Anthonij Rupert Wyne expands its winemaking team

Wednesday, 27 November, 2013
Anthonij Rupert Wyne
Zanie Viljoen formally assistant Winemaker at the Terra Del Capo Cellar at Anthonij Rupert Wyne has been appointed Winemaker of the La Garonne MCC Méthode Cap Classique (MCC) Cellar for the L’Ormarins brand, whilst, Mark van Buuren has been recently appointed Winemaker of the Terra Del Capo Cellar at Anthonij Rupert Wyne.

The farms are situated in the heart of the Franschhoek Wine Valley and regarded as one of South Africa’s prominent wine producers. Both join head winemaker, Dawie Botha and his team as they strive to produce wines of superb quality.

Zanie, who started her winemaking career as assistant winemaker at Delheim Estate in 2005, has so much to look forward to as the new winemaker for the company, as it has recently installed South Africa’s most advanced technology for the production of MCC, placing Anthonij Rupert Wyne at the forefront of local MCC production. The first of its kind in the country, the Italian and French designed and produced machinery now allows for the complete in-house handling of production, where previously part of it was outsourced; and, a substantial increase in the production of MCC and still wines. More importantly however, the machinery makes use of the highest level of engineering.

Mark will be overseeing the production of the Terra del Capo range and the white varietals in the Cape of Good Hope range. The Terra Del Capo wines are best described as a delightful, refined range of food-friendly wines, originally developed by the late Anthonij Rupert. He not only believed that South African soils were well suited to growing Italian grape varietals, but also had a love for Italy and the natural synergy between good food and wine. The Cape of Good Hope range is making its way into the history books of South Africa with its old vineyard and site specific wines.

Mark is no stranger to the industry. He started his career as assistant winemaker at Hartenberg Estate under the mentorship of celebrated winemaker, Carl Schultz. His passion and drive saw him carve out a successful career for himself while working as winemaker at Guardian Peak Wines, Capaia Wines and David Frost Wines. Mark’s love for wine and the art of mastering the craft took him to Western Australia where he worked as a cellar assistant at Cassegrain Wines. More recently he gained experience at Laffort Australia as a state manager before he decided to come back to South Africa

With their vast combined understanding of winemaking and blessed with a down-to-earth approach, both Mark and Zanie are destined to take the ranges to even greater heights.

I have full trust in this winemaking team to take Anthonij Rupert Wyne into the future making world class wines”, says Gary Baumgarten Managing Director of Anthonij Rupert Wyne.