Wine Legends – Bennie Howard (Veritas), with two of the three Wine Legends who received their Scroll of honour at the Veritas Awards Dinner - Johan Malan and Michael Back with Christo Pienaar (Veritas Chairman)
This award, instituted by the Veritas Awards in 2009, serves as recognition for exemplary service to the industry over the years – acknowledging their commitment and paying homage to them for remarkable achievements.
Thereby, three luminaries received the 2025 Living Legends Scroll of Honour for their dedication to and enthusiasm and passion for the domestic wine and brandy industries.
Charles Back
Charles Louis Back is the third-generation owner of Fairview, one of South Africa’s most renowned wine and cheese producers in Paarl, Western Cape. A proud old-boy of Paarl Gymnasium, known for producing both rugby greats and winemakers, Charles went on to complete his military service before studying wine technology at Elsenburg Agricultural College in Stellenbosch. After a practical year at Perdeberg, he officially joined his father, Cyril, at Fairview in 1978, taking full control of the farm in 1995.
From early on, Charles showed a flair for innovation and an instinct to challenge convention. He introduced Mediterranean grape varieties such as Viognier, Tempranillo, Sangiovese and Petite Sirah to the Cape, opening new horizons for South African winemaking. In 2000, he launched Goats Do Roam, which quickly became the highest-selling South African wine brand in the United States, and expanded Fairview’s reach with the creation of sub-brands such as La Capra and Bloemcool.
Charles’ achievements have been widely recognised. In 1996, Wine Magazine South Africa named him the second most influential figure in the local wine industry, second only to Nelson Mandela. In 2014, he was awarded the prestigious IWC Lifetime Achievement Award in London, and in 2017 he received both the 1659 Wine Industry Medal of Honour and the South African Farmer of the Year title.
Alongside wine, Charles also turned Fairview into the country’s leading producer of artisanal cheeses. Today, Fairview is South Africa’s largest producer of specialty cheeses, stocked in major retailers across the country and closely partnered with Woolworths. Recently, the farm also walked away with the most awards at the SA Dairy Championships, a testament to the excellence of its cheesemaking legacy.
True to his entrepreneurial spirit, Charles was also instrumental in putting the Swartland on the map. After discovering an old tobacco farm in Malmesbury, he established Spice Route Wines, a premium brand that helped spark what became known as the Swartland Revolution. Together with the Spice Route Destination in Paarl, the brand remains a vibrant expression of exploration and innovation. More recently Charles started the Klein Amoskuil project, where organic and traditional Georgian style natural wines produced in qvevri - egg-shaped, unglazed earthenware vessels - in the Swartland.
But perhaps Charles’ greatest legacy lies in his social impact. Long before it was common practice, he advocated for better working conditions under Apartheid, and in 1997 founded the Fair Valley Workers’ Association, giving employees the opportunity to farm their own land. More recently, he shared ownership of Fairview with longstanding staff from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, further supported by Fairtrade accreditation.
Today, Charles Back remains one of the most decorated and respected figures in South African wine. Entrepreneur, innovator and community leader, he continues to honour his family’s heritage while pushing the boundaries of what Fairview can achieve, in the vineyard, in the cheesery, and in the community it calls home.
Michael Back
Born in 1954, Michael Back has spent a lifetime dedicated to building, stewarding, and transforming the family business.
After graduating from the University of Stellenbosch in 1975 with a BSc (Hons) in Agriculture, Michael returned to the Backsberg farm with a singular focus: to grow and develop the enterprise that his grandfather had begun. His entire professional career has been devoted to managing and expanding this family business – a commitment that he has carried out with passion, pragmatism and an eye on social responsibility.
Michael has through the years led with heart-and-soul and conviction. He has consistently sought to keep the business profitable, to care deeply for employees and the wider community, to champion social justice, to protect and nurture the environment and to embrace technology and innovation.
While the family’s business ventures have also included livestock businesses, Michael has chosen to focus on his contributions to the wine industry. These efforts reflect not only the growth of a family enterprise but also Michael and his wife, Jill’s, shared values, using business as a force for good.
Michael joined his father, Sydney, in 1976 and quickly set about modernising and professionalising the business. In 1982, he launched a propagation programme using plant material that had been smuggled into the country by his father and others, laying the groundwork for future vineyard excellence. Just four years later, he earned international acclaim when Backsberg’s 1986 Chardonnay was awarded the coveted Domecq Trophy at the International Wine & Spirits Competition for Best South African White Wine.
Throughout the 1990s, Michael continued to expand and innovate. Together with his father, he initiated a brandy distillation program in 1991 and in 1995 won the Domecq Trophy again, this time for Best Brandy of the Show.
In 1998, he launched Freedom Road Sauvignon Blanc, South Africa’s first “empowerment wine”, with the first bottle signed by President Nelson Mandela in Parliament – a symbolic milestone marrying business with social change. This commitment to empowerment deepened in 2002 with the completion of the Freedom Road housing project, enabling all Backsberg staff to own their homes.
Michael was early to adopt technology and sustainability initiatives: he introduced roto-tanks in the late 1980s, pioneered screwcap bottling in 2003, began the journey to carbon neutrality in 2006, and earned recognition such as the Mail & Guardian Greening the Future Award (2009) and Biodiversity Champion status (2010). His bursary programme funded the equivalent of 150 years of tertiary education for staff and their families.
His achievements were widely recognized: in 2014 he was made a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow, and in 2015, he received the Drinks Business Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2021, after nearly five decades in wine, Michael sold the family’s interests in the industry. In 2023, Michael and Simon acquired a fruit marketing company, C Fruit, as a springboard into the next chapter of the family’s agricultural journey. He retired in 2025, leaving behind a legacy of innovation, integrity, and impact.
Johan Malan
Johan studied BSc Viticulture and Oenology at Stellenbosch University like his father, Frans. After graduation he joined the Simonsig team in 1981, and the next year he stepped into the position of head winemaker. He held this position for 41 years until 2023, before handing over the reins to his son, Michael.
During his career he made major changes to the Simonsig red wine portfolio. The red blends of Tiara, Frans Malan, Redhill Pinotage and Merindol Syrah were the culmination of his dedication to making top class red wines with more body, concentration and structure. He made his first Simonsig Chardonnay in French oak in 1982 and six years later the Simonsig Chardonnay 1988 was rated the best South African white wine at the IWSC in London.
The Kaapse Vonkel was in its infancy in 1982 and still contained Chenin Blanc as the grape variety. Johan changed the blendin 1987, when he introduced Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for the cuvée. In 1997, Kaapse Vonkel became the first Cap Classique to include all three the classic grape varieties used in Champagne when Pinot Meunier joined the fold. Over the years Simonsig has won the Cap Classique challenge an unprecedented three times. The prestigious Diners Club Winemaker of the Year was awarded to Johan in 2020 for the Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel 2015.
Johan was the founding chairperson of the newly formed Cap Classique Producers Association in 1992. This was one of the very first association ever formed to promote one specific style of wine. Membership now stands at 120.
In 1984 he was invited to join the prestigious Cape Winemakers Guild and twice served as chairperson. The annual auction of the CWG gave him the ideal platform to express his innovative talents. Johan’s use of new French oak barrels in 1989 for Pinotage was a big step forward to show the world the great potential of South Africa’s own grape variety. His CWG Auction Reserve blend of Pinotage, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in 1991 was an immediate success and created a new styleof wine that became known as Cape Blend.The wine was named in honour of Frans Malan, the family patriarch who started the Simonsig story in 1953.
Under Johan’s guidance as cellarmaster, Simonsig has won 47 Double Gold and 113 Gold Veritas awards.
The Grapesmith wines with grape varieties like Marsanne, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc among others,were born out of Johan’s interest in white and red varieties from the warm and dry Southern Rhône vineyards. With an eye on climate change, these varieties are well positioned to make top quality wines even under hotter and more arid conditions.
Another of Johan’s dreams came true in 2008 with the first Simonsig The Garland single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from the iconic Simonsberg slopes was made. The Garland 2020 received the accolade as the best Cabernet Sauvignon in South Africa by the Platter Wine Guide. The grapes came from the vineyards once farmed by his grandfather Pieter Beyers van Niekerk. To him it was like the completion of the circle of life over 3 generations.
For more information, contact the SANWSA/Veritas office at tel 021 8631599, e-mail info@veritas.co.za or visit veritas.co.za.
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