreds of students about the art of winemaking and celebrating our wonderful industry. It wasn’t always sunshine and roses, but I learnt a lot about myself and the role I could have in the industry. Maybe someday soon, I can also work directly in the wine industry with something of my own.”
Rapid fire Q&A
- Favourite wine ever tasted? Meerlust 1998 Chardonnay Magnum
- Favourite bingeworthy TV show? Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Favourite pick-me-up song? Eurythmics’ "Sweet dreams"
- Least-known fact about you? I enjoy tasting and drinking beer, mainly craft.
- Ideal holiday destination? Sicily
Connect with Darren via LinkedIn.