After almost 10 years of a very successful collaboration, Springfontein and Tariro Masayiti will, on the professional level, part ways after 30 June 2022.
Tariro who had joined us for the 2013 harvest and since then, as General and in particular Oenological Manager, has significantly contributed to further steps towards the implementation of our terroir-based strategy. In him, I have always been able to feel a loyal, almost kindred spirit at my side, who, with the highest personal commitment and the greatest expertise, has understood how to spectacularly implement my sometimes rather unconventional, sometimes even daring ideas of mash preparation. He has now found a new challenge in an environment related to us already by a long-standing friendship where he will be able also to contribute to a greater extent his entrepreneurial skills.
Therefore, already in retrospect, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Tariro for what he has done for Springfontein. The soul of our wines will always contain some nuances influenced by him, and there is no doubt in my mind that he will continue to manifest his reputation as a luminary beyond the borders of South Africa. We sincerely wish him the bit of luck that is always necessary. And both parties will definitely still support each other whenever there is needed.
Springfontein, for its part, will continue to work consistently in pursuit of its own vision of giving special expression to its unique terroir: the maritime limestone soils how they are used for viticulture nowhere else in the country, the chilly location between the Kleinriver Mountain Range jumping seamlessly up from sea level to 1,000m and the Antarctic current of the South Atlantic, as well as the almost conspiratorial community of different people with very different backgrounds, but a similar spirit, borne by humbleness and modesty on the one hand, by willingness not only go the extra mile, instead also beyond, on the other. Under the umbrella of our monopole appellation “Springfontein Rim”, we will increasingly concentrate on the autochthonous grape varieties Pinotage and Chenel. In doing this, we expressly do not see ourselves as winemaking, but rather as midwives supporting Springfontein’s vines in giving birth to their children, shaped by our particular tiny patch of earth, and in carrying these children out into the world.
