Born on the farm and growing up alongside the vines at Rijk’s Wine Estate and Hotel, Tiger’s roots are just as deep and intertwined with the soil of this historic Tulbagh property, bought by Tiger’s father, Neville Dorrington, in 1996.
Tiger joined for his first harvest just about from when he was out of nappies, out and about on a quad bike at Rijk’s famous night harvest by the age of 5.
Fast forward 21 years, once again in the thick of harvest season, I met up with Tiger, now captain of the Rijk’s ship (he refuses to be called CEO or MD), at 22h00 on a Monday evening as the harvest team just got started for the night.
With 30 headlamps moving through the vineyard rows, Tiger checks in with farm manager, Daniel, on the quality of the Chenin Blanc; gives his group of Spanish visitors info on the importance of night harvesting in the hot Tulbagh valley; and cracks a few jokes with John, who has been at Rijk’s for nearly 20 years.
The energy in the team fools you into thinking its 11h00 in the morning with the whole day ahead of you. The first few days of working the night shift in the vineyard are the hardest, but the team quickly adapts and by mid-February the end of harvest is already in sight, long before most wine producers. This is one of the perks of specialising in only two cultivars, Chenin Blanc and Pinotage.
Back in 2011, Neville decided to replace all the other cultivars initially planted on the farm with Chenin Blanc, Pinotage and Shiraz and since taking over the reins from his father, Tiger narrowed it down further with a focus on Pinotage and Chenin only. It makes for quite a buzz in the cellar, as winemaker Adriaan can confirm, bringing in all of the grapes in a short span of time. But the strategic move has paid off well with Rijk’s being recognised and awarded for their quality wines.
With exports to just under 30 markets and high demand for Rijk’s wine, Tiger is very humble about the success that Rijk’s has achieved in less than 30 years of being in the wine industry. "You need the right team, you need to plant right, harvest right, use the right barrels…every 1% adds up."
There are a lot of irons in the fire: new vineyards on the way, upgrades to the cellar, and a revamp of the tasting lounge. And Tiger likes to be in on all the action. After a late night of harvesting, he has already started his morning with a run, checked in with the cellar team and is looking forward to his meetings for the day, especially a check-in with the architect working on their tasting lounge revamp.
But while taking a tour of the farm, the calmer side of this otherwise firecracker of a person comes out. "Growing up here has taught me to love nature. We really try to farm with nature and not against it." We drive past the beehives he added to the farm and further on he points out where he will keep some cattle and chickens with plans to have some Percheron horses too.
Running Rijk's is more than a job for Tiger, it's a calling. "I've never thought of doing anything else. I get to work with nature and people, experience the art and science of winemaking and have the opportunity to travel and meet new people."
"My goal is to make the best Chenin Blanc and Pinotage in South Africa and to make the farm a better place," he says. Much like the farm he loves, still young in the industry but with an old soul, he sets off to get another step closer to his goal.